FFS wasted time with lying trades people

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Had a new water heater tank installed last week, all good, but then that night discovered that the new unit burned out the "contactor coil" in the fuse box. The switch was tripped. That means storage heaters don't work, and water heater doesn't work. No heat or hot water in my home.

Did a bit of googling, okay I see the contactor coil regulates all these heating elements. So need a new contactor coil. Great.

I ring the place that installed the new cylinder and they were like, "Oh my god pure coincidence nothing to do with us bye" .

I call in an electrician who just spent the morning in my home poking around the fuse box and phoning his friends. He finally found a random switch in the airing cupboard and said, "Try this."

I said, "Okay but the contactor coil thingy? I think it burnt out? The fuse is off?"

"Oh the contactor coil has nothing to do with anything".

"Okay what is a contactor coil then?"

"I don't know"

I refused to pay him.

I would love to be able to contract someone to do something and then just have them do it right and thoroughly. Every fucking time I need something fixed I have to turn into Queen of the Harpies just to get it done right.

And now I have to send a bitchy email to the company to say, "Hi you installed a new water heater and now I have no heat or hot water. Make it right".

@pigletjohn may be able to give you a straight answer regarding the coil.

YANBU to want a good job done.

You will never regret teaching yourself basic practical skills.

Thank you. It's not even the details here, it's just every fucking time I've had someone in to do serious water or heating stuff I start off with every intention of it going well. Okay, he comes recommended, he seems to know what he's doing, cup of tea, chat, agree on job and quote. Oh you have a cat too? Nice, nice, nice.

And every fucking time it ends with me finally having to resort to stroppy letters and "I'll be happy to pay the balance once we have resolution" and "" did you mean to leave the wires exposed?" and even small claims court.

I don't know where to begin teaching myself how to replace a contactor coil.

@SerendipityJane I cannot replace a water heater on my own.

But you've hit the nail on the head. The worst part is just helplessly handing money and time to people and hoping maybe this one will actually just do what he's committed to do without me having to turn into my evil twin.

Its tedious isn't it. We've had so many rubbish tradesmen out recently, I feel like just saying "are you sure you're competent?" before letting them in the house and that's when they actually turn up when they say they will.

It took us 6 months and two failed builders to find someone to sort our kitchen. They say they'll give you a quote, they come round then disappear. You chase them, they give excuses. You chase some more and they stop responding. Drives me crazy!

I know!

And I undertake due diligence. The loser who just wasted half my day before finally admitting he had no clue was recommended by my boss!

A contactor is most likely used with an "economy 7" type off peak tariff, so that a timeswitch can turn it on. The contactor is a high-amperage thing like a relay that will turn on, for example, storage heaters and an immersion heater.

They are usually quite high power so it seems strange that it has burned out. The trade price of a new one is around £25/£50 plus VAT and fitting. It might possibly need a new enclosure and cabling if the old one was obsolete or an unusual brand. They are commonly used in industry so quite durable. I don't see why fitting a new element would cause it to fail.

Occasionally terminal connectors burn out if they are loose, or it might just be old age.

Post some photos of it, and the consumer unit with the flap open, your electricity meter and the cables and other devices around and between them.

You need a qualified electrician, and preferably one who is an experienced Approved Contractor, not just a Domestic Installer which is a lower grade.

Electricians with commercial and industrial experience are likely to have dealt with contactors more often.

A local independent firm is likely to send out the business-owner or partner; a large chain may send a less experienced employee.

There are several bodies who register the qualifications, here is one example www.niceic.com/householder/find-a-contractor

IMO it is unwise to use an electrician who is not a qualified member of one of the Self-Certification schemes.

If the firm you used does not have qualified contractors, they may not be capable of putting right your problem.

I've discovered in the past that you don't want an electrician for problems with your heating, even if it's the electrics. They're mostly clueless about that - for some reason, this is considered a plumber's domain even though it's electrics.

The worst part is then I feel like the snotty person who's being mean and imperious to a builder. The guy who came out this morning was really angry that I didn't pay but I did describe the problem to him before he came out and if he wasn't familiar with my system he should have said.

@SerendipityJane I cannot replace a water heater on my own.

If you could, you'd probably be making a living from it, on the basis the clowns you paid to do it clearly couldn't.

I wasn't necessarily becoming some sort of YouTube sensation with your DIY skills (little tip that there is a lot of free expertise on YT ....). But enough to be able to put up the bullshit deflector shields when dealing with tradespeople (although I will acknowledge that the vast majority are men. Which may - or may not - explain a few things).

@PigletJohn you are a star.

Any reason why the contactor coil fuse would suddenly be found in the "off" position then?

I turned it back on, but storage heaters still not working (after several days). So I assume burnt out?

Having the same problem just trying to get a quote for work on the bathroom. Was promised a quote and didn't get one. Just waiting for one to come through (if it ever does) and will then tell him to fuck off. He wouldn't be getting the work now anyway.

Here are photos: inside of electrical cupboard. Meter, some random black things, fuse panel, bottom row of fuse panel. In the last one, I found the "contactor coil" fuse in "off" few days ago and turned it to "on".

Contactor coils do not take the load current of the load they are supplying, the coil is the part which switches the load in. So it would be hard to believe that the work is responsible unless they worked directly on the contactor.
Sending a stupidly thought out stroppy email will get you placed bottom of the pile, especially if it turns out the failure is nothing to do with them.

@pigletjohn The NIC dont "grade" electricians, people pay for the level of membership they need the base assessment criteria are the same as per the EAS. Besides under the QS model the person showing up to your home under the NIC banner isn't necessarily qualified.

Yep 100% with you all here, recently tried to get trees cut back and gutters unblocked and cleaned. Ive now brought a big set of ladders and do the gutters myself and after finally having the height of the trees cut will maintain them myself...with my big ladders! We really want our conservatory taking down and patio relaying but I cant be bothered to go through the hassle.

@R1R2 so is it really just coincidence? Seems counterintuitive.

Not really they fail all the time for all kinds of reasons, we frequently turn machinery that is working fine off only to have contactor coils fail as soon as we re energise the system. Until you know the actual cause of your problem its all speculation.

Yes that's exactly the problem. All the professionals involved have taken my money and said "Sorry you have no heat or hot water but I know without checking that the problem is nothing to do with me bye".

Okay progress: the hot water people recommended an electrician who just responded to my text with a phone call. I asked him if he knew what a contactor coil is and what it does and he was able to describe it, so here's hoping.

I see the one you have fitted is only rated at 20A, so it might have got hot.

(Eaton) MEM is a good quality brand so a replacement should still be available.

@PigletJohn would you mind DMing me to see whether you could recommend someone in my area?