Water heater problems

Hi all. Having solved the cold water problems (except for one shower), we cannot get the water to heat. Replaced all the 16 amp fuses with new ones and set the heater switch to "on" but no luck.

Je vous en prie, madame!

Good to hear, you're welcome. :)

Solved it! Adjustment made and we now have hot water! Thanks to Ian Smith and Ian Gillis for their responses and advice.

Hi Ian. I went a-hunting this morning. Brand label on side is "Palm" but couldn't find anything at all. Tried under chauffe-eau, cumulus, etc. Went to various electrical suppliers and no one selling this brand. Found a thread in French which referred to it as Palm, made in Hungary. Other than that, rien a faire! However, OH went up and did a one quarter turn on the screw, and heater immediately came on. So fingers crossed please! He also replaced hose in the not-working shower, and all is now functioning properly. So nearly there. There is tiny leak in/under washing machine. Hoping it's the hose supplying water and not the machine itself. Himself is off with wrench to tighten properly. Thanks for staying in touch.

When mine was playing up I went web-hunting (a reflex now) to see if I could find any information on the particular brand of hot tank. Might be worthwhile doing the same.

Hi. I think my previous photos were of the mechanical stuff. Just did some more poking round, trying to avoid where the dead mouse had been! Took this photo. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Hi again everyone, and thanks for the advice and suggestions. Still waiting on electrician to come and increase water temperature, which is tepid. Below are some photographs of the water heater, and I'm hoping someone will be able to tell me how to increase temperature. Thanks in advance.

Puts a whole new meaning on "the mouse is stuck"

This, of course, parallels the reason that problems in computing are called 'bugs': insects crawling round on the electronic circuit panels would cause a short-circuit between different points, stopping them working until the body/ies were removed (de-bugging!)

Hi Ian and thanks. Hopefully, tomorrow morning will show a result, and I can then rejoin humanity!

The heater element will be about the same as a kettle, 2 or 3kw. So if you are starting from scratch with freezing cold water it can take a while. Also, if you leave it to come on with the Heures Creuses thing it will heat from 2am to 8am and 1pm to 3pm or thereabouts. So you should be able to switch it to ON on the fusebox, knowing that the next ON-OFF cycle will reset it to OFF at the end.

Thanks for that Marie-Claire. Just spoke to a neighbour who said that his water heater can take 24 hours or more to reach a decent temperature. Just checked water again now and it is definitely hotter than this morning! So fingers crossed. :-)

How old is the water heater? Most of the time they need to be replaced after 4-5 years or so, if you don't have a water softener in the house. Fortunately, your landlord needs to take care of it, unfortunately it can take some time before you get a plumber in.....

Well, I spoke too soon. Water is only lukewarm. Looks like we will have to get electrician back to sort out temperature control. Still no shower! :-(

If it's been empty, then there won't be a soup of bacteria in there; provided the temperature set for the water is above 60°C the heating of the water will kill any residual bugs lurking in odd drops of water. 60°C will feel quite hot to the hand but just bearable.

Enjoy that shower!

Ok, so we should empty the tank now or when it's fully heated? It was empty up to the time water was turned back on. And thanks again for all your contributions, much appreciated.

Poor mouse! - but congratulations on clearing the fault.

Don't forget the legionella - no, it's not a kitchen diva…

Problem solved! Dead mouse with scorch marks found on exposed junction box. Mouse removed, wiring replaced, water heating! Thank you so much to everyone who replied with advice and suggestions. Two call-outs by electrician - yesterday and today. Shower tonight!

Hi Sheila, Sorry to hear of your troubles..been there. It could be the heating element, you should contact the landlord and get him to get you an electrician. Wish we could help more-F