Hidden Dangers Of Water Heaters: How To Install Safely? | Talking Point | Full Episode
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- Since 2014, all electrocution deaths at residential flats in Singapore were linked to water heaters. Besides electrocution, water heaters also pose fire and explosion risks to homeowners. From storage to instant water heaters, just how safe is our water heaters? Can they potentially kill us when we least expect it?
0:00 When water heaters turn deadly
2:22 How water heaters can kill
6:22 Different types of water heaters
7:15 How safe is my water heater?
9:35 Storage VS instant water heater
13:35 How my water heater caught fire
16:03 What it takes to install water heater safely
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Talking Point is one of the best investigative series out there on YT.
Keep it up guys! Appreciate all this crucial information that often gets overlooked by a lot of us
That opening segment with the reenactment of the family that was killed by electrocution. I remember reading it in the news. So tragic. Imagine how traumatised the daughter was when she saw her father collapsing as well. Thankfully she was smart, probably noticed something wasn't right and did not reach in to her father, otherwise she would've been electrocuted as well. I cannot imagine the feelings she went through in the moment. The trauma she's going through now. Just sad.
Ppppqppppp} pppppppppp
Praying praying for the surviving wife who has to raise her children alone. May this tragedy help her come to the knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ if she’s not a believer already. Praying for peace, strength, and financial support as long as she needs. In Jesus name amen.
@@Emsyaz So says who? The Quran is not the continuation of the Gospels or the rest of the New Testament. The Quran cannot substantiate itself according to the Bible ( the whole of Jewish writing in the Old and New Testament.) There is no reference of the seal of the prophets in the Old and New Testament. It is a writing (the Quran) meant to connect itself to the greatness of the Lord but the writing is not from God but from another source. The end of time will reveal this. It is a good thing the end of time is coming soon. The Lord Jesus will not come to smash the graves of Christians but he will come to take them away instead. It is called the Rapture or Catching away. This will be the greatest proof that God favors Christianity and not Islam. Millions or Billions of Christians will suddenly disappear. Hopefully in your lifetime and then you will know what is the truth. I pray you will have conviction and will put your faith in Jesus Christ on that day.
That wasn't the wife, that was the daughter
Guys pls take the debate outside of this lah. Not the right place to argue.
Really educational. For those who are renovating their houses, you never know if the ID is using licensed electrical or plumbing workers.
true.. worst is the charge you super high but using non license contractors..
Most renovation electricians are not licensed, usually only the boss is licensed. I have seen joints by twisting and even disabling of earth wire😮
Most of them aren't, the shortcut way is to get a licensed one to inspect after installation. Like the person mentioned, 9/10 probably skip this step as well. Getting a licensed electrician (and likely plumber) is very expensive.
Wtf i was just thinking about this few days during my home renov. I must see this. Coincidence
Even some licensed pros do a poor job, I have seen many. If your hands are good learn the trade yourself. Being an electronics engineer, I would not trust any other person to wire my home be it a licensed electrician or an electrical engineer.
This report has no doubt saved many lives because now people have been informed just how important it is to have water heaters and electrical work done only by a professionally trained installer. Who is checking the official standards are met in the building of new apartment and office blocks?
This one will be checked especially for HDB projects. All the add-ons like water heater are the dangerous one.
This is like the best programme ever its informative, and educational and not to mention Steve as the host is the perfect match - i wonder why Insider has so little views/likes . .
there could be people holding off because of negative perceptions from various troll and disparaging comments left on CNA's or even Straits Times' postings
@@zekt98arius u've verbalised my thoughts eloquently. Some of those troll (or genuine) replies can be quite abusive in nature too.
In my opinion, to protect innocent people, the sale of water heater should be regulated and sold only to licensed installer. The installation fee should be fixed by the appropriate authorities.
For all we know next time need to apply a permit to install water heaters. And the authorities will definitely charge a tidy admin fee for it.
Better, inspection
Yes, but the licensed plumber is charging $1100 per hour for labor. $6500 to install a Weil McLain heating system, not including equipment and parts.
@@athenaqilin8354In my opinion, It is important that fee for such licenced work be regulated and standardized to avoid overcharging.
@@athenaqilin8354 You should see how much a professional engineer charges for 1 signature. At least 5 figures.
Brilliant, informative and direct. Thank you for doing this episode. 👏
So besides telling the public to only engage licensed electricians and water heater installation technicians to carry out the job for their homes, what other steps have the government taken to prevent more of such accidents fatal or otherwise from happening ? What kind of penalties is in place if an unlicensed electrician is caught doing electrical installation works for home owners cos if I can remember, there hasn't been any unlicensed electricians being hauled to court for carrying out electrical works. Had I not watched this video, I won't even know of all these potential danger of having a water heater at home, and I am very sure 9 out of ten families are not aware of this too. Thank you very much Steve Chia for sharing this very useful and valuable knowledge with this video.
Thank you Steven Chia! I've always enjoyed your episodes as they are so educational and close to our daily life. Look forward to you next episode :)
Excellent education on this matter. I feel authorities should impose penalties on unlicensed plumbers and electricians
For electrical installation of water heater, there are at least conditions to consider: 1. Minimum standards for installation of both storage and non-storage heaters to be well communicated to water heater vendors and their contractors. 2. Qualified electricians to do the installation.
