megaflo water heater not heating very well!

[wallofbeans]

hi all

we have this heatrae sadia megaflo mains pressure water heater tank installed in our new bathroom and even though the water pressure is amazing from both hot and cold taps, shower and bath... the problem is we only get 5 minutes of hot water at any one time out of this huge tank! this seems crazy and im assuming this is supposed to work a little better than that...

the tank is split into two sections, the top smaller section is marked as 'sink' and the bottom larger section marked 'bath' - could the tank be set to just heat the 'sink' section and that be a reason for us not getting much hot?
we thought that BOTH the 'sink' and 'bath' sections we set to heat at the same time but maybe if they are both on, one cancels the other out?

very confused and frustrated... an advice VERY much appreciated!

thanks all

 

[gas4you]

One assumes from your description that you have a direct megaflo model, indicated by DD on the cylinder?

The immersion marked as sink, the top one just heats the top part of the cylinder, mainly as a boost during the expensive daytime rate of electricity.

The Immersion at the bottom, marked bath, heats the entire volume of the cylinder, but assuming you are on an E7 tariff, will only be active during the overnight cheap rate electricity period.

First simple thing to check is that the overheat cut out has not activated on this bottom immersion. If it has you will see a small red button sticking out. Press it in to reset, but if it keeps blowing then you need to call someone in to investigate.

If it hasn't popped out, check that all switches are on for this bottom element. If you find they are, then you may have a faulty immersion element ot the thermostat in this immersion may have failed.

 

[EliteHeat]

It sounds like you have an electrically heated cylinder and the bottom heater has packed up, leaving you with only a little heat from the top heater.

 

[wallofbeans]

One assumes from your description that you have a direct megaflo model, indicated by DD on the cylinder?

The immersion marked as sink, the top one just heats the top part of the cylinder, mainly as a boost during the expensive daytime rate of electricity.

The Immersion at the bottom, marked bath, heats the entire volume of the cylinder, but assuming you are on an E7 tariff, will only be active during the overnight cheap rate electricity period.

First simple thing to check is that the overheat cut out has not activated on this bottom immersion. If it has you will see a small red button sticking out. Press it in to reset, but if it keeps blowing then you need to call someone in to investigate.

If it hasn't popped out, check that all switches are on for this bottom element. If you find they are, then you may have a faulty immersion element ot the thermostat in this immersion may have failed.

hmm... I cant see any DD on the cylinder, it has 'megaflo high efficiency heatrae sadia a division of the baxi group' written on a big sticker then below that lots of 'important' info and helpline numbers but thats it...

plus there doesnt seem to be any red button that could stick out... there is two grey plastic covers, the bottom marked 'bath' and the top marked 'sink', they are held in place by a single screw and when i take it off there is a circular thing with wires coming out of it but no buttons... these according to the manual do contain a reset switch which you need a pen to press.. ive tried this but it seems to make no difference to the water heating...

there are also three switches on the wall above the cylinder, again one is marked 'bath' and is switched on, the second is marked 'sink' and is off. the third is above and has two switches, above the first one it says off and below it says on, above the second it says sink and below bath... im very confused by this switch and dont know what it does!

i think the other important thing i should mention is we do not have gas in our house... we live quite remotely and have no gas supply in our street, so everything is either heated by oil or electricity... and yes, it is more expensive but we dont have much choice!

 

[wallofbeans]

It sounds like you have an electrically heated cylinder and the bottom heater has packed up, leaving you with only a little heat from the top heater.

it could well be electricaly heated but id be very surprised if it has packed up as it was only installed 6 months ago and is brand new and hardly been used until now... could there be a more simple explanation? could i have a switch o the wrong setting that is causing the cylinder not to heat? or something esle related to the settings or the way it ws installed?

 

[wallofbeans]

under the two grey plastic covers there is also what the manual says is a themostat, it is a small blue plastic lever that moves left or right... and at the moment its sitting somewhere around the middle... shoud this be further to the right and would this give me more hot water or just the same amount at a higher temp?

thanks all and apologies for the babbling!

