Bottom heater not functioning

Hi all,

I'm just hoping for some advice on my Pulsacoil 2000 please. Over the weekend the unit suddenly stopped heating up during the off peak period. Everything seems to be functioning as it should (including the boost - the top third gets hot), apart from the bottom element which stays stone cold. The rate of flow from the hot tap is normal, just cold, which I think rules out the pump.

There are no fault lights showing on the front of the unit, however when I took it apart I had a look behind that panel; the fault light isn't even connected so no surprise that it doesn't report a problem! The red light on the main control board is flashing twice quickly, followed by half a second or so off.

Now the worrying thing: I've just opened up the cap on the bottom element to test it, and found a little water in there. Not a significant amount, but enough that it dripped out of the end cap and onto the floor.

Anyway, testing the resistance over the element says it's OK; 19 ohms and identical to the top element which is functioning fine. That led me to think it must be the thermister, but if I've understood how these things work then I'd have expected that to produce intermittent problems rather than a sudden problem like this. Happy to be wrong on that though of course.

So in summary: I'm confused and in need of advice!

Thanks in advance,
Martin.

If you have water in the bottom heater then the rod stat pocket has failed.
You will need a new heater and rod stat.
Check the top one too.
As this is a common problem.
Mike
MGC/H2O
Norfolk

Yeah the top one is bone dry.

I assume the tank needs to be drained etc before replacing the bottom heater / stat??

The store will need draining before replacing.

Kind regards

Gary MK Group Ltd

Right, engineer booked then. Well outside of my comfort zone once 170 litres of water become involved.

Thanks!