Damsel in Distress!

Members location is U.K.

Why is my immersion heater wall switch getting hot? Any advice greatly appreciated

 

This is primarily a North American forum. Imeson heater is a bit to vague and not something you usually find in an American home. Is this used to provide hot water for bathing or dishwashing or what? Maybe the make and model number would help us.

 

Thanks for replying. The immersion heater is an element attached to the hot water cylinder that heats the water for all household use. The cylinder is upstairs in the house, but the heater is turned off and on via the wall switch downstairs. This is a run-of-the-mill ordinary wall switch. This is what gets hot when I switch it on. The heater in the cylinder works OK. It is the wall switch that has some kind of problem. Obviously, until I find out what the problem is I do not switch it on. I suspect that the wall switch has some kind of wiring problem inside, but I am not qualified to touch it!

 

The switch could be overheating due to something in the heating element. The switch isn't necessarily bad. Maybe you can unscrew the switch & pull it from the wall to inspect the wires.

 

Thanks for that! I think I need to call in an electrician. Electricity scares the heck out of me so I will not be attempting to take the switch off the wall. Thanks everyone for your advice - much appreciated!

 

Any time current flows heat is created. A loose connection can cause too much heat and a potential fire. The switch needs to be rated for the load.

Did the switch just start to heat up?