Removing an immersion heater element

Comments · 94

• JA

  @JakeMoran09 · 4 years ago

  Great video. Spent a good 2 hours trying to remove this without heat with no joy. I could feel the tank bending so this was very nerve racking. Heat is defo the way to go. I heated mine for about 3 mins which seemed to do the job. I also took a hack saw blade and carefully cut through the old rubber seal as someone else suggested. So if you are struggling I'd recommend trying both. Not a better feeling on earth than when you feel the element thread loosen.

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• CN

  @cnwalker6896 · 2 months ago

  An old video but fantastic and still relevant.  Bought a small blow torch and the old one (which had the threads caked in joint compound) finally budged.  Thanks so much.  Better plan for future - use PTFE tape on threads and a little compound on gasket only.

• TH

  @TheShamwari · 12 years ago

  I do not have a propane burner so I gave each flat on the &quot;nut&quot; a few smaks with a hammer - then the freakin thing finally came lose. I made sure I did NOT use any sealing gunk, But I did put plenty of thread tape above the washer and some on the thread. Plus I cleaned out the thread and put &nbsp;on some grease. <br>Result NO leaks &nbsp;Total cost £17 for element and £14 for the humungus box spanner.

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• PR

  @PrecisionTradingSys · 13 years ago

  Nice touch to play the gallery music from vision on, I like the style. :)

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• MR

  @MrRichhole · 9 years ago

  Using heat is a brilliant tip that enabled me to remove a very stubborn element. Life saver!

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• DA

  @davidcooke3142 · 8 years ago

  Top advice, couldn&apos;t get it ours to budge at all. I showed our plumber this video and after draining some water from the tank and heating it with a blow torch it shifted with arm power only.

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• JO

  @johnpolding4897 · 3 months ago

  Great stuff, thanks for the video. I am now confident of the removal process.

• TH

  @TheJasonAnthony. · 13 years ago

  Great video! You just saved me a big headache. I would have never of thought to hea<br>t up the old element to loosen it up. BIG THANKS!!!

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• KA

  @kathhicks3977 · 13 years ago

  i had wrong eqipment for the job those flat spanners are useless, i borrowed box spanner from my brother,,,,all sorted now....thank you very much. I wish I could put on a youtube video to help people out, but I am jack of all trades and master of none...I have never had a man in my life that could mend anything, also never had enough money to pay someone to do it for me.<br>thank you internet,thankyou youtube and most of all THANK YOU. your videos easy for me to understand.

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• PH

  @phoenixs0und · 12 years ago

  thanks for uploading- I could not get mine out but it soon came out after heating with out damaging the boss.

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• CH

  @chrisgee5893 · 4 years ago

  To anyone removing a well stuck immersion heater who can’t or don’t want to use heat, there is a trick that nearly always works. I picked it up from an old Plumber during my apprenticeship. By cutting round the old sealing washer all the way round, with a hacksaw blade in a pad handle (for cissies) then once the old washer has been cut (it isn’t a quick task but doesn’t take too long) a gentle tap on the head of the heater should release it. This worked on bottom installed immersion heaters in old tall combination cylinders and by god they took some shifting without this little trick as they were in an extended boss which tended to twist and make removal impossible (new cylinder required). If you can use heat without setting fire to the airing cupboard great, if not try this, it works.

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• BR

  @browgars · 12 years ago

  With your advice I managed (eventually) to remove a 30 year old immersion from a copper cylinder. Bashing &amp; heating didn&apos;t do it as I just bent the rod, so went for it &amp; after much more heating (5 mins) I put a 24&quot; pipe wrench on the box spanner and just after heating it came free :-). I cleaned the thread thoroughly but had to put lots of PTFE thread tape to get the new element to seal. Hooray! Thanks for the blowtorch tip &amp; video. Essential to have a box spanner - the flat ones are useless.