Hot water tank question (including photos) and DIY disaster!

mute_posting

From memory mine was about £700 for (the smallest model - only a 1 bed flat) - granted they are more expensive but some with the convenience of not having annual inspections etc.

Your tank looked quite large so I imagine you would need one of the larger models - but i don't think they are all that more expensive when compared to the smaller models.

MP

tomstickland

I've now been quoted £400 inc vat for a like-for-like by Kellway builders merchants.

I spoke to a plumber and he reckoned that a heat store was better than a standard vented tank. He also said I could use a smaller tank than the current one. I'm going to ponder it for a while.
Meanwhile get the scrap value for the current tank.

beer_tins

Is there any benefit to you in having the hot water mains pressure? If so, the Heat store sounds like the best option for you.

andrew-b

*Ooooops!!!*

Trying not to laugh at your "frank spencer" moment ...sorry! I love that not only did you take the pics whilst water was flowing but you also had the guts to post a pic of yourself doing the clear-up operation!

No advice to give other than ...spend time thinking ahead before you start DIY jobs and if in doubt get a pro in!

I hope you get it all sorted!

Andy

tomstickland

Oh, it was a job I could easily have done without the disaster, I was just a bit too hasty at a critical moment. I had a big list of jobs to do, so that didn't help.

I'm takin the oppurtunity to redecorate the room now that I've evacuated it. It will be worth it in the end.

tomstickland

Someone on the Screwfix forums told me that I should just reuse the old cylinder after cleaning it out.
Do cylinders have a service life? Is it possible to clean them out and reuse them? Is it a false economy?

EliteHeat

Tom there seems to be absolutely no need to replace the cylinder. The scale is mainly activated by heat and is therefore localised to the heating element.

If you have some loose scale simply hose it out using the 2 1/2" hole where the immersion heater goes in.

Make sure you get a long-life element (incalloy) which costs a few pounds more.

So, £20-£30 and job done.

tomstickland

Just rinse it out then?

nick74

Just rinse it out then?

I would. I recently replaced the lower immersion heater element in my tank and the gunge in it was about 50 times worse than yours. Literally about 5-6 inches deep in the bottom of the tank with limescale flakes! The cylinder was only installed sometime in 2002, but thats what happens with hard water.

There's no need to replace the cylinder just because of this.

mute_posting

That is one of the benefits of heat store type systems - the water that is being heated by the immersion heater never changes - so there is only a limited ammount of lime that can be introduced into the system (that present in the water used to fill the store)

One of the downsides, is that the heat eachanger becomes the major "servicable" part (like the IH in the traditional system) as it is THIS that takes the brunt of the abuse by the hard water.