Dimplex Opti-Myst fires

[davymole]

Hi all

Good to join you all

Please can anyone advise:

I have a dimplex Optimyst Cadogan stove type, and the bulb assembly unit has given up as the bulbs wont light but i can hear the click that usually happens as the bulbs light. I have spoken with dimplex and the new part from uk spares is approx £70.00. Just wondered if anyone has had to replace one or has indeed repaired one as they are standard 2 pin bulbs??

hi I have had the same FAULT on a piermont fire ,dimplex just gave me the parts no phone the supplier was told £82 plus vat ,looked on line found that TOOL STORE sold cerimic ones four for £2 easy fix just put a heat shield cover on the cable from Maplins should last longer than the dimplex parts all for under a fiver

 

[davymole]

You should contact the people you bought it from. You have consumer rights law behind you here.

< 24 months is not 'satisfactory durability' for a £575 fire...

It was purchased from a local Charlies store they no longer stock this or other opti myst fires due to the number of complaints,repaired myself for under a fiver

 

[pagstan1956]

Have just returned from Maplin with 20mm membrane catalogue No. L41AK £3.49 (inc VAT). It fits and works well. The complete mist maker is also available from Maplin at £19.99 (£46 from Dimplex). The only other problem I have had with the Danville fire is that the lampholders burnt out after 2 years, Dimplex wanted £70 for a complete assembly - I bought four, better quality, individual lampholders for less than £1 each in my local hardware shop.

Having read this forum due to no mist on my Tahoe Optimyst fire I went to Maplins and bought the 20mm disc for £3.49 ,refitted it and hey presto it works a treat .
Saved time and money .

 

[theoldtimer]

Dimplex used to be THE NAME for electric fires, but having spent a large sum on their DANVILLE optimist fire I am very disappointed with its UN- reliability. After a month and about 4 engineer visits to fix a fault with the mist system they eventually decided to send a new fire complete. We used it for a few months and now the misting system doesn't work. It seems to me that they have introduced new high tech to basic electric fires and have not spent enough time and money on research and soak testing. No way am I going to fork out £125 for a new ultrasonic part every few months its a rip off again. I had Dimplex fires years ago that were well made and would last for 20 years or more and now they are selling poor quality fires that break down and cost a fortune to repair. One very disappointed ex Dimplex fan.

 

[theoldtimer]

Having just found this forum and now just read a few postings, I feel that all of us who have been "sold" this new technology should voice our complaints here in the strongest terms. Yes, the misting system looks good when it works, BUT its obviously not fit for purpose under the Sale of Goods Act. The fires are VERY expensive and reliability is simply atrocious. Parts should not need replacing after a few months in normal use and using the halogen lighting in them means they are far from being energy efficient compared with "old fashioned" Dimplex fires of 20 years ago. Why when LED technology is available aren't they using these devices instead of the high power and very energy inefficient halogen lamps, 4 of in mine. I am going to write to Dimplex about this and ask them to refund the purchase price of the Danville fire which is NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE. So come on everyone else, keep complaining and then maybe we will get better BRITISH made products.

 

[gaz7753]

hey old timer can you keep us informed how you got on.

 

[theoldtimer]

Yes certainly will and am hoping more disgruntled customers will let Dimplex know where they are going wrong. Well, they emailed me to tell me to ring customer service (0844 number another money spinner for them ) and they diagnosed the fault over the phone and said they would send me a new ultrasonic module for me to fit ! The fire has a three year extended parts and labour guarantee and whilst I am competent to do the repair myself, I don't think they should expect all customers to become their unpaid service engineers. They also admitted that the new mister module was an improved design and should last longer than the old one which was just a few months ! Of course when the guarantee runs out no doubt these parts will have to be purchased at high costs. I am really disappointed that Dimplex have not carried out adequate R and D on these new "state of the art" electric fires and their reliability should and could be very many years, not months between failures. After all, they are not cheap at around £500 PLUS a go. Finally, I notice they NOW DO use LED lamps which is a good move to save energy when in flames effect use only. I wonder if they have a conversion kit for my OLD FIRE about a year old now?

