No hot water, testing immersion heater

[jamiebae]

The water isn't anything like as hot as normal so I guess it didn't heat up properly last night. I'm assuming the immersion is borked but when powered up it makes a fizzing noise for a little bit before settling down.

Are there any simple tests to check if it is dud using a multimeter before I swap it and find out it wasn't the problem? I assume from the noise that power is getting to it without any problems.

It's an old copper cylinder with the heater in the bottom, and the immersion is the only thing that heats the water.

Thanks!

[Ferg]

You can test for resistance between the cylinder wall and the element. It should be open circuit.
Try turning the thermostat up.

Edited by Ferg on Tuesday 3rd March 19:52