Is my boiler on its way out?

pennypincher2013

Yesterday the plug of the immersion heater was getting red hot. I took it out of the socket immediately. I plugged the heating plug in the morning (different socket) and there's a buzzing noise coming from the boiler.
Does anyone have any ideas what is going wrong?

nofoollikeold

1. The immersion heater should not be plugged in. It should be connected to a dedicated circuit breaker in the consumer unit via a dedicated cable and switched connection point.

2. The most likely reason for the plug getting very hot is a poor connection.

3. I suspect by boiler you mean the hot water cylinder. You can sometimes hear a faint buzz when the water is heating via an immersion heater. A louder buzzing suggests a loose connection within the immersion heater cover.

I'd suggest you get an electrician to rewire it from the consumer unit to a dedicated cable connection point and to provide a new heat resistant cable from the connection point to the immersion heater.

Ectophile

Immersion heaters are normally hard-wired in, as nofoollikeold says.

An immersion heater can draw around 13A for an extended period - several hours. But a standard 13A plug can barely handle that and gets rather hot. After a few years, the contracts can start to fail, making the plug get even hotter.

The correct solution would be to wire it in properly.

[Deleted User]

You need to bear in mind that if you put 13A through a 13A fuse, the fuse wire will be running at just below 1083C, the melting point of copper. That will make the plug warm.

Mr.Generous

Immersion usually on a 15amp fuse / breaker - wired via a 20amp (or higher) double pole switch. Heat resistant flex for the last bit of wiring. As contacts wear the resistance will be higher and it will get hotter, a plug is not a good idea. The elements fail eventually but if this happens it won't heat the water at all.

pennypincher2013

nofoollikeold wrote: »

1. The immersion heater should not be plugged in. It should be connected to a dedicated circuit breaker in the consumer unit via a dedicated cable and switched connection point.

2. The most likely reason for the plug getting very hot is a poor connection.

3. I suspect by boiler you mean the hot water cylinder. You can sometimes hear a faint buzz when the water is heating via an immersion heater. A louder buzzing suggests a loose connection within the immersion heater cover.

I'd suggest you get an electrician to rewire it from the consumer unit to a dedicated cable connection point and to provide a new heat resistant cable from the connection point to the immersion heater.

The immersion heater plug has been there for yeeeeaaaaarrrrsssss. So I say it is out of date.
Yes, I mean hot water cylinder The immersion heater plug was not on when there was a loud buzzing. Only the heating plug was on. Is it that the the water was heating up and that was affecting the faulty immersion heater, making it buzz?
I need to get an electrician in. Do you think I need a new immersion heater or just need to rewire?

Le_Kirk

pennypincher2013 wrote: »

The immersion heater plug was not on when there was a loud buzzing. Only the heating plug was on.

What is the heating plug?

southcoastrgi

If you are using an electric immersion to heat your water rather than your gas boiler you aren't really living up to your name

pennypincher2013

Le_Kirk wrote: »

What is the heating plug?

I mean to heat water, the house.

pennypincher2013

southcoastrgi wrote: »

If you are using an electric immersion to heat your water rather than your gas boiler you aren't really living up to your name

We don't use the immersion heater every time we want hot water. It's like boiling the kettle for a cup of tea. You wouldn't fill the entire kettle for just one cup.

dominoman

Unplug your immersion heater and just avoid using it. You'll save lots of money.

Immersions are for rare emergency use when you need lots of extra hot water quickly. You shouldnt be using it often. Mine stopped working a few years ago and I've never missed it