Hi, I've been having some issues with my water tank/economy 7 water heating - I'd be really grateful if anyone can advise. I have a combi tank with two immersion heaters linked up to an old style Sangamo economy 7 timer (with a 24 hour dial which drives the economy 7, and 1 hour boost button).
Problems started 3 weeks ago when I was awoken at 6am by the neighbours from the flats below me as water was leaking into their flats. My bathroom and cupboard with water tank in it (next to bathroom) were also very wet and water was dripping down the walls / from the ceiling in the hall. Anyway, turned out water tank had overflowed, water on the hall walls/ceiling was condensation, the plumber I called out said ball valve had failed and needed replacing.
It then took 2 weeks and a number of messages to get them back out again to replace it, but they seemed to be a reputable firm and had responded to the emergency call out quickly, so i assumed they were just busy. They charged £155 in total, although 55 of that was for the emergency call out, and they also needed to access the loft to cut an inspection hatch. My plumbing knowledge is very limited, I guessed that I could probably have got it cheaper, but didn't think it was too bad, and figured it was worth it to get it sorted with no more disruption.
Anyway, they came, did the job and as leaving suggested I put the hot water on for a bit (I realised after they left that the electricity supply to the water heater was still turned off at the mains, how I left it, so they couldn't have tested turning it on). So I turned the power back on, and put the boost on, I heard the occasional gurgling/ sloshing sound but didn't think too much of it. This noise got more frequent though and eventually turned into a constant noise, like a toilet flushing repeatedly, or waves crashing, it became very loud ie could hear it over the tv in the living room, and sounded quite violent! Also, the boost had failed to auto shut off after an hour and indicator light remained on. So, I shut the water heating off (maybe 2-3 hours after turning it on), then realised tank had also started overflow again. I then discovered bathroom floor was wet, but not on side of water tank, water was clearly leaking out of the big main pipe at the back of the toilet (waste pipe?) - this had never been an issue before, neither was the noise from the tank. Problems all subsided when water heating was off.
Got the plumbers back out next morning, they didn't really seem to know what the issue was, and said they couldn't explain water coming out of the back of the toilet. They said water was very hot (too hot) and turned the temperature of the immersion heaters down and reduced amount of water in tank slightly, and said to try it like that and only turn water heating on for short periods. When I questioned them a bit more they said they could get their electrician out to test the immersion heaters and timer as the fault may be with one of those (which might have caused overheating and caused ball valve to fail in first place). Immersion heaters were on 50-60 degrees before they changed them and had been at that temp since tank was installed 4 years earlier.
I tried using the boost again after they left, light came on, but again failed to go off after an hour, no noise, no leaking from toilet nor overflowing from tank. In fact no noise at all, I don't think it was heating at all, although difficult to tell a tank was still full of hot water.
After that the Electrician/plumbing co. didn't contact me, I had to chase them up, turned out electrician actually worked for a different company and would charge another £40-60 call out charge to come out and check my system. I queried this and was told what I had paid only covered plumbing not electrics. Given I'd already paid one call out charge/for repair, and they had supposedly checked my system and found the fault, I thought this sounded unreasonable (am I correct?). I have no issue paying for additional parts/fitting if required, but not a second call out charge.
My boyfriend used to be an electrician, but had been working away, so I waited for him to come back and have a look this weekend. He's not very familiar with economy 7, but was able to test the immersion heaters (well check there was power going to thermostats), which there was, although one initially gave no reading out, and he realised the reset switch had been tripped, after resetting though it worked fine. This means plumbers had adjusted temp but failed to pick up on tripped reset, which was presumably why nothing happened when I tested boost after their second visit. Also discovered plumbers had set temp to around 30 degrees on immersion - this seems very Iow (risk of legionnaires?), although I guess if overheating actual temp is probably much higher. Anyway, my other half put temps back up to about 50. I tested again with boost, this time it was clearly heating water (could hear it kick in straight away), boost light still fails to go off though - only left water heating on for just over an hour to test. ( It didn't make untoward noises like previously, just sounded like it was heating up, water did get very hot though).
Anyway, we are guessing that thermostat/s may need replacing so have ordered new replacements for both to try given they are only cheap, and my other half will change them. That is really just a guess though - if anyone has any ideas what the issue is your expertise would be much appreciated! Is it the thermostat that governs the boost button shutting off, or something else (timer?)?
As things stand I have not really tested heating the water on economy 7, other than to move the dial around to the e7 hours to check the light comes on the timer and goes off in daytime hours, and I can also hear tank kick in and sounds like it is heating up when light comes on - have not left it on any length of time though - only done this on boost. The timer unit was replaced fairly recently (few months ago?) I managed to source a new unit identical to the original to do a straight swop, so it is an old style unit but is new, so I guess unlikely its the issue, but not impossible it has a fault (in ordinary circumstances I only use boost on it very occasionally).
