Immersion Heater / Tank

devstar

Hi, it seems that my immersion heater as failed, but the trouble is, I am away from home overseas for 3 months, and this has left my partner to deal with it. She has had a plumber around to confirm this and has been advised it will be in the region of £100 to replace the heater element. They have also said that it is likely that whilst removing the heater, the tank could be damaged and will need replacing.

Anyway, I understand that this may be the case (certainly if it is an inexperienced person doing the work) but wouldn't a good plumber be able to do this job relatively easily without causing damage? Call me paranoid, but they have said they need to order in a new tank before starting the job on monday, and this seems like they are planning on the tank getting damaged. The quote for this is £500! Are they preying on someone who is ever so slightly distraught at something like this going wrong and needs the hot water? Or, like i said, am i just being paranoid!?! Also, are the quotes fair?

Thanks for any help.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

When you try & remove a Immersion Heater the tank could rupture.

It could happen if your experienced or inexperienced. But the more experienced the less likely but the risk is still there..

ormus

its possible to damamge the tank whilst replacing a heater element, but to order one upfront?
where is the house? the isle of mull?
i can get a new tank within about 3 miles/10 minutes, from a choice of suppliers.

devstar

Thanks for the replies. We are in Lincolnshire and I'm sure there are plenty of places to get tanks from nearby. I guess this is the only part about the situation that made me wonder really. Perhaps my partner misheard when given the quote as she was rather flustered and upset that this happened while i'm away. (As things seem to happen when away!)

ormus

the most common size of hot water cylinder is about 150 quid.
there are storage system tanks that cost 350/700 quid but they are fairly rare.

macman

You may not need a new tank, but you most certainly need a new plumber...

david29dpo

It is true the element can sometime be a pain to remove. A decent man will leave the tank full off water to "brake the nut" first, this helps to save the tank. It may just be the stat, £10 and a five minute job to replace.

plumb1_2

macman wrote: »

You may not need a new tank, but you most certainly need a new plumber...

Correct, get someone else, they are scamming you.

plumb1_2

david29dpo wrote: »

It is true the element can sometime be a pain to remove. A decent man will leave the tank full off water to "brake the nut" first, this helps to save the tank. It may just be the stat, £10 and a five minute job to replace.

Yes thats the correct way to do the job, but disagree with the time frame, more like 1 hr.The cylinder can fracture but 90% of the time they will be ok.

Wookey

devstar wrote: »

Hi, it seems that my immersion heater as failed, but the trouble is, I am away from home overseas for 3 months, and this has left my partner to deal with it. She has had a plumber around to confirm this and has been advised it will be in the region of £100 to replace the heater element. They have also said that it is likely that whilst removing the heater, the tank could be damaged and will need replacing.

Anyway, I understand that this may be the case (certainly if it is an inexperienced person doing the work) but wouldn't a good plumber be able to do this job relatively easily without causing damage? Call me paranoid, but they have said they need to order in a new tank before starting the job on monday, and this seems like they are planning on the tank getting damaged. The quote for this is £500! Are they preying on someone who is ever so slightly distraught at something like this going wrong and needs the hot water? Or, like i said, am i just being paranoid!?! Also, are the quotes fair?

Thanks for any help.

First up make 100% sure that the heater element has failed, the switch, stat or fuse could have blown, a plumber wont be able to tell you this with 100% surety. If satisfied that it is indeed the element then if it is internal then there can be problems with removing it, a decent plumber however will give it the best chance and also be able to source a replacement cylinder without ordering anything. That said £400-500 isnt that far away for replacing a cylinder and associated piping.

1984ReturnsForReal_2

Wookey wrote: »

First up make 100% sure that the heater element has failed, the switch, stat or fuse could have blown, a plumber wont be able to tell you this with 100% surety.

With a multimeter they can............