In our flat, the immersion heater on E7 doesn't appear to have kicked in overnight on just one occasion earlier this week, needing the top (boost) immersion heater to be switched on. All has been back to normal since. The storage heaters on E7 were turned off, so we don't know if it was actually the E7 (controlled by an old Sangamo/Schlumberger radio teleswitch c1989) at fault, or something to do with the immersion heater.
The switch is one of these:
What makes me think it might be the teleswitch is both immersion heaters and stats were new around four years back. Around a year ago, we had something similar happen on just one occasion too, which prompted me to put another new thermostat in the E7 immersion heater eventhough it tested OK. The teleswitch by comparison is over 30 years old and obviously has great big relays in, which switch the E7 loads.
Just wondered if anyone can shed any light on the reliability of these old things? Being radio based, and the device being in the meter box in the corridor outside the flat, it also made me wonder whether they very occasionally miss the radio signal to turn on (e.g. due to other interference). I also gather their future life is limited anyway and the same functionality is available in Smart Meters these days.
Given this is so very intermittent and the energy supplier might be a bit indifferent to any report with so little evidence, I was also mulling over if I could put something in place that might prove/disprove an E7 problem if this happens again during the summer months. The best idea I had was get an energy meter of some sort that keeps a history of usage - and rig that up on the E7 circuit with a dummy load attached just large enough to register on the energy meter. If it happens again, and there is no load registered at all, that would tend to confirm the teleswitch might be at fault.
Any thoughts/experiences appreciated. Thanks.
The switch is one of these:
What makes me think it might be the teleswitch is both immersion heaters and stats were new around four years back. Around a year ago, we had something similar happen on just one occasion too, which prompted me to put another new thermostat in the E7 immersion heater eventhough it tested OK. The teleswitch by comparison is over 30 years old and obviously has great big relays in, which switch the E7 loads.
Just wondered if anyone can shed any light on the reliability of these old things? Being radio based, and the device being in the meter box in the corridor outside the flat, it also made me wonder whether they very occasionally miss the radio signal to turn on (e.g. due to other interference). I also gather their future life is limited anyway and the same functionality is available in Smart Meters these days.
Given this is so very intermittent and the energy supplier might be a bit indifferent to any report with so little evidence, I was also mulling over if I could put something in place that might prove/disprove an E7 problem if this happens again during the summer months. The best idea I had was get an energy meter of some sort that keeps a history of usage - and rig that up on the E7 circuit with a dummy load attached just large enough to register on the energy meter. If it happens again, and there is no load registered at all, that would tend to confirm the teleswitch might be at fault.
Any thoughts/experiences appreciated. Thanks.
