Immersion heater timer issue

[silverdale]

A relative of mine older guy has an immersion heater problem. So his water stopped heating so I bobbed round and the thermostat had reset so I reset it and it worked fine but it then stopped all together (I metered it) so for £10 I replaced it.
All's was well, so because it hadn't been on for over 24hours I told him stick it in constant via the timer. It has a Greenbrook manual timer. He use to have a digital timer but he didn't understand it so he had a manual push the slots up type.

So after he'd had it on constant for a few hours it heated up fine. He just rang me said waters warm but not hot and the timer was set to come on for an hour 7am-8am so I would have imagined it would be hot.

I've just said put it on constant via the timer for an hour see if it heats up so I'm waiting but my question is, these timers ? Can they go t*ts up and timer stop working but the constant works ok ?

This is the one that's in

 

[coathanger57]

possibly 1 hour is not long enough for water to reach temperature or maybe the immerser thermostat faulty.

 

[avid]

At a guess, I would’ve said an hour probably wasn’t long enough for the water to heat up to hot.
Some of the internal parts of the timer are plastic, so it’s possible that it could break.

 

[silverdale]

What it is, the timers set to come on quite a few times throughout some only half hour some 1.5 hours there's only him and his missus tanks foam lagged and lag jacket. In the past its been fine so last night night he had it on constant for a good few hours and last night told me it was hot. I think the timer comes on middle of the might as well like a top up the early morning and again before he's up so I'd reckon it should be hot.
So this morning he rang saying it was warm but not hot so that got me thinking, it should be hot after the morning timers been on off and the timer on middle of the night so I'm thinking time but I'm not sure


I'm just trying to figure out if its timer or element, I think I might change the timer out for him and try it as the element replacement (as I know from previous) can be a t*at if it wont loosen as you can rip the tank which I found out about some years ago. I just wondered if anyone else had experienced similar and was it element or timer as the thermostats new.

 

[silverdale]

Another question, what's your views on leaving on constant as opposed to a timer ?. As I said the immersion tank is heavily if not overly lagged and in a warm cubby hole so it retains the heat quite well. I got reading and alot say just leave it on because if the thermostat does it job it will turn off the power to element when its hits the temp on the dial. I'm sure it only comes back on when it drops a couple of degrees below your set temp (usually 57-58) so in theory it might actually be on less than a timer

what's your views on that as I read conflicting arguments

 

[coathanger57]

if you leave it on constant and it doen't get hot then try and adjust temperature setting on thermostat, is it the correct length of thermostat for the immerser? i.e. is it a side entry immerser or top entry.

 

[nara]

Another question, what's your views on leaving on constant as opposed to a timer ?. As I said the immersion tank is heavily if not overly lagged and in a warm cubby hole so it retains the heat quite well. I got reading and alot say just leave it on because if the thermostat does it job it will turn off the power to element when its hits the temp on the dial. I'm sure it only comes back on when it drops a couple of degrees below your set temp (usually 57-58) so in theory it might actually be on less than a timer

what's your views on that as I read conflicting arguments

Interesting question. It's similar to the "Should I leave the central heating on all the time, or have it coming on and off " question.

Logic suggests that if it's well insulated you should just chose the water temperature you want and leave it on, but, like the CH question, you find even qualified heating engineers disagree on what's best.

 

[IANB]

Interesting question. It's similar to the "Should I leave the central heating on all the time, or have it coming on and off " question.

Logic suggests that if it's well insulated you should just chose the water temperature you want and leave it on, but, like the CH question, you find even qualified heating engineers disagree on what's best. View attachment 160350

With water I would agree leaving it on all the time as it’s more cost effective. Turning it off you are waisting the money spent heating it by letting what’s in the tank go cold. It’s a bit like that with hot tubs. It cost more letting it cool then reheating

 

[silverdale]

Well I've sussed it, the manual timer the button on-timer-off was in the wrong position


If you look at the green toggle button it was set to the bottom so I'm thinking it was on timer because there's a picture of a clock there.
Both of us didn't see the line going back up to the middle from the clock symbol.
Infact, it took me awhile to see the line because the button sticks out and you can't see the break in the line.

Now if they had of put the clock symbol in the middle it would have been easier to suss.

So all along me and him were putting the bottom to the bottom not middle. I metered the old thermostat it was knackered

 

[silverdale]

Question, how many temp degrees does it have to drop before the thermostat and element kicks up again ?

 

[IANB]

Question, how many temp degrees does it have to drop before the thermostat and element kicks up again ?

Normally the hysteresis will be about 1 degree

 

[IANB]

It may take ie two hours to drop 1 degree but only take a few minutes to raise it back 2 so it would temper for example between 59 and 61 degrees for a 60 setting.

 

[silverdale]

I suppose it's a balance because if you use hot water then in winter the water is far colder and it will super cool what's left in the tank hance longer to get if on timer