 

[valm]

I bought a Dimplex Danville in July 2013. Noted that there might be problems with not using the Danville over the summer so every few days started it up with no problems. A couple of weeks ago the fire switched itself off after a few seconds. My husband dismantled it and dried everything and replaced it all back and still nothing. So I sent off for a transducer. He fitted the new one today and still the fire switches itself off after a few seconds. To say that I am extremely disappointed is an understatement. Of course it is now out of its warranty and I have an expensive piece of rubbish in my fireplace.

 

[theoldtimer]

Hi VALM, are you sure its out of warranty? Mine has 3 years as I registered it with Dimplex after purchase. I think the standard warranty is two years? You need to check this out because spare parts are very expensive. The first Danville we had failed and an engineer called 3 or 4 times, fitting various electronic parts and still it wouldn't work. He damaged the chrome surround and in the end they agreed to replace the whole fire with a new one. But this one is now faulty and I am awaiting a new transducer from Dimplex, I will report if I have the same problem as you have had. I agree with you, in that its a very expensive fire and one which doesn't give me much confidence that it will have a long life. There are similar electric fires available but with the a simpler flame effect and at a fraction of the price. The Optimyst effect is good but unless its trouble free then I don't think its worth the extra cost.

 

[valm]

Hi Oldtimer, my husband contacted Dimplex and they asked for the transducer assembly to be sent to them and said that they would replace it. The replacement arrived an hour ago and my husband fitted it. It hasn't helped and the lights go off after a few seconds. Thankfully the fan heater still works as we needed it when our CH broke down last week. Hubby back on the phone to Dimplex.

 

[theoldtimer]

Hi Valm, funnily enough, I also received replacement transducer in the post today and fitted it and all is now working. Sorry to hear yours still not working. Not sure but it may be a circuit board fault, I had that with the first Danville I bought. I also cleaned the water sump and tank this morning and was surprised how much scale had built up and I had been using bottled filtered water ! But I now have a water filter jug and will use that now. It may be worth checking the sump and tank for any debris/lime scale? I have just rung Dimplex to see if I can fit low energy LED bulbs instead of the halogen ones, but they informed me that the mist system will not work with them. I am very interested to know what the problem is with your fire now. I am still concerned about this fire and its somewhat un-reliability and what costs I am going to face for parts when the guarantee runs out.

 

[SimonH2]

I have just rung Dimplex to see if I can fit low energy LED bulbs instead of the halogen ones, but they informed me that the mist system will not work with them.

Correct. The lamps are there to create air convection due to the heat produced. If you fit LED lights, there won't be enough heat to create the convection needed to make the mist rise.

 

[theoldtimer]

That's interesting, thanks for confirming this. I am wondering whether to try fitting say just 2 LED lamps and retaining 2 halogens? Another point I would appreciate any thoughts on. Even on the lowest setting of the "mist control knob" the smoke is almost too much ?
I find that the effect is more natural with less "smoke" and on the highest setting it all just cascades out under the canopy and looks ridiculous. Therefore, I am wondering if by reducing the heat from the lamps (i.e. replace 2 halogens with RED LED low energy) whether the smoke production would be less?
Any thoughts would be appreciated, maybe Dimplex could say something, but there is no substitute for end user feedback is there. There is no substitute for a real fire but this is a very good alternative and with a bit more "tweaking" it could be better and consume much less power when in effect mode only.

 

[SimonH2]

The "smoke" is made by the transducer sat in the water bowl - so changing the lights won't change how much of it there is.
You could try just removing one or two lamps and see what effect it has on "smoke" movement.

 

[valm]

I am pleased to report that the Danville is up and running again. When the new unit was fitted there wasn't enough water in the sump and there was something wrong about a cable being in a certain position which prevented the fire from staying on. Once these were corrected it all started to work. However, the instruction how to check whether the fan was working was misunderstood by my husband which made him think that it wasn't. The customer service representative said that he would send out an engineer as a faulty fan could cause the fire to overheat. Once off the phone we had another look and found that the fan was in fact working correctly. My husband made another call to Dimplex to say that the engineer wasn't needed.

The customer support at Dimplex was excellent and if the fire hadn't started to work then I know that an engineer would have been sent. I know this because this morning we got a call from an engineer who wanted to arrange a visit. The message hadn't got through to say that we no longer needed one.

So I am happy now that my fire is working and hoping that this is a one of problem.

I use filtered water.

Happy Christmas to everyone and a trouble free 2015.