dual immersion reset button melted!

[Jeffrey Griffin]

hi there. immersion hasnt been heating water.
tests resistance and wiring and all is ok. but the reset button had melted!! without going to the hassle of replacing the entire immersion would it be possible just to swop out the thermostat for one with a rest button on it and connect the wiring directly to the new thermostat instead of through the now melted reset button!! any ideas as to why it melted also! it is a bath and sink dual immersion.

 

[Ben-gee]

Yes, just swap for a thermostat with reset built in.

 

[Jeffrey Griffin]

thanks bengee. and bypass the manual reset button

 

[Ben-gee]

Yes just ignore it.

 

[Jeffrey Griffin]

thanks. so picked up a replacement there in screwfix....however head on new one is much larger. it is touching the head of one of the elements. my fear is thst would cause it to melt or scorch?
any suggestions on different with smaller head...?

gather wouldnt b the wisest to just bypass the already melted reset button on the old one!

 

[ShaunCorbs]

Looks fine to me it’s just touching the insulator so that’s fine

 

[Jeffrey Griffin]

thanks was just worried may be subject to too much heat, it does sit on the blue insulated parts.

i can connect directly to the elements from here.
just retracing the wiring and note the connections on back of socket.
just out of curiosity how does one distinguish between bath snd sink elements on the immersion side.
also note would i be right in saying colour coding doesnt seem to have been matched fully by installer ?

 

[John.g]

Some? new elements come with a meter or so of cable attached and if you remember "Sink the black down the brown bath", its quit obvious which is which.
If an old element then get a M.meter and measure the resistance between the live connection of each element and the linked neutrals, the bath element will have the lowest resistance, in your case above, 17.6ohms @230V for the 3kw bath element & 26.5ohms for the 2 kw sink element. What can be a bit confusing is that thermostats "always" switch the live but with a dual immersion because one thermostat serves either elements then the thermostat switches the linked element neutrals, the live supplies are switched by the sink/bath selector switch.

 

[Jeffrey Griffin]

thanks for all the contributions. so swopped over and all seems to be golden.

so to ask one final one!
is it good to leave the immersion on all the time ?! was more a q from my better half reading on it would keep water available at all times ? but would it be constantly boiling?

cost vs convenience vs wear and tear ?

its an insulated cylinder and we have a condensing oil boiler as CH.

 

[John.g]

Cylinder will lose 2.0/2.5kwh/24hr say 45/50 cents/day if kept constantly on, a little less if only sink element left on. It won't be constantly boiling, the thermostat will keep it between 55/60C. No wear/tear, mine is 49 years old.
If using large volumes of water for showering etc then gas/oil ~ 35% of the electrical cost and don't leave that hot tap running (Mr or Mrs) while hanging out the washing on your solar powered clothes line, do hope you have thrown out that tumble dryer.