No hot water following power cut? :-(

Money_Grabber13579

andrew-b wrote: »

Each storage heater could be connected to upto 2 fuses - one electric supply for night time storage (connected to left hand consumer unit) and one for overriding anytime of day and night. This is how it was in our old flat with e7 storage heaters.

My theory is like you say that left box is e7 night time rate but with fuse #4 being the fuse for the overnight heating of the hot water. And that right box fuse #3 corresponds to the emergency 2 hour immersion heater. It's fuse #4 on the left box i think we are interested in.

By my reckoning pulling fuse #4 on left hand unit will show it's blown - without plunging the flat into darkness! Don't touch right hand unit until daylight!

Andy

But the whole left hand box is turned off, is it not? So it'd be fuse 3 in the right hand box. (We've obviously reached a stalemate now!:D)

mikey72

Economy seven on a fusebox like this usually has a mechanical timer somewhere, and often needed resetting after power cuts, new boxes have different electronic timers, what's the box above the eight way fusebox? (May not be this, it could still be anything really)

suewiththeblues

andrew-b wrote: »

Yes but we dont know if left box was always turned off . I don't think it should be...but others disagree !

I'd say the safest bet is to get someone in to look at it as else it's a case of the blind leading the blind (no offence meant to anyone ..or myself!).

However in the meantime it looks like you can make use of that emergency 2 hour switch for hot water.

Is this rented property or owned? If it's rented get the landlord to deal with it.

Andy

am pretty sure the left one was always in that off position

suewiththeblues

mikey72 wrote: »

Economy seven on a fusebox like this usually has a mechanical timer somewhere, and often needed resetting after power cuts, new boxes have different electronic timers, what's the box above the eight way fusebox? (May not be this, it could still be anything really)

yeah i was thinking there would be an actual visible timer somewhere or a reset button but i cant find either anywhere. in the boiler cupboard there is just a switch that says top heater, and one above it to turn that 2 hour emergency water on

patanne

It strikes me you are all making it overly complicated. This is an over 20 year old fuse box. Not too much older as the fuses would be much more basic. Simple logic. Turn off. Take out one of what appears the right size fuse. 30 probably. Turn back on & see what doesn't work. Turn off & take the next one out and put the other in & see if your hot water works & keep doing that till you find the right one. Then down to the DIY shop & buy the new fuse. They are very simple to pull out. Even for me who has trouble with MP3 player batteries. I never even broke a nail!

dieselhead

Once the OP has identified the correct fuse it will need the correct fuse wire putting in, this can be straight forward, but ideally should be done by someone who knows what they are doing.

OP really it would be better if you can get someone to look at this for you, that person might not need to be an electrician (although if you mention that all that is needed is some fuse wire you might be able to get them to do it for next to nothing when they are passing), but maybe someone who has changed the fuse wire on this type of fuse box before.

If you own the flat it might be an idea to look into having a more modern circuit breaker consumer unit fitted, they are much safer and much easier to deal with than an older fuse box. If you rent then it may be an idea to speak to your landlord about having the consumer unit upgraded.

suewiththeblues

thanks for all your suggestions and help guys - i rang around scottish power and edf again tonight :mad: and got nowhere so i rang an electrician to come and look at it tomorrow £30phr!!! and said i thought it may be the fuse or the timer and he suggested it may be the immersion thing that has gone (obviously meaning a bigger job) so he is coming to look at it tomorrow although my gut feeling is its not something as big as that cos im sure its only something has gone wrong as a result of the power cut. scottish power said they could send someone out to replace the timer but as im not even sure thats whats wrong and as they cant come till 25th june i thought this was the fastest way forward :rolleyes:

suewiththeblues

i got the electrician out and it was just the fuse wire thank god so £30 to pay and now have hot water aplenty :beer: thanks guys- at least i felt more clued up when talking to him than before i came on here or he could of really ripped me off!!!