No Hot Water
A burnt-out element, a thermostat that no longer closes, or a tripped cut-out. Tested with a meter, so the right part is replaced first time.
Home/Geyser Repair
Geyser repair in Bellville begins with one question: is the water coming from a fitting or from the tank? A fitting is a part and a sound tank keeps working. Only a leaking cylinder needs replacing, and you will know which it is before you are quoted.
Tell us what the geyser is doing. Cold water, a wet ceiling and a tripping board each point somewhere different.
Almost everything that fails on an electric geyser is bolted to the outside of the tank, which is why most of it can be fixed.
A burnt-out element, a thermostat that no longer closes, or a tripped cut-out. Tested with a meter, so the right part is replaced first time.
A thermostat set low or drifting, an element half scaled, or a mixing problem at the shower rather than the geyser at all.
Traced to the element flange, the drain cock, a fitting on the hot outlet or the tank. The answer decides whether this is a repair.
A pressure control or relief valve that no longer seats. Replaced as a part, with the cold inlet pressure checked while we are there.
An element leaking to earth or water in the thermostat pocket. The geyser stays switched off at the board until it is tested.
Hissing, knocking and kettling usually mean a valve lifting or scale on the element. Neither is normally a reason to replace the cylinder.
A geyser that leaks is not automatically a geyser that has died. Most of what goes wrong on an electric geyser is on the outside of the tank: the element and its gasket, the thermostat, the valve on the cold inlet, the vacuum breakers and the drain cock. Each of those is a part with a price. Only a leak from the cylinder itself, through a corroded seam or the shell, ends the geyser's working life.
The drip tray usually shows which it is. Water that arrives through the overflow pipe on the outside wall is a valve relieving or failing to close. Water around the round flange at the front of the geyser is the element seal. Water running down the outside of the jacket from above is often a fitting on the hot outlet. A steady wet patch under the middle of the tank, with no fitting nearby, is the tank.
Replacement is sometimes recommended on the strength of a wet tray alone, and insurers do push back on it. An assessor will want to know what failed, and a photograph of the leak point answers that better than any opinion. That is why the source is found and photographed before a price for anything is given.
The rule used here is simple. If the tank is sound, the failed part is replaced and the geyser keeps working. If the tank itself is leaking, or the same geyser has had several major parts in a short time, replacement is the honest answer and it is priced as a separate job, with the old unit's age and warranty date checked first.
Before anybody quotes you a new geyser, ask where the water is coming from. If the answer is a valve, an element or a thermostat, you are paying for a part, not a cylinder.
A geyser is the most expensive single item most plumbers are asked to sell. These are the checks that keep that honest.
You see the exact source of the water before anything is quoted, and so can your insurer.
Elements and thermostats are checked with a meter, so a working part is not replaced on a guess.
The label on the geyser is read before a replacement is discussed, in case the manufacturer should be paying.
Element, thermostat, valve and labour listed separately, not bundled into a single figure.
It depends on the part. An element or a thermostat is a modest repair, a valve set a little more, and each is priced once the fault has been tested and before any work starts. The approach to call-out and labour is set out on the plumber prices page.
Not necessarily. The tray catches water from the element seal, the drain cock and the valves as well as from the tank. Only a leak from the cylinder itself means replacement, and that is visible once the cover is off.
That is the overflow from a pressure or relief valve. A constant drip usually means the valve is no longer sealing and needs replacing. A drip only while the geyser is heating can be normal expansion on some systems, and it is worth checking which you have.
The usual cause is an element that has started leaking current to earth, or water getting into the thermostat pocket. Leave it switched off at the board until it has been tested, because the fault will not clear itself.
There is no fixed figure. Scale, how often the geyser is switched on and off, and the thermostat setting all shorten it. An element that fails repeatedly is a sign that something else, often the thermostat, needs attention too.
Policies differ. Many pay for a burst geyser and the damage it causes, but not for wear and tear such as a failed element. Your insurer will want a report stating what failed, which is what the photographs and the itemised invoice give you.
The storage cylinder, its element, thermostat and valves are standard plumbing work and can be repaired. Collector panels and heat pump units have their own specialists, and you will be told plainly if the fault is on that side.
If the tank is dry and sound, a repair is usually the cheaper choice. Where the cylinder is leaking, or the geyser has needed several major parts recently, a replacement costs more now and less over the next few years.
Get In Touch
Cold showers, a wet tray or an overflow that never stops dripping? Tell us what you are seeing and we will come back with a straight answer.