Immersion heater life
Brian
which had failed.
It is a 3KW, 11 inch one which goes in across the bottom of the tank. It is
on economy 7. There is also another heater near the top of the tank for
topping up the hot water.
Anyway, friend called last week to say that the overnight hot water was not
working, so I popped round to see.
Fuse had gone, so I checked the element - open circuit.
So I had to drain the complete tank to remove it. I have never seen the like
before, the whole of the tube containing the element had split along its
length, and I mean the whole length.
I did buy the original from Wickes.
Needless to say they don't want to know.
What is the average life of an immersion heater?
We are not in a particularly hard water area, the top heater has been there
for years, with no problem, and the old one I took out had no physical
damage either.
Palindrome
The circuit isn't protected by a leakage current trip.
A small pinhole opened near the neutral end of the element. This would
have tripped a leakage breaker - but not blown a fuse.
Water worked its way along inside the tube.
The element wire corroded and went open circuit - creating an arc which
turned the water inside the tube and near the arc into high pressure steam.
The expanding high pressure steam split the tube open from end to end.
The fuse blew.
Suggestion ends..
Of course forget I wrote that lot if there is a leakage breaker
protecting the circuit..
Otherwise, you may be able to detect the pinhole..
It may not be a pinhole but a deep scratch* or other site for crevice
corrosion, exacerbated by the thermal cycling. But careful examination
should find it.
* Which may be tiny and nowhere near the split.
The element may have come with a one or two year warranty - but it would
have been invalidated if it had suffered a deep scratch during installation.
If you can find a pinhole, you can argue that it was a defect in
manufacture and demand a replacement. If it was a scratch, then proving
it was there when purchased is going to be a bit difficult..
Whether it is worth arguing, I leave to you...
--
Sue
Brian
"Palindrome" <m...@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:Dt24j.30996$MU5....@fe10.news.easynews.com...
The explanation is more or less what I had assumed, but there is no scratch.
Some sort of leak which allowed water in is obvious, but not seen. It is
also possible that the seam weld along the tube was not done as well as it
might, and since this is what has split open, the original fault will be
hidden.
Nobby
"Brian" <blecn...@tesco.net> wrote in message
news:E024j.62$h35...@newsfe2-gui.ntli.net...
only, that is thirty years or so old - in a hard water area.
Brian
> > We are not in a particularly hard water area, the top heater has been
> > there
> > for years, with no problem, and the old one I took out had no physical
> > damage either.
> >
> I have an immersion heater, not in regular use, recently and in summers
> only, that is thirty years or so old - in a hard water area.
>
The one we have in our house is used daily, and is 10 years old at least.
cj
Agree with all said but in my career have only seen 3 similar failures first
in a cleaning tank where cleaner ate through the copper after 2years of
service,second when a stat failed after 6yrs or so and caused boiling and
third (funnily enough) in a similar split tank fitted with a replacement
from (you guessed it) .
Turns out the last was a cheap foreign copy of a 'Ring' heater which failed
when the rolled seam split as yours appears to have.
IMO immersion heater last at least 3-5yrs in constant use and most a lot
longer like me I think you got sold a pup.
BTB No I don't buy from 'wikes' anymore and No I didn't get a refund ,not
even a sorry.
CJ
GTS
choice of 2 types - a cheap one, and a 'long life' one (which was still
pretty cheap). I got the long-life version and it been going for 7 years
now - Economy 7 so used every day.
GTS
Brian
"GTS" <gts123SPAM-NO!@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:zsx4j.724$wD5...@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
one with a special coating for very hard water areas, which we are not.
No doubt the more expensive one (40% more) might well last longer.