Quick question for plumbers.

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

Need to replace the thermocouple in my HWS first thing tomorrow morning (hopefully before everyone is up out of bed.) The HWS is a Vulcan Freeloader 10. Do I need a specific thermocouple or will an off the shelf unit be ok? I'm presuming my local Reeces will have the part. Is that a fair assumption? Whats the usual cost on one for non-trade?

Thanks in advance.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

Reminds me of that joke about the bloke trying to light a gas barbeque. As he blows himself up and streaks skywards he passes another bloke shooting towards the earth: "Hey, know anything about gas barbeques?" he asks. The other guy shouts: "Nah. Know anything about parachuting?"

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

Reminds me of that joke about the bloke trying to light a gas barbeque. As he blows himself up and streaks skywards he passes another bloke shooting towards the earth: "Hey, know anything about gas barbeques?" he asks. The other guy shouts: "Nah. Know anything about parachuting?"

hahaha.... love that one.

It's ok now, turns out there is a crack in thread of the thermocouple and it was bent out of the flame. Bent it back towards the flame and measured the volts and it was reading fine. So crisis averted... hot water relit and will fix it at my leisure sometime tomorrow..... or at least in the next six months.

[Bushbasher Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Bushbasher]

We went for 5 days without hot water when we moved to Albany from Perth. It was a long weekend and nobody had the parts to repair the gas heater. Needless to say the kettle got a good workout.

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

yikes! you be stinky!

I remember 15 years ago when Victoria lost it's gas for several weeks. The only time I wish I had electric hot water lol

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

I remember 15 years ago when Victoria lost it's gas for several weeks. The only time I wish I had electric hot water lol

I remember that time too, went without the normal morning shower for 3 days till I realised the hot water service still had hot water stored in it. Used all that up and then remembered I had one of those stainless steel catering urns I liberated from the chuck out pile at work, made an excellent hot water service for a while.

Have you sorted out a part or repair yet? My BIL has a plumbing business specialising in hot water repairs and replacements, I can PM you his details if you like.

[pete8205 Member Find all posts View Profile Close pete8205]

Reece should have them on the shelf, just take the make model with you
simple swap over, cost wise its been awhile since I've replaced one so cannot remember shouldn't cost much though.
good luck Pete

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

Well I actually pulled it back out last night in ready for taking it to Reeces this morning. But as I pulled the whole unit out I looked at it and thought it was sitting a bit far away from the pilot. Sure enough, buried the tip in the stove top flame and the damn thing is working after all! Just wasn't sitting inside the flame properly. Put it back in and gave it a bit of wriggle until it should sit in the flame and it stayed alight! woohoo! Hot shower this morning!

fido666, if your BIL is in the SE Burbs, that'll be great. I noticed it was a little wet under the my tank and it is about 14 years old so it wouldn't hurt to replace. But I've been suggested lashing out on an instant hot water system and would like an honest opinion from a plumber before we go ahead and commission the work.

[Bourkey Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bourkey]

If you have got water in the bottom of the unit (under the burner) then you might be right. Check to see if there is water dripping down from above the burner. If it has only just started, it might only happen while the burner is lit and everything has expanded because it is hot. Advice on an Instantaneous Hot Water Service in my opinion. They are great. They dont have to constantly heat the water up to temp like a Water Storage Unit does. They only heat up the water when you turn the tap on. There only downfall is, that with a change over from Water Storage to Instantaneous you will probably have to upsize the gas line to the unit as they chew through the gas.

[MidLifeCrisis Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close MidLifeCrisis]

Ok, back on topic please. Did the gas bloke bottle know anything about parachuting or not?

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Hi there Ranj, we have the Rinnai Infinity (instant) 2600 (I think that's the model) anyway it will supply hot water for up to 3 showers.... Its fantastic. As Bourkey has said it only fires up when you turn the tap on. No constant pilot light and not sitting there heating a whole heap of water up, off and on like a holding tank. The only things I don't like about it is your water saving shower heads are pretty much useless as the water system requires a steady flow for it to stay alight with out it cutting in and out so I had to remove the water saving washer from the head of the shower we tried a few different heads currently have a methfen (not sure on the spelling). It takes that little bit longer for the water to come through hot about the only two things that I have found. Love the fact you have hot water 24/7 while ever you have gas and power your right. We also have the controller so we can set the temperature. We hardly ever use the cold water tap at all. I have shower at 44 wife has it at 43 and the bath for the little one is 39 just flick the mixer on and it comes out at that temp and its pretty bloody accurate to. This is the controller in the bathroom have another in the kitchen. The one in the bathroom will always override the kitchen one. So eg if Im having a shower at 44 and the wife has the kitchen one at 55 for washing up (very rarely have dishwasher) it will not go to 55 as I have the shower running. So very safe.... [IMG][/IMG] Cheers Steve

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Meant to say you can go all out and have it set to turn off at certain litres in the bath which also has a voice. So say you can have the controller in the kitchen and it will tell you when the bath has filled up and you can set the amount of water you want delivered it will then shout at you to let you know its ready LOL I kid you not our neighbours have it.....You can also have it so it will run the hot water around the pipes first till it gets to the temperature you have set it at before it will open up and deliver the water. We didn't get any of that, that was going to cost a shit load. Cost us $1200 including controllers and installed by AGL but that was approx 5 to 6 years ago...Cheers Steve

[RanJ Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close RanJ]

$1200? Really? I was expecting a lot more than that! Are those controllers wireless? and can it be expanded? do I need one for the washing machine and laundry or will they just be at the temperature of the master controller?

Bourkey, thanks for the advice. It looks like its coming out from where the thermostat bracket is welded/soldered to the outer tank. On your note about the gas pipe needing to be upgraded, do you think that still applies given that my storage tank is less than a meter from my gas meter?

The other thing I forgot to add is it has to accomodate upto 8 showers a day! (yes, we have a family of 8. MLC stay quite!)... will I still see saving from the instant system?

[Bourkey Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bourkey]

The wall controller that Steve has taken a photo of is pretty much top of the range. You might be lucky and not have to upgrade the service pipe to the unit, although the size of your service pipe has many factors. ie: How much gas is needed per appliance, running at the maximum level and the length of the run to your furthest appliance. You are better off over sizing rather that under sizing. If its in winter and you have your ducted heating going and you jump in the shower and can only get luke warm water you will want to kill your Plumber. I have had it happen to me where someone wouldnt take my advice to upsize. As they wanted it done on the cheap...... Funnily enough I was there in winter upsizing there service pipe. I would recommend running a min of 20mm pipe as close as possible to an Instantaneous unit.

[Bourkey Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Bourkey]

Yes even with 8 showers a day you will still see a saving. If you have teenage girls dont let them know that you now have endless hot water, your gas and water bill might just go up. lol You can always trick them by turning the power off to the unit.... instant cold water!