# Interest group forums > Electrical Contracting Industry Forum >  Geyser wise E4 error

## debtcollectorZA

Hi Guys,

We've had a geyser wise installed as part of the solar geyser installation. Recently it started giving me E4 errors.

According to the manual this means that there is heatloss somewhere. Because there is too big a discrepancy between the energy going into the geyser vs the rise in water temperature.

I doubt this is the case as new pressure release valve ejects steaming hot water onto the roof with the temperature ready barely touching 50 on the display. This only happens on when the electric element is on.

On sunny days the display goes up to 90+ without the pressure release activating.

What could the problem be?

Broken thermocouple?
Faulty controller?

What is your experience with this issue?

Regards 
Theo

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## Justloadit

I somehow do not think that the probe is faulty as this is a resistor in a tube, however I think that there is an issue with either the probe wiring, or the probe has mechanically disconnected itself from its position.

I find that many installers use a chocolate block to connect wires, and when tightening the terminal, break the wire in the terminal by the shear force of the screw. This is a typical problem that you are experiencing where the reading jumps around.

I am glad that the pressure relief valve works, this is one of the safety features of the geyser, but concerned that the pressure relief valve is activating, as there should also be a thermostat in series with the element as part of the control. I think that the Geyserwise system uses DC, and hence the removal of the thermostat which will cause the contacts to burn/fail when it opens.

The E4 error according to the manual is heat loss or faulty element, and refers to element failure, but they do not refer to incorrect reading from the probe. The fact that the pressure valve works, indicates the element is on and working with out any temperature control.

If you can not check the wires from the temperature probes, I suggest you get a Geyserwise technician out as soon as possible, as the high pressure is placing a strain on the geyser, and failure of the pressure relief valve can cause the geyser to explode due to high pressure build up.

You can see a video when Mythbusters removed all safety features and filmed a Geyser Exploding.
Do a Google check on exploding geysers and you will see that this does occur.

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flaker (11-Dec-19)

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## debtcollectorZA

Hi,
 Its been a few months and the problem still persists as I have done any more investigating  or fixes on the issue.
The connections between the temp probe and the controller was dogdy AF. 
It used those little plastic connectors similar to the ones used for servo connections in remote control models. It was forced into a different size receptical cause intermittent connection. 
I fixed that using a soldering iron. 

I have found a workaround that's kept my hot water inside the geyser except for a few vents onto the roof. 

I am not sure if this is a design flaw in a geyser wise, but it seems when it goes into e4 error mode it seems to keep the heating element on causing the over heating.

I changed the heating program to go on and off multiple times throughout the evening. This seems to stop the E4 error from happening. 

When an element fails, does it stop working all together or can it break that the heating output is reduced significantly but still heats. 

It literally takes hours for the water to heat to 45c from 18c using electricity. When the sun is shining (even in winter) it does the same in less than half the time.

Could this semi working element be the cause for the e4 errors?

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## AndyD

> ....When an element fails, does it stop working all together or can it break that the heating output is reduced significantly but still heats.


Yes, it's possible for an element to develope an internal fault that could cause it to still work at reduced power. If the circuit supplying that element is supplied by an earth leakage breaker it should trip with this particular mode of element failure.

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## Justloadit

> Yes, it's possible for an element to develope an internal fault that could cause it to still work at reduced power. If the circuit supplying that element is supplied by an earth leakage breaker it should trip with this particular mode of element failure.


Hi Andy, the reply you made is with respect to a typical geyser element made from resistance wire, however with respect to the Geyserwise element, they use PTC resistors to do their heating.




> Geyserwise 2200W (230V) PTC Geyser Element - Heat Tech. GeyserWise has developed an immersion heater element that offers inherent safety and improved functionality over typical resistance-wire heaters. The new technology utilises Positive Temperature Co-efficient (PTC) chips as the heat source.


It is quite possible that there may be failures in the PTC element, and only parts of it work, reducing the heating power

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