 

[gas4you]

The DD would be before any number, eg DD145, DD 170 etc etc. If not there may be CL145 etc, in which case it is indirect and heated from the oil boiler.

I somehow doubt this though from your description.

The bottom 'bath' one will probably only activate over night on th E7 times.

NEVER assume something must work because it is new or nearly new

 

[wallofbeans]

is there a way i can make it active whenever i want it to be?

even first thing in the morning all we get is a 5 minute shower of hot water and thats it...

ill check those numbers now...

EDIT: got it - DD145HE

 

[wallofbeans]

im also wondering if the red button that was mentioned is on this cylinder somewhere and i cant see it..? can you be more specific about where it would be.. could it be under the grey lastic cover for example?

what id love to acheive with this is it does its thing over night as you say but there is also some sort of over ride so i can just get it working when i want...
is that possible?

 

[gas4you]

Yes, it is actually on the round immersion heater itself behind the grey plastic door.

No, if wired into the E7 circuit via the E7 consumer unit you will not be able to make it live outside of the E7 period, unless you disconnect the wire from the switch on the wall and put a plug on it.

 

[wallofbeans]

Yes, it is actually on the round immersion heater itself behind the grey plastic door.

No, if wired into the E7 circuit via the E7 consumer unit you will not be able to make it live outside of the E7 period, unless you disconnect the wire from the switch on the wall and put a plug on it.

i cant find a red button under the lower grey plastic cover... there is a blue arrow that can be moved left and right (im assuming to adjust the temp?) and a tiny hole with a blue button behind it that, according to the manual, can be pressed (with a pencil or something) to reset the cylinder...

where would the E7 consumer unit be located to you think?

thanks for all the help with this, it's very much appreciated!

 

[gas4you]

Probably is the blue button then, not red

The blue lever should be set to around 60-65C as a starting point, usually about number 4 on these IIRC.

Even if you located your E7 unit, there is nothing that you can do to alter it or over ride it. It is set by the electricity supplier.

 

[wallofbeans]

Probably is the blue button then, not red

The blue lever should be set to around 60-65C as a starting point, usually about number 4 on these IIRC.

Even if you located your E7 unit, there is nothing that you can do to alter it or over ride it. It is set by the electricity supplier.

the button doesnt seem to pop out either though so ive just guessed if it needs resetting and pressed it!

i moved the lever to the right a bit in the hope it would help somehow... it doesnt seem to have any numbers on it to judge what temp its at (should it? i might have to get back in there with a torch)....

anyone have any thoughts on how to set my selection of switches to get this right and if them being in a certain combination could cause the problem i am having?

cheers!

 

[gas4you]

Leave the switch on the wall that is connected to the bottom immersion (bath) on all the time. The top one is just for a daytime boost.

Go to your consumer unit and check that all the mcb's are set to on and there isn't one that has tripped, that could be the 'bath' immersion.

You probably have 2 consumer units, one for normal use and one for E7, unless somewhere you have a seperate E7 timer.

Also check that the is not a switch somewhere else, eg the kitchen that has 'Water Heater' on it and that this is switched on as well.

If any of these switches have fuses in them (13 amp) check these are good as well.

Apart from this get up about 2am and check to see if you have 240VAC at the 'bath' immersion terminals.

 

[wallofbeans]

Leave the switch on the wall that is connected to the bottom immersion (bath) on all the time. The top one is just for a daytime boost.

Go to your consumer unit and check that all the mcb's are set to on and there isn't one that has tripped, that could be the 'bath' immersion.

You probably have 2 consumer units, one for normal use and one for E7, unless somewhere you have a seperate E7 timer.

Also check that the is not a switch somewhere else, eg the kitchen that has 'Water Heater' on it and that this is switched on as well.

If any of these switches have fuses in them (13 amp) check these are good as well.

Apart from this get up about 2am and check to see if you have 240VAC at the 'bath' immersion terminals.

but if i leave both the bottom and top immersion switches both on will that cancel either out? ie could the top one being on stop the bottom one from working?

when you say "consumer unit" you mean..?