Economey 7 Problem

[marsaday]

All the heaters in my house have gone off - 4 in total.

The sparky has said the fuse box supplying the heaters is fine and working.

The electric company have been out to see the meter and said that is fine (economey 7 switched on).

So all the heaters have basically stopped working. it doesnt make sense.

Any ideas what has happened here. i have a feeling it is still something to do with the meter. it is a payment meter as well. This house is a rental you see.

the tenant says all the plug lights do come on after 12 which shows the electric is coming through to each of the heaters.

Any ideas on this because i will not be repairing them if they are bust. instead i will install a wet heating system.

thanks.

 

[flameport]

The sparky has said the fuse box supplying the heaters is fine and working.

Did they check the actual heaters?
Have the tenants been drying their laundry on the heaters?

 

[eniacs]

Hi Mars;

I've heard of things like this too the old statement "They are all not working" you have to read something else into this - once you have found that there is power to each one (IE no common point of failure)...

The tennant probably knew that maybe one or two were not working but they werent bothered by it as they werent required or were in rooms they didnt use. Now though its likely another one has stopped working probably the one in the front room so they are now bothered enough to report it to you.

The heaters arent complicated - might be worth opening them up to check its not something simple befor binning them.

If major problems like elements then its time to do some plumbing!

 

[marsaday]

yes i imagine they dried their cloths on the heaters. will this affect things.

they dont use the buggers and didnt tell me when they stopped working last spring. i found out myself when working there and asked a few questions.

the heaters havent been checked yet, but i will get the sparky to look at them as he is working for me tomorrow somewhere else.

just strange that they have all packed in.

 

[Taylortwocities]

I trust you provided them with the operating instructions????, like these

do not cover

Mind you, most heaters do say something about covering on the top of the unit...

 

[flameport]

yes i imagine they dried their cloths on the heaters. will this affect things.

Yes - they will overheat and the cutouts will operate, after which they won't work at all.

This can be fixed by either:
1. opening the heater and pressing the reset button
2. replacing the cutouts if they don't have reset buttons.

New cutouts are typically less than £20.

 

[flameport]

If major problems like elements then its time to do some plumbing!

No it isn't.

To install a wet central heating system will be several thousand pounds.
Even if all of the elements in all 4 heaters required replacement, it would be a few hundred pounds at most.

 

[AndyPRK]

Any ideas on this because i will not be repairing them if they are bust. instead i will install a wet heating system.

thanks.

 

[ColJack]

the installation over repair cost of wet vs storage is a lot more to install wet, but you have the following advantages..

gas central heating costs less to run than electric.
you can ditch the overpriced daytime electric by ditching the eco-7..
you / the tennent can have heat when they want it with no prior planning.. ( no need to "charge" the system the night before if you think it's going to be cold th next day.. )

 

[marsaday]

thanks for replies.

to add to the mystery, the tenant says the bedroom heater came on last night, but the others didnt.

this adds to the mystery now.

i will check the reset buttons. any idea where these are located?

 

[Steve]

Take the case off the heater and there should be a red button on the top of the internal casing, near the outlet vent. If no button, there may be a thermal link which has melted. This will need replacing.