Hot water heater not working

Oh Paul....I don't think you want to know about the hot water issue but thanks for asking.  It turned out to be a nightmare! 

If you remember, when the problem 1st occurred I called a local electrical company (the same one that fixed our storage heaters).....when I explained the problem I was told it wasn't electrical it was plumbing. Then the guy that installed the toilet put in a new thermostat....it didn't change a thing so I called another plumber. He came over last Monday and had a look and £88 later he told me that it wasn't the plumbing it was ELECTRICAL! Ok so I call the electrical company back but they couldn't come until Friday so I called another. The guy arrrives and I tell him about the faulty timer in the closet (demonstrated how you push the over ride, red light comes on and then it stops within a minute or two) but he says he needs to go into the loft and look at the tank. I have to say that I had a gut feeling about this guy and wanted him to leave but its difficult to do that plus I was desperate! Anyway, he comes back down and says that the heating element was bad and needed to be replaced AND because the element is on the side (low down, I went up to take a look) the tank needs to be emptied so it was going to be quite a job. He only has a short hose AND I find out that even though I called a local number, the guy was from London so didn't know how to get to B&Q or any other store. While I know how to get there I couldn't give all of the street names so I call my husband and 1.5 hrs later (money clock ticking) he gets home with a garden hose from B&Q to drain it. The guy drains it, installs a new heating element...comes back downstairs to the closet and says "the timer doesn't work" I said "YEP I told you that from the start so what was it, the timer or the heating element".  We still don't have a timer...now its on all of the time or I can turn it off by the wall switch. He gives a long techy excuse and long story short......total bill £452. I just wanted him gone! I was sick about it all last week. Basically I think it was a cowboy firm and I have no idea if the guy was truthful or not, the reason why I say that is because he said he was on call 24/7 and so only works when he was called. Makes me wonder if he made a day of it. The whole ordeal was so bad, I just had to stop thinking about it (until now).

My outstanding question is how did he know it was the heating element that was faulty IF the timer wasn't on (meaning there was no electricity getting to the element/tank?).

We did have the new shower installed and its fine. 

Oh boy.....

The guy arrrives and I tell him about the faulty timer in the closet (demonstrated how you push the over ride, red light comes on and then it stops within a minute or two)

Ah, I don't think you mentioned that before.   Depending upon the type of timer you can have a manual override which just turns it on until you shut it off again, or a timed "booster" override which is supposed to run for a preset period and shut off automatically (e.g. 30 or 60 minutes).    It's just possible that you have a timer where the boost is designed to shut off when the element stops drawing current after reaching full temperature, in which case this symptom could be caused by a faulty element.  It's highly unlikely though with the average domestic immersion timer.  Usually the boost just turns on the power so that light should be on even if you didn't have a heating element connected.   Anyone who knows what he's doing with these timers should be able to sort that little issue out.

If I'd come to your house and you'd told me or I'd observed that the timer was behaving that way, then it would be the timer I'd be looking at testing/replacing first, not the element.   I might well take a look at the element on the cylinder too to test and check connections, but the timer would be the obvious place to start.

We still don't have a timer...now its on all of the time or I can turn it off by the wall switch. He gives a long techy excuse

It sounds as though he just bypassed the timer entirely.  I don't suppose you remember any of what he said?

and long story short......total bill £452.

     

The cost of the (quite probably unnecessary) new element would be about £10 plus V.A.T. for most standard cylinders.  (A little more if he bought it at the "Big Orange Place.")   Even if we say he replaced the thermostat (again) as well, and made a 100% markup on the materials, the parts shouldn't have come to more than about £40 + tax at the very most.   Even if you paid for that hose and he added a little for fuel etc., that still leaves one heck of big bill for labor for one day's work.

My outstanding question is how did he know it was the heating element that was faulty IF the timer wasn't on (meaning there was no electricity getting to the element/tank?).

He could have tested for insulation and/or continuity with a meter, either while at the cylinder or from the wiring at the timer.   Either of those tests could show up problems with the element without there being power to it.  Without knowing what (if anything) he did in that respect, I couldn't be sure.    From the way you describe his reaction later about finding the timer faulty though, I have to say that something doesn't sound quite right about his approach.

We did have the new shower installed and its fine. 

See -- Something has to go right! 

Yeah Paul...at the end of the day we got screwed! As for what he said about the timer at the end, I can't remember....he had a thick foreign accent and I felt he was waffling plus it was 4.5 hrs on at that point....I just wanted him out of the house!

(Also regarding the timer, I didn't mention the quick on/off thing during override to you because I hadn't discovered that until the £88 plumber and I were testing it....I had turned it on and he went to the loft...within a minute or two, it had turned itself off so I ran upstairs to let him know).

I just have to let it go and move on. Uggh, I have had so many issues with the past a landlord not fixing things and now that we own a house I thought "ok, if something goes wrong at least we have the control". Unfortunately that wasn't the case and like I said I should have gone with my gut at the beginning when I told him about the timer and I didn't think he "got it" I was so close to asking him to leave...I should have but didn't want to offend (what am I nuts?). Lesson learned, I won't give a damn if I offend in the future because this episode really broke the bank. 

Yeah Paul...at the end of the day we got screwed!

Afraid so by the sound of it.      Even if I'd had to replace both the element and the timer and spent the whole day, I'd be hard pressed to justify billing an amount even approaching half of what you paid, and that's without that extra £88 for the plumber.   O.K., labor rates are lower out here in the boondocks, but even so.......

Chalk it up to experience and move on.