Herp - Thormostat-less hot water tank.

[dave.dixson_nospam]

Lately I have noticed that the water coming from our hot taps is almost boiling, which worries me as it could do some real harm to my 3 year old son.

The hot water tank in out old house used to have a thermostat attached to the side of it which I could turn down to reduce the temperature of the water (it was heater by a sperate boiler by gas).

This one, however, doesnt seem to have a thermostat at all. It is heated by electricity (we dont have gas), and the only thing I can see is the big black round thing at the top of the tank which, I assume, is the top of the heating element which goes down in to the water.

Does anyone know how I can adjsut it to prevent the water from getting so hot,

Cheers,

Dave.

[Harry Bloomfield]

dave.dixson [e-mail] brought next idea :

Close to 'the big black thing', should be an isolator switch. Turn that off and remove the cover of the black thing. In side you _should_ find a thermostat which is plastic, roughly triangular shaped at the end, with an adjustement dial. The correct setting to avoid Legionaires is above 50 deg C, but you might still find this too hot for a child.

If there is no thermostat, then there will be a small round hole (a pocket) where one could be easily fitted.

[Owain]

As Harry writes about immersion heater thermostat.

You can also get thermostatic mixing valves, which can be fitted under the bath and mix hot and cold to provide warm at the bathtap (and adjacent basin if you want). They're used in old people's homes etc where water has to be stored at high temperature to prevent Legionella in the pipes, but has to be limited in temperature at the taps. This could let you keep hot water at the kitchen tap (for greasy washing up etc) whilst limiting the temperature in the bathroom. 3-year-old unlikely to reach kitchen sink easily but much more likely to be underneath bath tap and turn it on. Thermostatic valves available from all good plumber's merchants - may need both the hot and cold to be at the same pressure for mixing i.e. not cold from the mains and hot from a loft tank.

Owain

[John Stumbles]

It certainly shouldn't be lacking the thermostat: that way the water would boil! The thermostat may be faulty and can be replaced.

[Harry Bloomfield]

John Stumbles explained on 17/04/2005 :

Agreed! Some of the early ones didn't have thermostats, however they are not likely to be still around. The most recent ones have both a thermostat and a separate resetable overheat trip.

[Christian McArdle]

The thermostat is inserted within the immersion heater itself (under the black round thing). As well as replacing the failed thermostat, you should ensure that two thermostats are fitted. The first one should be set to about

55C. The second one should be a manual reset one. Set it to about 70C. This one only fires if there is a fault in the main one. You then have to press a reset button. If you need to do this twice, it means that the main thermostat has failed and can be replaced without the danger of boiling water and exploding cylinders.

Christian.

[dave.dixson_nospam]

Cheers everyone - Ill have a look at it and see if I turn it down,

Dave.