Stainless steel cylinder?

legoman62

Got an immersion heater question.. anyone know if there is a problem fitting an incoloy 1kw immersion to a stainless steel cylinder. I have been told that if the 1kw immersion has a copper stat pocket there may be a reaction with the stainless steel.Has any one done this/had problems? I have an old copper cylinder now and would like to renew it.
Stainless cylinders are cheaper than copper ones and also have a 10 year warranty. I would like to fit a 27inch immersion in the top of my new cylinder, also an 11inch one in the bottom through the 1/2 in drain/feed.
I cannot find either with an incoloy stat pocket.

southcoastrgi

firstly the main (top in your case) immersion heater is 3kw not 1kw & why on earth would you want to fit a towel rail heater element to the bott (as this is the only thing that will fit), they don't have a stat in them so would be illegal anyway as you couldn't control the temp, how do you plan on draining the cylinder if you fill up the drain point ?, yes change the cylinder by all means but doing what you plan on with the heaters is pointless & dangerious, if you only have one immersion then it's not economy 7 so haven't you got a boiler to heat it ? immersion heaters are normally only used as backup as they are much more expensive to run.

legoman62

Hi,
I'm putting a 1kw element in because I have solar panels which can produce up to 4kw power. This means on the majority of reasonable days I will be getting the power free. The immersion I was looking at, on major selling site. item2c6281b195
Just to explain, the drain point/cold water feed would not be a problem to drain off as there are several "tee" adapters than can be fitted to accommodate an additional immersion.There are also, several solar immersions on the market that will fit 1/2inch BSP thread.
Hope this helps.

southcoastrgi

you didn't say anything in your op about solar, but my point remains if you have a top immersion why on earth would you want a 1kw one at the bott ? can you control the temp of this does it have a man reset thermostat & 1kw is going to take so long to heat the cylinder that the sun would have gone in, i think you are trying to over compicate things just stick with the top immersion this will be more than good enough, remember 4kw out of your panels is an optimum yeild you may not get this for the majority of the time & then you will be using electric that you are paying for.

legoman62

I think we are moving away from my original question.
Is an immersion heater with a copper stat pocket OK with a stainless steel cylinder? I have heard there could be a problem. I wandered if anyone on this board had experienced this or has the sam:)e set up running. Or does anyone know of an 1kw immersion with a stainless sheath. Regarding the bottom entry immersion I am just trying to future proof my pipe work if I change cylinders.I may/may not fit one.
I will though, have that option available.

Kernel_Sanders

keithgillyon wrote: »

you didn't say anything in your op about solar, but my point remains if you have a top immersion why on earth would you want a 1kw one at the bott ? can you control the temp of this does it have a man reset thermostat & 1kw is going to take so long to heat the cylinder that the sun would have gone in, i think you are trying to over compicate things just stick with the top immersion this will be more than good enough.

Legoman should indeed have mentioned the PV, but he is quite right in wanting a 1kW element in the bottom. Even at this time of year, a system like mine is quite capable of producing over 1000W through cloud between, say, 11am and 3pm (it depends on how thick the cloud is, as well as roof pitch and orientation), so easily enough to heat a cylinder and activate the thermostat. He'll only be using the higher rated element when output exceeds a certain higher level, or maybe as a booster on Economy 7 before 8.30 a.m.

legoman62

Thanks for your positive reply to my question.
Obviously I should have mentioned my solar panels!
Have you fitted an immersion to the bottom of your cylinder? If so what type? I do not have economy 7 but after looking at the Sunny explorer program on my PC realised, that in March I had approx 130hrs
when I made in excess of 2kw.Using energysavingexp's ideas/help and superb advice, I am fitting the light switch controller as described and, should run the 1kw immersion for free. Possibly a 2nd immersion
too.

southcoastrgi

i still think you are wasting your time & the only heaters i have seen (however i stand to be corrected if i'm wrong) are the towel rail type which don't have a built in man re-set thermostat & if they don't then they are illegal to fit to a cylinder what ever type it is as you can't control the temp, if you are only getting 2kw then this isn't enough to run the main one yet alone the additional one, why don't you phone the manifacturer of your chosen cylinder & ask the questions. btw this is the last advice i'm gonna give you on this thread as you don't seem to be interested in anything that i say that doesn't agree with your idea, best of luck & if the above applies with regard to the man re-set thermostat maybe you should goggle "deaths caused by overheating immersion heaters" which is why you cannot buy a immersion thermostat without a man re-set.

legoman62

OK. Apologies if you think I'm not interested in your advice. On the contrary, that is the reason I asked the original question.. to get advice.I put the question on here to try to find anyone who had used a S/S cylinder + copper stat pocket and had problems. Regarding my last post I stated that in March I was receiving in excess of 2kw for many hours(system capable of 4kw) This will obviously improve as the summer months arrive. In my post I said I was going to fit a 1 kw immersion(item2c6281b195) in the top of my cylinder(S/S or copper)
and believe I will run it for free most of the time.
I will take your advice onboard, and do some more research into the bottom entry one before I buy, but, will still prepare the pipework to "future proof"

energysavingexp

keithgillyon wrote: »

you didn't say anything in your op about solar, but my point remains if you have a top immersion why on earth would you want a 1kw one at the bott ? can you control the temp of this does it have a man reset thermostat & 1kw is going to take so long to heat the cylinder that the sun would have gone in, i think you are trying to over compicate things just stick with the top immersion this will be more than good enough, remember 4kw out of your panels is an optimum yeild you may not get this for the majority of the time & then you will be using electric that you are paying for.

you ask about how are you going to drain the tank , in one of your posts well you can get the tee piece the same one that is used on towel rails that allow you to heat it by electric or hot water
as for not having any control you can connect it via a cylinder stat you can get auto or man stats
on the side of the tank.
and as for a 1kw heater being useless not true if you can heat a tank with a 3kw heater in say 1hr then it will just take 3 times longer i have a 300 ltr tank with a 1kw heater and it heats my water fine.

here is a 1kw element just in case you have not seen one
also most tanks have two fittings one on the top and one in the bottom

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-kw-1000-W-11-Immersion-Heater-Use-Spare-Solar-Panels-Power-Heating-/190648736818?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item2c638cdc32

southcoastrgi

energysavingexp wrote: »

you ask about how are you going to drain the tank , in one of your posts well you can get the tee piece the same one that is used on towel rails that allow you to heat it by electric or hot water
as for not having any control you can connect it via a cylinder stat you can get auto or man stats
on the side of the tank.
and as for a 1kw heater being useless not true if you can heat a tank with a 3kw heater in say 1hr then it will just take 3 times longer i have a 300 ltr tank with a 1kw heater and it heats my water fine.

here is a 1kw element just in case you have not seen one
also most tanks have two fittings one on the top and one in the bottom

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1-kw-1000-W-11-Immersion-Heater-Use-Spare-Solar-Panels-Power-Heating-/190648736818?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Hearing_Cooling_Air&hash=item2c638cdc32

the link you posted is for a normal size immersion heater not a 1/2" one & most cylinders don't have two bosses only an ecom 7 or sometimes a solar tank neither of which the op says he's going for, a cylinder stat is not designed to take the kind of power needed to run an immersion heater it will burn out.