Timer switch

[matlob]

Thanks all. I’ve tried a distance apart too

If I manually turn the dial it clicks on but doesn’t register the off pin.

One of the pins is also really hard to remove and I had to grab it with pliers whereas the other one just pulls out.

I’ll replace it and see how it goes. The one I can get is slightly different but hopefully ok. I believe this one is 19 years old as all the flats have the same dial I believe.

Can anyone tell if the water heater is on a thermostat from the photos as it seems to be on even when the switch is off. Ones I’ve had before have been on the timer along with the heating (different flat)
Thanks

 

[JohnW2]

Thanks all. I’ve tried a distance apart too

OK

If I manually turn the dial it clicks on but doesn’t register the off pin.

Does that remain true if you put the off pin somewhere totally different? If so, then I would say that the timer is simply 'dead'.

One of the pins is also really hard to remove and I had to grab it with pliers whereas the other one just pulls out.

That's not unusual.

I’ll replace it and see how it goes. The one I can get is slightly different but hopefully ok. I believe this one is 19 years old as all the flats have the same dial I believe.

19 years is probably approaching the longest life that Sunray and myself have got out of one of them, so it could well be due for replacement! Ones (literally or very nearly) identical to yours are still available.

Can anyone tell if the water heater is on a thermostat from the photos as it seems to be on even when the switch is off.

There must be a thermostat, otherwise the water would boil. However, unless wired in some crazy way, no thermostat could turnthe heater on when the power to it was switched off!

Kind Regards, John

 

[matlob]

Thanks John

With regards to the water heater I meant that it seems to make a noise when the timer is switched to off, not the actual cylinder, so don't think it's controlled by the timer.

I assumed it would heat overnight "for however long is set on the timer'. I'm guessing this one just maintains a temperature and turns on/off as required but not sure if that is efficient.

I've found out today that the door intercom doesn't work either

Thanks

 

[JohnW2]

With regards to the water heater I meant that it seems to make a noise when the timer is switched to off, not the actual cylinder, so don't think it's controlled by the timer.

Oh, I see. If the timer is not controlling the water heater, what IS it controlling?

I assumed it would heat overnight "for however long is set on the timer'. I'm guessing this one just maintains a temperature and turns on/off as required but not sure if that is efficient.

As I said, it can't heat continuously for the whole night, since the water would then boil -that's why there is a thermostat to switch it off when it gets to the desired temp (and back on again if/when the temp of the water falls). The following shows a typical day of my immersion. Power to the immersion is switched on (by a timer, just like your one) for the 7 'cheap' night-time hours (the red parts of the graph). However, as you can see, after about one hour, when the water vis 'up to temp', the thermostat switches it off, followed by just occasional brief bursts of re-heating as the water cools down.

Kind Regards, John

 

[matlob]

That's what I assumed this one worked like, but seems to be on without the timer so I guess it just maintains the heat throughout the day controlled by thermostat..

Would have preferred your system to keep costs down.

In another flat I just had the timer set for two hours in the night and it gave enough hot water in the day.

The timer controls the storage heaters x 3 so they heat up through the night and release heat during the day but was hoping it controlled the water too.

Thanks

 

[JohnW2]

That's what I assumed this one worked like, but seems to be on without the timer so I guess it just maintains the heat throughout the day controlled by thermostat..

Maybe.

Would have preferred your system to keep costs down.

It ought to be easy enough to have it changed so that its does behave like mine - basically just a case of feeding the water heater from the same (timer-controlled) supply as the storage heaters.

In another flat I just had the timer set for two hours in the night and it gave enough hot water in the day.

As you can see from my graph, two hours is probably enough on most days - although it might take a bit longer than that if a lot of hot water was used during the previous day. However, as I've said, there is nothing much to be lost by having the water heater 'on' (by timer) for all of the cheap electricity period -the thermostat will then make sure that no more electricity is used that is needed to 'keep the water up to temp'.

The timer controls the storage heaters x 3 so they heat up through the night and release heat during the day but was hoping it controlled the water too.

As above, that could probably fairly easily be arranged.

Kind Regards, John

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

It's not the mechanics of wirleess connections that concern me - you, I and many others could implement that in one way or another. As bernard implies, it's the progressive appearance of more and more RF signals flying around almost every building that I'm less comfortable about

That is very true. I was an early adopter of wifi, when there was just no local competition. I watched as more and more local access points popped up over the years, and I had to increase the number of my own AP's, just to maintain the access I began with.