Common geyser problems

A geyser never actually burst, it is more of a leak. This is one of the cases where you should phone a plumber immediately, preferable a 24 hour plumber. The cylinder on the outside will be slowly leaking water where the pipes are connected to each other, there will be leakage from the rivets that holds the geysers outer cylinder together or through the cover that is over the electrical components. These are all common geyser problems.

Breaker leaks are the item resembling a cap on the end of the water pipes leading to the geyser. If this is leaking water, it should be replaced ASAP by a qualified plumber.

No hot water is probably the most common geyser problem consumers experience. It is also the most complicated plumbing issue to solve, as various factors can be responsible for icy showers.  The municipal relay could be off. You cannot move this switch and plumbers aren’t allowed to work on Eskom ripple relay switches. This switch is usually near your MAIN Switch board, if the switch shows OFF, contact Eskom and they will send their team out to your residence to rectify the problem.  If the thermostat is faulty, it will need to be changed as this also results in no hot water. Last, but not least, it could be that the element burnt out. This one of the bigger jobs done on a geyser and involves draining all the water from the faulty geyser. This task can get tricky if a “plumber” is not qualified, as you do not want water dripping through the ceiling onto your furniture and belongings because of lack of experience.

The pressure valves job is to reduce the municipal water pressure to a pressure that can be handled by the geyser located in your residence.  It is supposed to leak a LITTLE, as this is it normal functioning and it should be roughly 2% of the hot water used at your home. For example, every 100 litres of hot water from your geyser, should equate to about 2 litres of wastage due to overflow.

Hot water overflow means your thermostat and temperature valve requires changing. The piping that leads to the outside of your roof, MUST be copper or steel and atleast 22diameter, installed in a an position that if it were to open up and spurt hot water, that no one will be in harm’s way.

For a 24 hour plumber who knows what he is doing in fixing common geyser problems, we are just a phone call away on our 24 hour plumbing line!