Boost button not working, electric immersion tank

[richardspooner]

Woke up this morning to no hot water. Tried the boost button on our control panel and it wouldn't switch on (no click and no little red light).

So far I've checked the MCB and fuse behind the immersion heater, both were fine. So I'm thinking we probably have a burnt heater element. This is where my knowledge hits a big brick wall.

We only have electric water heating, the house heating is a mixutre of storage heaters and electric radiatos. The tank itself is a pig to get to and I'm not sure if I'm biting off more than I can chew attempting to replace the immersion heater.

My questions are quite straight forward I suppose:

1) I've read that the thermostat might be at fault rather than the whole heater element....how do I test this?

2) The immersion heater is vertical fit, do I have to drain the whole cylinder before I relace it?

3) How hard is it to physically remove the old immersion heater? Do the weld up like most other plumbing parts? I know how thin the copper tank are and I wouldn't like to damage it.......I'll give it a good soak in WD40.

4) Can't think of 4 right now but I'm sure it will come to me later.

If I've ommited any important information please let me know and I'll answer what I can.

I've attached some pictures below so you can see what I'm dealing with.

 

[JPC]

before heading down the immersion change over...should your switch"? not have a neon light...that lights up.
Are you saying the is no power to the switch...cos that could well be the problem

 

[richardspooner]

Thanks for your reply JPC

I'm confident it is not the switch.......and certainly not just because the bulb has gone......as I said, I had no hot water on either the program or boost. How can I test the switch? I have a multimeter but I haven't used it for mains stuff before.........any advise please guys??

 

[seco services]

if the fuse is ok is their power at the switch ?
if yes is their power ate the immersion ?

 

[richardspooner]

if the fuse is ok is their power at the switch ?
if yes is their power ate the immersion ?

Can you tell me how to check for power at the immersion?? I have a multimeter but I don't have a clue how to check for mains voltage....well, I don't know what to set the meter too.

Any advice on that?

 

[kablamar]

If there is power at the immersion element it may be the element stat, you will need to use a multimeter set to read continuity to check this. Ensure that the circuit is turned off first at the supply and use the meter probes to test across the element stat (usually the two screws next to the stat dial) turn the dial all the way up and test, then all the way down and test again. If you get no continuity then the stat needs replacing. If the element needs changing then you will need an element spanner to remove the old and replace with new. The fact that the element is at the top of the tank means you should'nt need to drain down to replace.

 

[seco services]

have you got v and a wavey line. may say 600 or 200.

 

[kablamar]

Post a pic of your multimeter as you will need to know how to read Voltage and Continuity.

 

[seco services]

If there is power at the immersion element it may be the element stat, you will need to use a multimeter set to read continuity to check this. Ensure that the circuit is turned off first at the supply and use the meter probes to test across the element stat (usually the two screws next to the stat dial) turn the dial all the way up and test, then all the way down and test again. If you get no continuity then the stat needs replacing. If the element needs changing then you will need an element spanner to remove the old and replace with new. The fact that the element is at the top of the tank means you should'nt need to drain down to replace.

you've not even sure you've got power at the switch no point doing continuity test on element when theirs no power to immersion.

 

[kablamar]

you've not even sure you've got power at the switch no point doing continuity test on element when theirs no power to immersion.

Well the covers off and he's warming up his multimeter.... so why not

 

[keego]

Can you tell me how to check for power at the immersion?? I have a multimeter but I don't have a clue how to check for mains voltage....well, I don't know what to set the meter too.

Any advice on that?

Get an electrician in! by your own admission you don't know how to safely test for 240v.
What gets me about this post is, if this guy was on here asking a gas related question and openly admitted he didn't have a clue what he was doing he wouldn't be given the time of day, yet here we are giving him enough information to fry himself with electrickery if he gets it wrong.
Or is it just me.

 

[richardspooner]

BRB guys, sorry to ignore you all but I've just sat down to my bargan bucket (lol)

Don't worry, I'm not gonna shock myself............done that way way way too many times before.

 

[seco services]

if this guy was on here asking a gas related question and openly admitted he didn't have a clue what he was doing he wouldn't be given the time of day,

why not ?

 

[kablamar]

Get an electrician in! by your own admission you don't know how to safely test for 240v.
What gets me about this post is, if this guy was on here asking a gas related question and openly admitted he didn't have a clue what he was doing he wouldn't be given the time of day, yet here we are giving him enough information to fry himself with electrickery if he gets it wrong.
Or is it just me.

Your right Keego.... Re-reading, the op doesn't sound competant enough to fault find. If it is something simple as an mcb tripped then ok, but finding the cause of that should be tackled professionally.

 

[keego]

if this guy was on here asking a gas related question and openly admitted he didn't have a clue what he was doing he wouldn't be given the time of day,

why not ?

BECAUSE HE INTENDS DOING IT HIMSELF!