Water Heater

[meadish_sweetball]

My water heater is a Panasonic DH-10AM1. It has four stages, Off, Low, Medium and High.

Two months or so ago, the 'Low' stage stopped working, and does not heat the water anymore. I think it happened when turning off the water before turning the knob back to 'Off' again.

The Medium and High stages still work though, only they don't provide as much power as before. And now that the early mornings are seriously chilly even the High stage is not enough to heat up the water for a nice hot shower.

So I'm planning to get a guy to come fix it for us, but in case somebody here knows what is likely to have happened and how to fix it, please share your knowledge.

I won't attempt to do it myself but I like to learn so I can check on the work performed by others.

[LivinLOS]

High tech question there ??

[Naam]

My water heater is a Panasonic DH-10AM1. It has four stages, Off, Low, Medium and High.

Two months or so ago, the 'Low' stage stopped working, and does not heat the water anymore. I think it happened when turning off the water before turning the knob back to 'Off' again.

The Medium and High stages still work though, only they don't provide as much power as before. And now that the early mornings are seriously chilly even the High stage is not enough to heat up the water for a nice hot shower.

So I'm planning to get a guy to come fix it for us, but in case somebody here knows what is likely to have happened and how to fix it, please share your knowledge.

I won't attempt to do it myself but I like to learn so I can check on the work performed by others.

your water heater has most probably three heating coils. the one which heats water when switched on "low" seems to be gone. the other two don't have the capacity to heat up the water to the degree you desire.

[Veazer]

I hereby promote Naam to Naam Raawn.

[dotcom]

It's rooted. Time to buy a new one. Cheers.

[meadish_sweetball]

High tech question there ??

No, not really. I just don't know how water heaters work and wanted to learn.

your water heater has most probably three heating coils. the one which heats water when switched on "low" seems to be gone. the other two don't have the capacity to heat up the water to the degree you desire.

Thanks naam.

It's rooted. Time to buy a new one. Cheers.

Really, that bad? I thought it might be possible to fix, but as I said I don't really have a clue. Shame about 10,000-15,000 or whatever a decent one costs.

[Crossy]

It's rooted. Time to buy a new one. Cheers.

It may just be the microswitch that controls the 'low' heater, cheap and easy fix

Time to pull it apart and get out the trusty multimeter.

NOTE One should have some idea what one is up to before taking the lid off electrical appliances, might be smart to get your local 'man' to have a butchers

Edited November 12, 2008 by Crossy

[meadish_sweetball]

Thanks Crossy - I know you're right about the safety aspect and I won't risk frying myself or any family members.

[jojothai]

High tech question there ??

No, not really. I just don't know how water heaters work and wanted to learn.

your water heater has most probably three heating coils. the one which heats water when switched on "low" seems to be gone. the other two don't have the capacity to heat up the water to the degree you desire.

Thanks naam.

It's rooted. Time to buy a new one. Cheers.

Really, that bad? I thought it might be possible to fix, but as I said I don't really have a clue. Shame about 10,000-15,000 or whatever a decent one costs.

Hi

If you get a new one I recommend that you dont get Panasonic.

I had problems with a panasonic multipoint shower water heater unit and despite several call outs kept having the same problem.

In the end I gave up and bought a different make - Centon in that case (multipoint 6Kw).

But my problem was with shower / sink water heater multipoint and not the bigger type water heaters I think you have.

however just a point for you to consider other makes.

Perhaps somebody can comment on the better brands.

jojo

[nikster]

Or you get a gas heater. I think it was 7k bht for mine, which is the low model, but it's really very hot, certainly enough for a single high pressure shower. They make a bigger model too... and gas is certainly cheaper than electricity, a tank lasts 2 months or so for 300Bht....

I am of course planning to go solar pretty soon, that would be even better. Solar systems are pretty cheap these days.. they just heat the water, not actually generate electricity, so the tech is simple and it works...

[dotcom]

Really, that bad? I thought it might be possible to fix, but as I said I don't really have a clue. Shame about 10,000-15,000 or whatever a decent one costs.

First I assumed you have a hand shower versus hot water heater.

Either way they don't cost anywhere near what you are thinking.

Previous poster is right, the better hand showers are Sharp or Sanyo - forget which one.

A hand shower is 5 or 6,000 baht. The last Ariston 50 liter tank heater I bought was under 10,000 (Home Pro).

[AsiaCheese]

Recently uninstalled a Fujika multipoint water heater that only works in two modes: cold or nuclear... There's no cold/medium/hot/boil-eggs selector switch on it and it's been driving me nuts for ages, with one hand on the shower and the other on the cold/warm water mixer trying to avoid semi-lethal extremes...

Anyone wants it, for free, before I dump it? Send me a message -- to be picked up in Jomtien

Installed an Ariston (about THB 6,000) 6kW multipoint thingy instead, set the temperature to about 1/3, and ever since, I'm singing happily in the shower

After installing it, there must have been some air bubbles left in the heater part, firing a safety/overheat switch inside the heater which can't be reset by pressing the reset button -- arrrrggghhhh. There's a small microswitch that needs to be pressed, right next to the heating element. That could also be the problem with your "low" stage. Just guessing...