Help with Horstmann Electronic 7 controller please

[Youriv]

Hi guys,

We live in a flat and have an electric immersion boiler with a Horstmann Electronic 7 controller.

It is not heating during the off-peak period. The light for off-peak comes on however.

Manual boost function works fine, we get hot water from that and you can hear the boiler.

It all used to work fine but suddenly stopped last week. There was a burning smell the day before it stopped working!

Can I assume that one immersion heater has burned dry? It seemed there was no water in the tank, but I am not sure.

Are there two immersions heaters? One at the top, on at the bottom? One just for the boost?

The boost still works so that leads me to think that this element is still working and only the other one has burned out...

Any help would really be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Youri

this is the heater by the way: http://www.rangecylinders.co.uk/product-flowmax.html

 

[Taylortwocities]

Do you have a test meter.

Its obvious that you should use this to check if there is power getting to both immersion heaters. If there is then you'll need to test the immersion heater elements and thermostats. Don't assume its the timer.

PS How did you manage to energise the heaters with the tank drained??

 

[Youriv]

That is the strange thing, I thought the tank was drained but I don't think I was right there. Maybe the burning was the heater burning and the tank was full?

We don't have a tester, but will get one tomorrow and try it out.

I guess the best thing to do is to test the immersion heater with the tester?

Sorry I am new to this, is it simple to test?

Many thanks!

 

[dgreengo]

i have a horstmann , although my tank is an unvented vessel.

have you read through the installation instructions on the website you gave to go through the troubleshooting procedure (check blender etc)

you should be able to hear the heater 'click' when the heater comes on , ie when the off-peak light just comes on. same goes for the timer or manual boost is pressed

just to add, my heater had two elements as well. behind the cover, they both have reset buttons on them and i have readjusted the temperatures before. might be worth checking this also.

 

[RMS]

Hi guys,


It is not heating during the off-peak period. The light for off-peak comes on however.

This could be a problem with the time clock or the cabling/element.

It all used to work fine but suddenly stopped last week. There was a burning smell the day before it stopped working!

Was the burning smell coming form the time clock or the element. The off peak element will be located at the bottom of the tank.

Can I assume that one immersion heater has burned dry? It seemed there was no water in the tank, but I am not sure.!

Its is unlikely there is no water in the tank unless there was a major leak or someone was working on the plumbing services.

Are there two immersions heaters? One at the top, on at the bottom? One just for the boost.!

Generally yes.

The boost still works so that leads me to think that this element is still working and only the other one has burned out....!

My guess is that the off peak element has a burnt out connection that has resulted in an open circuit. The element may be open circuit. You should really call in an electrician to check this out. He can also check and ensure that both elements have a secondary stage cut out.

 

[Youriv]

(Have been on holiday therefore the delay)

We got a plumber out last week and he tried a few things. Both elements seem fine as they both heat up the water and he also tested with a power meter. But they only work when the cables to the Horstmann are swapped around. When the cables are normal only the boost worked.

The cables are still swapped. We are still using the boost function now but it is actually using the main element.

He said that the Horstmann needs replacing and we should just buy a new one.

Would you guys agree?

Thanks for the help,

Youri

 

[Taylortwocities]

We got a plumber out last week and he tried a few things.

You might have been better with an electrician but it would seem that the plumber has at least proven that both elements are working.
There are better ways of testing than "swopping them round" to see if it works.

What an electrician would have done is to test if there was an output from the Horstmann. So now you are stuck with having to pay the plumbers time and also get a new Horstmann in the hope that it fixes your fault.

That would appear to be your option.