Genius required aspa re: Pulsacoil 2000 ongoing problem.

[andrew197]

Hi,

I am having a nightmare with my Pulsacoil 2000 and/or my Horstmann Quartz timer/offpeak.

I have had two people look at this - both supposed experts.

Here goes:

1. Water is rubbish from overnight heating up (off peak) - can't ascertain whether morning water is the last of boost from day before.
2. Boost is working fine - pressed two or three times consecutively water gets hot.

Engineers tested the following and all were fine apparently:

• checking the resistance of the on and off peak immersions
• voltage and polarity of the electricity supplies (of which there are three)
• they checked the status of the self diagnostics led on the printed circuit board
• confirmed that when hot water was requested at tap the correct voltage was sent from the PCB to the pump.

What now? Water seems quite warm out of tap but showers are a no chance following any attempts of off peak heating up. I need to establish whether the off peak is working at all, and whether the problem lies with the box on the wall or the boiler.

I am reluctant to pay £100 for an engineer to come out and tell me nothing is wrong, when clearly there is. They didn't test the box on the wall directly.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Agile]

Has Mike Bryant been to you?

These are generally not liked and only a very few engineers know much about them.

Although you have said a lot you have not explained if it heats up overnight as expected? And if so to what temperature?

Tony

 

[andrew197]

Wow - what a brilliantly quick reply.

No, I have not heard of Mike.

Regarding overnight heating, no the water is poor in the morning. To the point taking a shower is painful! Tepid at absolute best.

Thanks.

 

[Agile]

Well the thermostat setting on the off peak element needs checking.

Thats best done by an engineer and ideally when the supply is on!

I never recommend DIY electrical work unless someone is very competent.

These two who came were they electricians or heating engineers?

Did they say they had experience of those units?

Tony

 

[andrew197]

Hi,

Both were engineers who specialise in Pulsacoil systems.

I have paid £200 and I still have this disfunctioning system.

 

[Agile]

Overnight heating will make it hot from the bottom up.

Boost only from the level of the boost although the pump can disturb that if it comes on.

What are you going to do next?

Mike Bryant loves them but he is in Reading!

Tony

 

[andrew197]

I am at a loss really.

Does Mike come on here?

I was thinking, based on the unit working supposedly, that I would get the wall timer/off peak box tested. Inside this box the boost has a separate wire from the off-peak so I am hoping that it might not be giving any power to the init during off peak times, and any water we have is of a result of the boost.

I really don't know.

I am rubbish when it comes to this type of thing - and I don't want to keep paying out for effectively nothing.

 

[Agile]

Where abouts are you?

Postcode?

Tony

 

[andrew197]

nn4 5dr

Northampton

 

[Agile]

The problem that you now have is that you have paid £200 and its still not working properly.

You now expect to get it fixed for little more.

For those few engineers who do agree to go to them like Mike Bryant ( and a lesser degree myself ) we are some way away and would need to charge more to cover the travelling costs and time.

If you had asked either of us in the beginning then I am sure we could have fixed it for £200 or less!

Perhaps you should pester the previous engineers on the basis they have not completed the repair?

Just possibly someone on this forum who is local will offer to come to you but when I see someone has already spent quite a lot I know from past experience that its not somewhere I really want to go to.

Tony

 

[andrew197]

Tony - thanks for the time you are taking to advise. I completely understand what you are saying.

I have contacted one of the companies but they rejected my claim saying they carried out the fault find and nothing was found, in effect did their job.

It is stressing me massively. I am recovering from 4th back op in 3 years and it is a nightmare.

I have arranged for an electrician to come tomorrow and do some tests on the timer box thing... the Horstmann Quartz thing..

 

[Agile]

A few of the engineers here know that I have small power indicating neon lights which I attach to circuits so the owner can see if power is being applied ( or lost ) at other times when I cannot attend like late at night for off peak supplies.

Thats a very useful feature which is one of the tricks I use for intermittent faults.

The main problem with your setup is that neither electricians nor boiler engineers are very familiar with them. Only a very few of us will work on them.

One I went to had been visited by SIX electricians, some asked for a part which turned out to be not at fault and others had no clue ( but at least admittted it ).

The lady there had no hot water for two months until I sorted it for her!

Tony

 

[andrew197]

Ok, I will ask the guy tomorrow to see if he can do that.

As for the engineers - both from companies specialising in Pulsacoils..

 

[matt1e]

Hi,

I am having a nightmare with my Pulsacoil 2000 and/or my Horstmann Quartz timer/offpeak.

I have had two people look at this - both supposed experts.

Here goes:

1. Water is rubbish from overnight heating up (off peak) - can't ascertain whether morning water is the last of boost from day before.
2. Boost is working fine - pressed two or three times consecutively water gets hot.

so is the the hot water ok then after step 2 above?

Engineers tested the following and all were fine apparently:

• checking the resistance of the on and off peak immersions
• voltage and polarity of the electricity supplies (of which there are three)
• they checked the status of the self diagnostics led on the printed circuit board
• confirmed that when hot water was requested at tap the correct voltage was sent from the PCB to the pump.

What now?

they didn't check the relay for burnt out contacts (which is very likely)

presumably they checked the stats while checking the elements
the sensors used on these tend to fail whereas they go off calibration ie read high or low so it doesn't show up as a fault via the diagnostic led's which only flag an open or short circuit

But If the unit works ok when the store has been boosted then the problem must lie with
1) the off peak supply..... are your storage heaters if any working ok? have you checked the fuse/mcb for the immersion?
2) the bottom element or stat is faulty (this has been checked already)
3) there is a relay inside the pulsacoil that the immersion supplies are routed through did they check this? as the contacts burn out
4) there is a wiring fault

you can do a simple enough check on the relay if you are ok with a terminal screwdriver and simple instructions
actually you may not even need the screw driver come to think of it!
Matt

 

[Agile]

I doubt the OP has the expertise or test equipment to do those things safely.

One can understand the problem for those who came during the day to predict it would work at night!

Thats why I have lights I can connect to let the owner check during the night.

Many only check for continunity rather than actual resistance.

Tony