Managed to boil my hot water tank with immersion heater...

[cluelessidiot]

Woke up at 6AM to the sound of my hot water tank boiling and a cold sweat as I realised I'd left the immersion on since 6PM the night before.

Immediately turned it off and opened the taps in the bath to drain the tank, temporarily turning my bathroom into a steam shower - still not sure if this was the right call but I figured it was better than having boiling water in the hot tank for wife and daughter to play with. The cold tap in the bathroom taps remained pretty warm after so I'm assuming it somehow started to heat the cold water tank in the attic (downstairs tap was still nice and cold)...

TL;DR - have I completely f*****d my pipes? Should I do any checks or due dilligence after putting so much stress in the system?

 

[snowhead]

The cylinder shouldn't boil or get anywhere near, no matter how long the immersion has been switched on.

The immersion thermostat probably needs replacing, get it checked

 

[centralheatking]

Woke up at 6AM to the sound of my hot water tank boiling and a cold sweat as I realised I'd left the immersion on since 6PM the night before.

Immediately turned it off and opened the taps in the bath to drain the tank, temporarily turning my bathroom into a steam shower - still not sure if this was the right call but I figured it was better than having boiling water in the hot tank for wife and daughter to play with. The cold tap in the bathroom taps remained pretty warm after so I'm assuming it somehow started to heat the cold water tank in the attic (downstairs tap was still nice and cold).

TL;DR - have I completely f*****d my pipes? Should I do any checks or due dilligence after putting so much stress in the system?

All maybe not lost, you acted correctly. There are two immediate reasons
1.Your cold water storage tank was empty...unlikely
2. The thermostate on your immersion has failed ...quite common
What you do depends on
a. Is it your Gaff or a rental ? if rental make a call
b. Your Gaff then its a simple part replacement cost about £15.00 depends on length and about 1 hrs work + call out if you dont know a friendly one but I would get a plumber to call by ...its maybe the immersion has failed as well as the thermo. If they are dead old
get both replaced at the same time ...common sense..its not a diy as you will not have the correct tools......let us know how you get on...centralheatking

 

[cluelessidiot]

The cylinder shouldn't boil or get anywhere near, no matter how long the immersion has been switched on.

The immersion thermostat probably needs replacing, get it checked

Is replacing that something a novice can do? I'm tempted to just not use it.

Do you think the boiling cylinder would have caused any damage to the system?

Thanks for the reply - appreciate it 🙂
[automerge]1571152991[/automerge]

All maybe not lost, you acted correctly. There are two immediate reasons
1.Your cold water storage tank was empty...unlikely
2. The thermostate on your immersion has failed ...quite common
What you do depends on
a. Is it your Gaff or a rental ? if rental make a call
b. Your Gaff then its a simple part replacement cost about £15.00 depends on length and about 1 hrs work + call out if you dont know a friendly one but I would get a plumber to call by ...its maybe the immersion has failed as well as the thermo. If they are dead old
get both replaced at the same time ...common sense..its not a diy as you will not have the correct tools....let us know how you get on...centralheatking

Thank you this puts my mind at ease. it is super old so I think I'll look at getting both replaced.

 

[townfanjon]

As snowhead suggests go down the easy route first , replace the thermostat, however it MUST have a high limit cut out in it , dont buy one that hasnt .