Leaking Redring undersink water heater

[jackhaughton84]

Hello,

I fitted a Redring MS6 undersink water heater (https://www.screwfix.com/p/redring-ms6-undersink-stored-water-heater-1-5kw-6ltr/5314p) in the kitchen a couple of years ago, and it's been fine up to now. Found water on the floor this morning and discovered that the water heater is leaking from the plastic seam round the outside - so guessing the tank has split or something similar. I've looked carefully and the water is definitely coming out of the seam and not from the water connections on top.

Clearly the heater will need replacing, but I'm wondering whether to replace like-for-like (which would avoid too much messing around with the connections) or get a more expensive brand that might be more reliable. Two years seems a pretty short lifespan - anyone know anything about the reliability of these heaters?

 

[HavagoHarry]

I had this problem with the same unit. It happened within the warranty period and they replaced it for me but I think I worked out what went wrong and how to avoid it happening again. When you use the hot water tap, scale can build up in the narrow nozzle located at the tap outlet. In fact there is a little filter there that makes this happen. If you use the tap with this blockage in place I think it creates a back pressure in the boiler tank which, if your mains pressure is enough, will cause the tank to split at the seam. So the solution is to just keep an eye on the flow coming out of the tap and if it looks at all interrupted then unscrew the nozzle and blow through it to clear it. It only takes a minute and I've been doing it for about 3 years now with no repeat of the problem.
The other thing of course is to ensure you descale it regularly and when you have keep a special look out for loose bit of scale blocking the nozzle because unless you are really careful you will have a few extra bits left in the tank.