[SherwoodCleaningSe]

A few days ago I was asking about immersion heaters, well no I've been silly and gone and done it.

Basically I bought an Incolloy immersion heater and wired it into a plug and then made a hole in the top of the tank and installed it.  The heater shouldn't effect the tds of the water.

We had a bad frost last night,  I put the immersion on a timer to come on 2 hours before I transfered the water.  Result was water was at 25 C instead of about 5 and my hoses where nice and easy to use.  The immersion will bring the water up to silly temperatures if left long enough.

This is a very cheap way of getting warm water on a cold morning, leaving the heater on for 2 hours will cost 63pence at night.  The thing you need to be careful of is that it draws a lot of currant and if wired into the wrong cable it could easily start a fire.

Heres a couple of pics.

Simon.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9271652&fh_view_size=6&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB&fh_search=Immersion+heater&fh_eds=%c3%9f&fh_refview=search&ts=1203979347981&isSearch=true

[matt]

good man

this is in your IBC in your garage /  shed i guess

40 amp cable will be man enough, its the same stuff they use for power showers and electric cookers

[jeff1]

3 core heat resistant flex for an Immersion heater, you can always tell its heat resistant, when you peel back the outer sleeve you will see a chalk like powder.

Good idea on the Immersion heater Simon.

[Nathanael Jones]

Great idea, cheap and simple,... what more could you ask for!

Do you find working with warm water any different?

Be careful not to heat the water too much tho, as most pumps are only rated to 60 deg C!

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

I've found that the warm water does tend to sheet more than very cold water.  It also removes stubborn bird doings easier.  I wasn't going to heat the water much above 30 C really.  I have flojet pumps, any ideas what these can take, I think its only 40 C.  I think I will eventually get an on board system but at the moment there is no space for one in my truck.

Simon.

[AuRavelling79]

What's the wattage Sherwood?

I've been using a couple of fishpond heaters in my van tank to take the chill off but they're only 300w the pair. Works tho'

[steve m]

If I remember correctly, flojets have a max temp of 45 deg.

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

3 KW hence the thick cable.

Simon.

[cbcs]

Any chance of fitting a convertor and running it off the van?

[matt]

Any chance of fitting a convertor and running it off the van?

no far too much pwer for a inverter, it would also kill the battery very quickly

[steve freeman]

Hi simon could i ask if you are using 3amp or 13 amp in the plug for your emersion element

thanks

steve

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

13

[richywilts]

how long does the water stay warm for???

[SherwoodCleaningSe]

Worked yesterday from 7-2 heated the water to about 37c but only took about 400 lts and at 2pm it still felt warmish, I could feel it hear the microbore. Temperatures yesterday were about -1.

Simon.

[LWC]

Think im going to do this, put it on timer, come on around 6.30 for couple of hours, i reakon you could heat it to about 50 by the time its got to tank etc it wont be that hot.

Woudl the sub pump in tank be ok with heat?

[Steven Shoreditch]

It's all very well heating the tank, fine, but it's the small pipes coming out that freeze solid.  1cm of ice in a tube and you've had it.

[Mark Stevens]

I have got a van mounted system, do you think I could plug an emmersion heater into a standard or heavy duty extention lead without setting light to the van?

[Steven Shoreditch]

Yes, why not?

[LWC]

Thermostat heater in van will save the frozen pipes

I set mine on 16 degrees, just pops on every so often

[Spruce]

Hi Simon,

Thanks for this informative thread.

I see that the length of the heater element would probably sit about a third in an IBC tank - maybe a little more. Have you experienced the heater just heating the water at the top of the IBC tank and leaving the bottom cold - hot water rises.The reason for the question is that our transfer pump (not submersible) draws water from the bottom on the IBC tank where the water would be coldest. As I probably would only use about 300l in winter at best, I would always be transferring cold water, leaving the hot behind.

I also would be aware that putting the heater onto a timer could catch someone out someday with a half full IBC tank and a heater element kicking on without any water - although a safety cut out should prevent any damage to the unit, the heat from the unit could melt the ibc plastic around the element housing.

Spruce