The last thing you need when you come back from holiday is to find your hot water cylinder has stopped working especially when you urgently just want to take a shower! Many people tend to turn their hot water cylinders off during this time. This in itself is not a problem unless your hot water cylinder is 10+ years old. Turning off the power to your hot water cylinder will of course allow the body of water inside the tank to COOL OFF, this is something your hot water cylinder is not used too as water is constantly maintained at 60 degrees. This “cooling off” will result in extreme contraction of the tank itself which initially does not cause the leak. Most Aucklander’s will coming back from holiday and the first thing they do is switch on the power to the hot water cylinder which will immediately power-up a 3KW element which in return will heat up the body of water back to 60 degrees in a relatively short mount of time. This will now cause the tank to expand very quickly. Depending on age this is when your hot water cylinder might spring a leak! Unfortunately we cannot give you advice whether to keep the power on or off during your absence but encourage you get your hot water cylinder serviced prior to going on holiday to ensure you don’t come back to any nasty surprises. In the image above the home owner was very fortunate that only the immersion heating element was damaged. Replacement of the element was under $200 and included a full check of the thermostat and hot water heating system.
30 year old Simplex hot water cylinder
It’s amazing how many of these Simplex hot water cylinders we come across in the Auckland area. This year we ripped out more than 100 Simplex hot water cylinders! In most cases the hot water system was converted to a main pressure system which required an installation of an additional drain and mains pressure valves. In this picture you can clearly see that only means of safety available is the open vent which deals with any expansion (sometimes caused by over heating). There is no tempering valve, no expansion valve and no drip try. Its amazing that these copper cylinders can last up to 35 years without bursting. Usually the only reason they do end up bursting or rusting away is because the thermostat fails which results in the element overheating the water to 99 degrees and this puts more stress onto the tank resulting high level expansion and contraction cracking the weld. Quality of water is also a big contributor to rust and life expectancy of a copper hot water cylinder.
Has your cylinder burst before the recommended expectancy? Maybe its a good idea to investigate the cause before installing your new one to ensure your new hot water cylinder lasts much longer.
External Rheem 135L Stainless Steel
Great looking installation! If only the weather boards behind the hot water cylinder looked as good :). This stainless steel 135L Rheem main pressure was completed in just under 4 hours! It included a new mains pressure valve pack, restraint strapping, all external copper pipe, electrical and plumbing work for just under $ 2300 including GST!
Hot Water Cylinders Ltd has a huge amount of Rheem stainless steel hot water cylinder stock that has to get out! Our range includes 135L, 180L and 200L stainless cylinders. Suitable for external installations these cylinders will also allow you to relocate your internal cylinder at an absolutely unbeatable price. Call us today on 0800 4 Cylinders for more information, our team is here to help you right away.
Do you already have a quote? Call us and we will beat it, that’s a guarantee!
