Suspected immersion failure - am i right?

[sparkymartin]

Hi,

I have a very simple looking system in my house. No central heating. No boiler. Just a single immersion that heats the water.

This morning I woke up to find that there was no hot water, just slightly tepid water.

I have checked the electricity supply to the immersion and there is no problem there, so I am assuming that I need to replace the element in the immersion? Could there be a different issue that is causing this or shoud I go ahead and get a new element in the morning?

Thanks in advance,
Martin

 

[xr4x4]

Could be the stat, you need to check that power is coming out the otherside of the thermostat.

Dead immersions normally pop the fuse, or trip the MCB.

 

[sparkymartin]

I did check the stat. It seems to be functioning ok.

I only recently moved into the house and prior to that nothing had been on for 9months, I don't know if suddenly being used again could cause something to break?

 

[seco services]

Use a multi meter to check resistance of the immersion heater.
Should be around 18 ohms.

 

[sparkymartin]

Not got a multi-meter around right now.

In reality what else could be causing my lack of hot water?

 

[seco services]

Mcb/fuse faulty.
Stat faulty.
Element faulty.
Bad connection.

Need a multi meter to check them really.

 

[sparkymartin]

ok thanks.

There is nothing wrong with the electrical supply or the connections. The stat appears to be working alright so i'm still thinking it's the element.

 

[seco services]

Check the stat reset is ok.

 

[sparkymartin]

How do I check the stat reset?

 

[seco services]

Check on the stat to see if it has a reset button.
Then push it in with a pin etc.

If it's an older stat it may not have one.

 

[DeltaT2]

You need a multimeter as explained above. You can buy them for a few quid. I bought a wee pocket one the other day for 4 quid.
To check the element with a multimeter you employ Ohms Law;
3000Watt(3KW)
-----------
240Vac
=
12.5Amps

240Vac
--------
12.5Amps
=
19.2 Ohms Resistance
As stated above, measure the Ohms resistance through the element.

 

[Agile]

All fine except that for calculation purposes the mains is assumed to be 230v now and that produces an element resistance of 18 ohms.

Tony

 

[DeltaT2]

All fine except that for calculation purposes the mains is assumed to be 230v now and that produces an element resistance of 18 ohms.

Tony

Quite right Tony. I just used 240Vac as a simpler way of explaining.