Water tank and electronics in an old house … problems almost near an end. GUARANTEED.

 

1. That’s some dinosaur of a hot water heater. Amazingly small too. So was it that wire?

   Posted by Drew458       12/12/2009  at  07:08 AM  



2. There was something exposed on the immersion heater that sat in the water. Not clear even now.  They are supposed to be here to replace everything between 1 and 2 pm.

   Posted by peiper       12/12/2009  at  07:38 AM  



3. Alternatively, phone Mythbusters & have them do a follow-up on the exploding water heater show.

   Hope things go well and not to costly.

   Posted by Chops       12/12/2009  at  08:39 AM  



4. Yes, the downside of older homes - here in the US it got us out of our first bid - the insurance company wouldn’t cover the old (and not updated) electrical. Glad now that it happened - main street, nasty neighbors etc. Now we are just a block off that main drag, a street over from an elementary school (no registered sex offenders allowed) and back up to a nature preserve (no neighbors behind other than wildlife).

   Still we are looking at a farm (gentleman, not working) outside the city - downside of this place is we are slaves to the city decision making - but not allowed to vote the b**tards out. Not fair in any sense of the word.

   I do hope that they arrive when scheduled - it is such a bother to wait on them and to pay for it, too.

   Posted by wardmama4       12/12/2009  at  08:49 AM  



5. Drew that’s a standard hot water tank http://www.screwfix.com/prods/49608/Plumbing/Hot-Water-Cylinders/RM-Direct-Copper-Cylinder-900-x-450mm it takes one of these http://www.screwfix.com/prods/63692/Plumbing/Hot-Water-Cylinders/Resettable-Long-Life-Immersion-Heater-27
   Immersion heaters are absolutely awful things, they eat electricity and if you live in an area with chalk as the bedrock and you get chalk in your kettle then just imagine how much you will end up with in your hot water tank! Every time you put on the immersion heater it expands and the chalk that has built up cracks and sinks to the bottom of the tank. When we changed ours it was so heavy even after I drained it I could barely lift it. Yet they weigh about 25lbs when new. They used to be relatively affordable but when the price of copper went up they became bloody expensive.

   The better ones like this http://www.screwfix.com/prods/10267/Plumbing/Hot-Water-Cylinders/Vented-Cylinder-140Ltr-Indirect have an indirect heating coil which is basically a copper pipe that carries hot water from a gas boiler. These are much cheaper to run.

   JayD that fuse box ideally wants replacing with a consumer unit like this http://www.screwfix.com/prods/71988/Electrical-Supplies/Consumer-Units/Volex-Consumer-Units/Volex-8-Way-Fully-Insulated-Main-Switch-Consumer-Unit
   It would be quite expensive though. Alternatively you should contact age concern and ask about an electrician who they can recommend and get him to fit at least on mcb trip. It’s possible that the smaller shut off in between the two white boxes is a earth leakage circuit breaker but I can’t tell from the photo. It may just be the power feed for your immersion heater. You can get individual trips that replace the existing fuse slots. You take out the fuse and replace it with an earth leakage trip. Much safer than what you have now and not hugely expensive. You would only need two probably for the downstairs ring main and the upstairs. You could even DIY if you know what the fuse ratings are (probably 30 amps).

   Posted by LyndonB       12/12/2009  at  05:55 PM  

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