[Question] Hi Plz help - how do I turn off my Geyser?

[Poor Student]

Hi

My Geyser seems to be on the way out, My question is how do I turn off my Geyser. I live in a old flat and the electricity board is ancient. Plz see attached picture. It even has a bell, any help will be appreciated, I don't have much money as I am a student. Link below

http://imgur.com/70wbeTW

Thanks again

[AndyD]

Easiest way is to use the electrical switch that should be at the geyser itself. If there is no switch at the geyser then it's one of the fuses but unfortunately they're not marked unless there's a separate card with the circuits listed on it so it would be trail and error until you find the right circuit. Alternatively I'd switch the entire DB off at the main switch, like you did before you opened the cover to take the picture, then take the cover off the geyser electrical connection box. First prove the circuit is dead using a tester then disconnect the L+N in the geyser and put each wire into a connector block to make it safe. Put cover back on and finally switch power back on again.

Can I ask why you feel the geyser needs to be disconnected?.

The installation is old but I've seen older,your wiring is PVC and not the very old cotton insulated so it's probably perfectly servicable. If you want to improve the safety of the installation get a sparky firstly to do some tests to prove the circuits are safe and then install an earth leakage breaker external to the DB on the main supply. If there's no major faults it should cost between 1&2 thousand and voila, the installation will probably be good for another 50 years or so. It would also be worth checking all the fuse carriers to make sure nobody has used old nails or tin-foil instead of the correct fuse wire.

[Leecatt]

Easiest way is to use the electrical switch that should be at the geyser itself. If there is no switch at the geyser then it's one of the fuses but unfortunately they're not marked unless there's a separate card with the circuits listed on it so it would be trail and error until you find the right circuit. Alternatively I'd switch the entire DB off at the main switch, like you did before you opened the cover to take the picture, then take the cover off the geyser electrical connection box. First prove the circuit is dead using a tester then disconnect the L+N in the geyser and put each wire into a connector block to make it safe. Put cover back on and finally switch power back on again.

Can I ask why you feel the geyser needs to be disconnected?.

The installation is old but I've seen older,your wiring is PVC and not the very old cotton insulated so it's probably perfectly servicable. If you want to improve the safety of the installation get a sparky firstly to do some tests to prove the circuits are safe and then install an earth leakage breaker external to the DB on the main supply. If there's no major faults it should cost between 1&2 thousand and voila, the installation will probably be good for another 50 years or so. It would also be worth checking all the fuse carriers to make sure nobody has used old nails or tin-foil instead of the correct fuse wire.

Once an earth leakage is inserted then the circuit would require an electrical certificate of compliance and that, in turn, would require the installation of circuit breakers and the removal of those fuses.

[Sparks]

Hmmm, been some time since this was posted. I have had the same type of setup more than a few times and found the geyser circuit to be on the bottom row with the lights, in this case the middle circuit. To test would be easy, remove the fuse and see if there is hot water the following day. If it is noticed that something else has no power and the geyser is still heating the water, write on the card what is without power and allocate the fuse a number. Should that not be the fuse, which I doubt, process of elimination will show what is.

[julies]

Out of curiosity, what is the bell used for in those old circuits ?

[Justloadit]

If I remember correctly when I was a kid, it was for the door bell.

[mikilianis]

Poor Student. Try the top left Isolator the stand alone one it has two wires on top and two wires on the bottom that is the most likely one. I have done a lot of work on old houses in Cape Town mainly Southern Suberbs but be careful as a lot of the older houses are 3 phase