Sunamp failure - NOW FIXED!

[Mr Punter]

39 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

Its replacement was a car that had been in production for three years

 

What was the make and model?

[Jeremy Harris]

1 hour ago, Mr Punter said:

 

What was the make and model?

 

 

It was a  December 2020 Jaguar I-Pace HSE.  Far from being an efficient EV, but reasonable performance from 400hp and AWD, if not quite up there with the Model 3 LR AWD.  Very comfortable and extremely reliable, as well as seeming to be completely free from software bugs (something of a rarity in modern cars!).

 

I replaced the I-Pace in June last year with a Mercedes EQA Premium +.  Smaller than the I-Pace and better suited to the roads around here, and a lot lower performance.  It is pretty efficient though, massively more so than the I-Pace.  My only minor gripe is that the software isn't as intuitive as it could be, although it announced it was updating just as I got home last night, so I've not yet had time to experience whatever may have been changed.

[Barney12]

9 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

It was a  December 2020 Jaguar I-Pace HSE

The HUGE advantage of the I-Pace is that it’s not built by JLR ! 😁

[Jeremy Harris]

5 minutes ago, Barney12 said:

The HUGE advantage of the I-Pace is that it’s not built by JLR ! 😁

 

 

Absolutely!  Made in Austria by Magna Steyr and it showed in every single detail.  The build quality was absolutely superb, markedly better than the Mercedes I have now.  It was a complex car though, both the electrical stuff and things like the air suspension and other electric widgets, so after owning it for three and a bit years and paying for the extended warranty, I kept worrying it would have some major failure not covered by the warranty, so sold it.

 

The cost of EV repairs can be eye-wateringly high, so running one outside the warranty period carries a potential write-off risk on the basis of cost if something serious fails.

[Kelvin]

We have an Ioniq 5. I wouldn’t run it outside of a warranty. 

[Pocster]

Car people - just lease 

[Jeremy Harris]

One slight problem has appeared (only spotted when @SteamyTea called around earlier  - thanks, now fixed!) in that a crimped on type elbow (the ones that need the expensive machine to fit) developed a very slow weep.  It was dripping at a rate of about one drip every ten to fifteen minutes.  Struck me as being odd, as everything I've read/watched on YouTube about these crimped fittings has been very positive.  I really did not expect to find one with a slight leak.

 

Anyway, ten minute job to fix, as I had some spare 22mm pipe and a couple of compression elbows, so all is sorted now.  This wasn't Sunamp's fault in any way, my guess is that it was just one of those things.  I cut away the neoprene (whilst Steamy Tea was here) and I can't see anything wrong with the crimped fitting (that may be the wrong term, but hey ho, I'm not a plumber!).  Any views on this type of fitting, @Nickfromwales?  Am I mistaken in thinking they are normally very reliable?  I know that it's far too easy to get mislead by social media stuff, especially YouTube, but I've not seen anything negative about these fittings, TBH, so suspect we've just been unlucky.

 

Whilst I had the water off I've added a tee and two 22m ball valves, one on the Sunamp output, the other off the tee, with a stop end for now.  The plan is to fit the small wall mounted UVC some time in the next few weeks, as a backup source of hot water.    If we need to switch over hot water sources then it's just a matter of closing the Sunamp valve, opening the alternative source valve and switching  a rotary changeover switch from the Sunamp to the back up.  If we never need to use it that will be great, but it will give us peace of mind that we have an alternative that we can very quickly switch over too if we really need to. 

 

What's even better about this is that with just a 2kW immersion the backup can be fully heated in under two hours from the battery system, as we pretty much always have at least 7 or 8kWh of spare energy available even on a dull day.  The price looks very reasonable, too, even including the labour cost from the local plumber (who's becoming my new best mate, he really deserves to get on with his positive approach - like a breath of fresh air given my recent experience with a rip-off merchant).

 

Hope you got home OK after your marathon trip today, @SteamyTea.  Makes me glad that we no longer live down in your neck of the woods, with that long haul just to get out of the county.

[Onoff]

2 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

Struck me as being odd, as everything I've read/watched on YouTube about these crimped fittings has been very positive. 

 

😂 I've seen hundreds "let go".

[SteamyTea]

3 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said:

when @SteamyTea called around earlier

Just got back to Penzance for a coffee and then a kebab.

Was good to see you.

Going to send you a PM in a sec as there was something totally unrelated I meant to ask you.

[Jeremy Harris]

Just now, Onoff said:

 

😂 I've seen hundreds "let go".

 

 

Many thanks!

 

That just goes to show how easy it is to be mislead by stuff on the internet!  I suppose the reason people are promoting these things so heavily is because they are quick and easy to use, then, so they save a lot of time on a job.  That figures, but it is depressing, all the same.  I'd like to think that people who promote stuff like this are honest, but I guess honesty is just another commodity to be bought and sold. . .