Sorry this is so long! Any advice / suggestions on what the issue is and how to fix it? Also, should I steer clear of the plumbers I have used so far, or do they sound reasonable?
Thanks
Problems started 3 weeks ago when I was awoken at 6am by the neighbours from the flats below me as water was leaking into their flats. My bathroom and cupboard with water tank in it (next to bathroom) were also very wet and water was dripping down the walls / from the ceiling in the hall. Anyway, turned out water tank had overflowed, water on the hall walls/ceiling was condensation, the plumber I called out said ball valve had failed and needed replacing.
It then took 2 weeks and a number of messages to get them back out again to replace it, but they seemed to be a reputable firm and had responded to the emergency call out quickly, so i assumed they were just busy. They charged £155 in total, although 55 of that was for the emergency call out, and they also needed to access the loft to cut an inspection hatch. My plumbing knowledge is very limited, I guessed that I could probably have got it cheaper, but didn't think it was too bad, and figured it was worth it to get it sorted with no more disruption.
Anyway, they came, did the job and as leaving suggested I put the hot water on for a bit (I realised after they left that the electricity supply to the water heater was still turned off at the mains, how I left it, so they couldn't have tested turning it on). So I turned the power back on, and put the boost on, I heard the occasional gurgling/ sloshing sound but didn't think too much of it. This noise got more frequent though and eventually turned into a constant noise, like a toilet flushing repeatedly, or waves crashing, it became very loud ie could hear it over the tv in the living room, and sounded quite violent! Also, the boost had failed to auto shut off after an hour and indicator light remained on. So, I shut the water heating off (maybe 2-3 hours after turning it on), then realised tank had also started overflow again. I then discovered bathroom floor was wet, but not on side of water tank, water was clearly leaking out of the big main pipe at the back of the toilet (waste pipe?) - this had never been an issue before, neither was the noise from the tank. Problems all subsided when water heating was off.
Got the plumbers back out next morning, they didn't really seem to know what the issue was, and said they couldn't explain water coming out of the back of the toilet. They said water was very hot (too hot) and turned the temperature of the immersion heaters down and reduced amount of water in tank slightly, and said to try it like that and only turn water heating on for short periods. When I questioned them a bit more they said they could get their electrician out to test the immersion heaters and timer as the fault may be with one of those (which might have caused overheating and caused ball valve to fail in first place). Immersion heaters were on 50-60 degrees before they changed them and had been at that temp since tank was installed 4 years earlier.
I tried using the boost again after they left, light came on, but again failed to go off after an hour, no noise, no leaking from toilet nor overflowing from tank. In fact no noise at all, I don't think it was heating at all, although difficult to tell a tank was still full of hot water.
After that the Electrician/plumbing co. didn't contact me, I had to chase them up, turned out electrician actually worked for a different company and would charge another £40-60 call out charge to come out and check my system. I queried this and was told what I had paid only covered plumbing not electrics. Given I'd already paid one call out charge/for repair, and they had supposedly checked my system and found the fault, I thought this sounded unreasonable (am I correct?). I have no issue paying for additional parts/fitting if required, but not a second call out charge.
My boyfriend used to be an electrician, but had been working away, so I waited for him to come back and have a look this weekend. He's not very familiar with economy 7, but was able to test the immersion heaters (well check there was power going to thermostats), which there was, although one initially gave no reading out, and he realised the reset switch had been tripped, after resetting though it worked fine. This means plumbers had adjusted temp but failed to pick up on tripped reset, which was presumably why nothing happened when I tested boost after their second visit. Also discovered plumbers had set temp to around 30 degrees on immersion - this seems very Iow (risk of legionnaires?), although I guess if overheating actual temp is probably much higher. Anyway, my other half put temps back up to about 50. I tested again with boost, this time it was clearly heating water (could hear it kick in straight away), boost light still fails to go off though - only left water heating on for just over an hour to test. ( It didn't make untoward noises like previously, just sounded like it was heating up, water did get very hot though).
Anyway, we are guessing that thermostat/s may need replacing so have ordered new replacements for both to try given they are only cheap, and my other half will change them. That is really just a guess though - if anyone has any ideas what the issue is your expertise would be much appreciated! Is it the thermostat that governs the boost button shutting off, or something else (timer?)?
As things stand I have not really tested heating the water on economy 7, other than to move the dial around to the e7 hours to check the light comes on the timer and goes off in daytime hours, and I can also hear tank kick in and sounds like it is heating up when light comes on - have not left it on any length of time though - only done this on boost. The timer unit was replaced fairly recently (few months ago?) I managed to source a new unit identical to the original to do a straight swop, so it is an old style unit but is new, so I guess unlikely its the issue, but not impossible it has a fault (in ordinary circumstances I only use boost on it very occasionally).
Sorry this is so long! Any advice / suggestions on what the issue is and how to fix it? Also, should I steer clear of the plumbers I have used so far, or do they sound reasonable?
Thanks
