At a time when we live in a throw-away society, it is nice to see some good old fashioned fault-finding! Excellent explanation as well at a decent pace. Reminds me of my Fire Alarm fault finding to understand what type of fault a circuit has! Thank you and Keep up the good work
Luke, this is without doubt one of the best everyday problems electrical videos on the Internet. It's been years since I last saw an immersion heater until a few weeks ago. I must admit I had to dig a little deeper that Monday morning to come out with my hot water tank experience. ( I blame combi boilers ) it's great this is out there for others to understand and learn.
Yes, informative vid, I've changed my immersion element a few times, Original one was installed in New cylinder in the 1990s, A standard copper rod, lasted only about 18 months, second copper one about the same, so in the year 2000, fitted a dearer 'Superloy' version & it's still working to this day! I'm in a hard water area too. Good point at the end too, about never bypassing the thermostat, also the immersion cylinder must have an expansion pipe as well, in the event that the contacts weld themselves closed.
Nice Video mate 👍🏻 You along with Artisan..Mr Savery and Tom Nagy are really churning out some good stuff!! Having spent years repairing and replacing these on social housing contracts i have to say i have never been totally happy with the new type thermostats..Lots of times the bi-metallic strip gets stuck in the open position which lead to many an emergency call with no hot water. Great point regarding the D.P switch and 16a mcb. How many do we actually find hanging off a fused spur with the 13a fuse welded into the holder..😩😩 Keep the content coming!! 👍🏻
So a couple things, just found your channel and it's brilliant. Immersion stats yes it's bi-metal dual rods welded at the tip acting as a bi-metal strip. The immersion element itself is the same construction as MICC. The purpose of the thermal cut-out is purely to stop the tank boiling over filling the plastic tank in the roof, melting and scolding someone to death in bed asleep below (the actual cause of the legislation requiring them) - or the pressure relief valve going. Causes of over heat tripping, faulty main stat or scale in the tank, if it's an older tank it's most likely scale especially in hard water areas. A 13 amp switch fuse is adequate for correctly sized for modern "3kw" immersion elements with 1.5 flex from the outlet according to the EU norm. It should be noted however that the UK uses 230/400 volts as the "EU norm" when the average voltage across the country is closer to 245/430 volts. Effectively people are installing immersion supplies to a standard that's been harmonized which is not actually suitable for use.
Great video. Just what I needed to fix my immersion. Now I don’t have to wait for water to heat up when the kids had used it all (2 immersion system only).
Great Video! - Several times I've been called out to a thermostat stuck in the on position, and as you say, the HW tank just becomes a kettle. I've seen the header tank heat up and because of this and steam up a loft which in the winter months means heavy condensation, mould etc etc. Keep up the good work.
Great video. I like to always mention too customer possibility of tank tearing or boss fracturing when changing immersion. Wonder why I started doing this ? 🤣
01:40 tip for keeping the leads more organised. . . when packing up the tester 1) plug all 3 of the leads into the socket breakout tester 2) hold them up so they're dangling 3) lower the dangly leads into the bag leaving the 3 pins of the socket tester pointing up Now, next time you go to get the leads pick up the socket tester and there they are all dangly and untangled 🙂
Very interesting video----I recently cleaned up the earth connection on my immersion which had blackened and it has improved heat output quite a bit. Maybe I have a bit more to do as it is not as hot as it used to be originally.
Really good video but it is a few years old and nominal Voltage is 230V in the Uk which would give 11.9 amps and 2830 watts so I can see why they would use the fused connection unit but it is close to nuisance tripping over a long time and I have not worked out how long it would take a 13 amp fuse to overheat. so are you saying it cannot be done safely but in practice off course we know some people will or would you always use a 16 amp breaker to a double pole switch for extra safety? thx
Thanks for the video. Very informative. I'm not very experienced yet and so have a question. When you got the shock why didn't your other hand also get one as it was holding the element?
Great video thankyou ...you tested the element with ohms to get Power...would you also check live to neutral using the 500v from the megger to test that it does go faulty under load.... Geoff
Quick question for you if I may please? I saw one of your other videos (really enjoy your vids by the way) where you said its insulting when people who know the colours of cabe and 2.5 vs 1.5 think they can rewire a house. I get that. So my question; if I needed a rewire, but really had to do some of it myself to make the job more affordable, what aspects would you be happy for the (reasonably competent) homeowner to do? Chasing? fixing back boxes? running cables? Where would you personally draw the line? Cheers.
I understood the thermal cutout was there to stop the water boiling if the stat failed, not to protect the element in particular. There were cases of cylinders boiling over and plastic dtorage tanks melting in the loft, sending boiling water into kids bedrooms etc. This is why immersions without a cutout must be replaced wherever they are found.
Hi,just wondering when your doing the insulation resistant test and use 500v, how can you still hold the element in your hand.I know the current is very low.Thanks
Is it the job for the electrician to change the immersion heater or a plumber? Been away from the trade for years now but during my apprenticeship never changed the heater only the thermostat
Johan Du Plessis Megger all day long...they have technology inside that guarantees accurate loop tests on RCD protected circuits which Kewtech can’t deliver. After having 3 Kewtechs i was sceptical about switching to Mega...Have to say wish i had done it a lot sooner!!!
Once had an immersion where the overheat stat failed that was attached to the immersion. It had a short to earth. Cut it out of the circuit and tested the element which was good and not shorted to earth. Replaced single thermostat with new thermostat with overheat stat and problem was solved. Saved draining down the cylinder to replace entire immersion as is was in the side at bottom
2 reasons; • The property that the immersion was taken from had a Voltage of 244V and so this would have given me a more accurate power rating. • 240V would provide me with a value closer to failure. Worst case scenario.
@@Jackdaly2000 You'll find average voltage across the UK is closer to 245 volts (used to be 240/415 volts) 230 is the "harmonized EU norm" voltage as the continent runs on 220 volts. Effectively any calculation you learn in college you should change on site to reflect the actual voltage measured on site at the time. If you measure 240 volts use it otherwise you will find inductive/ resistive loads potentially causing heat damage to the cables and terminations.
Hi i have currently just bought a house the house was built-in the 1930 and all the plug sockets are in the skirting boards. Now i want to move them up higher but iam struggling to find what is the correct height for them. P. S i am not touching any wires iam only doing the wall chasing then going to get a electrician to do the rest. TIA
You can put them where ever you like as its an existing installation. The height for new builds is 450mm but at the end of the day its your house so put them where you want them.
If you pushed that thermal cut out and it energised with your finger in there you'll get a belt you won't ever forget ill tell you that. Bet a few home owners have done it after watching RU-vid videos and forgeting to isolate the supply!
Cartridge fuses and circuit breakers are designed to run at their full capacity without any thermal effects, so a 13A BS1362 plug top fuse should and will take 12A forever without heating up. Fused spurs burn out because of poor connections, incorrect size cable and cheap makes, not because they are running 12A through them, backed up by a 13A fuse.