Requiring a qualified electrician for every installation, while still highly recommended, may not be the most practical measure, given their availability and costs. As many of the shop contractors specialize in such installation and are almost doing it everyday, they are in a position to comply if the minimum standards are clearly communicated with penalties for non-compliance laid out.
Surely something can and must be done to reduce the number of death by electrocution from water heaters.
If the Residual Current Device/GFCI (one of the BIG breakers) is working correctly, it can detect leakage of current from live to ground, and it will automatically trip in these cases, protecting the user.
@@duck_that_quacks RCBO
@@duck_that_quacks You are right. But it's always go to have additional precautions. When appliances are added beyond capacity, circuit breakers often get tampered with and that line of defense may get breached.
@@duck_that_quacks Read that the house where the electrocution occurred was built (in the mid-70s) back when residual current devices weren't needed as higher-current appliances e.g. water heaters, A/C were less common back then
Excellent documentary as usual, always interesting and relevant topics to learn more about.
I learnt so much from this episode ! I was most impressed that the demonstration of the vast dangers by using electrical cabling that cannot support water heaters. Thanks to everyone whom produced this !
The sad thing is that the apartment was relatively new looking. Could it be that a licensed electrician was saving money by using substandard cable? We have no idea who installed it.
Good job, really informative!
I love that conversation at the end, It's so eye-opening
Reminds me when 1 of my university's profs observed that EEE was lacking students, & I was advised by family not to study it as its seen as a more 'sunset' industry (probably as electrician might be seen as a more 'manual' or blue-collar career) that could have more undercutting by workers from developing countries with lower costs of living
As a electrician in training. This is pretty educational. Thanks again
A video we never knew we needed
I once had my water heater sharing the same circuit for kitchen sockets and lights and I didn’t even know that was not the proper way for water heater to be installed until HDB came by my unit to inspect. All thanks to my reno subcontractors who was also a plumber😪
Thank you for doing this, Steven.
Thank you Steve for doing this episode.
Thanks for this video. I'm going to rewire my heaters to new cables. It's not complacency, but just that we sometimes take everything in 'Singapore' as safe. The wear and tear is what we tend to forget.
Usually the small wall installed water heater also has its own safety electrical circuit called a ELCB ( Electric Leakage Circuit Breaker) that comes with a small test button on the water heater itself. The person using the water heater from time to time must check that this circuit breaker is working by first switching on the power and then pressing that small button to trip (stop) the electricity supply to the heater. This is an additional safety circuit on top of the RCCB ( Residual Current Circuit Breaker) found in the main electrical board/box of the house or apartment which must also be tested on a regular basis to make sure it is working.
This is very useful. Thank you for showing this. Great content for awareness. Brunei fan
So informative, thank you
I seem a few storage heater didn't connect to the pressure release valve but I made sure mine did.
🙏 Remembered this tragic news of 2020 ... Deepest condolences to the families & friends of the Departed ... May the Departed be blessed to a Better World & Realm ... One of the best gifts are to buy Good & Safe Water Heaters for those still using old & not certified water heaters! Luckily , water heaters are easy to change as they already have the electrical & water pipings installed! Please do ask the water heater supplier to call in their qualified technicians to install the water heater for us to play safe! 🙏 Thank You So Much CNA for highlighting this very important social safety reminder about the dangers of electrocution from badly made water heaters! 🙏
There are errors being presented as facts. Storage water heater has protection against overheating so pressure buildup is not due to this. 2 DP switches for the storage heater does not equate 2 energy source buildup to cause the fire. Pressure relief valve need to test for functionality and not just to ensure drain pipe is not plugged. LEW test for earth bonding, resistivity value of more than 1Ω and LEW claimed it is too high which is incorrect assumption without calculating the impedance. Steve your heater wiring of 1.5mm² may not be undersized ask your LEW to check against the conductor table in SS638. Please check against the correct table. Mr Wang stated water heater draws a current of 14 to 20A. He needs to clarify that he is referring to storage heater and not single point instant heater, subsequent images show man showering using instant heater. The cable used to demo it heating up, he neglect to state cable is undersized.
Good comment. Our storage heater is only 10 amperes (at 240V).
Insightful series!!! Better be safe than sorry
The useful revelation that I learnt from this very educational video is that the big tank water heater uses a current much higher than 13 amps which then causes the typical 13 amp house socket and wire to overheat and which then causes short circuit and electrocution of the user.
Very informative. Thanks for sharing.
Just the same, there had been flooding in Texas, some homes have basement, avoid going into basement when flooded as electrical current maybe in the water.
Truly an eye opener
Following the instruction manual on how to install the water heater will ensure the safety of the installation. Even licensed plumbers and electricians would sometimes consult the installation instruction to make sure that the minimum standard is followed. I've installed several Stiebel Eltron tankless water heaters and found no ensuing problems after many years of use.
Thanks very informative
Muito bom material. Gostei dos detalhes!
I m so thanksfull for reminding us
Great vedio🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤
Very interesting, gives me thoughts now as am close to building my bunglow house in the Philippines
When the plumber said unlicensed people may not understand the pressure release valve, I felt his "oh no"
We purchased a new condominium from a developer in Cebu, Philippines. The first time I had a shower I felt a tingling sensation when I touched the main tap.
I spent a lifetime working in the electrical, electronic industry and instantly knew what it was.
The development 'electrician' found the condo wasn't bonded to earth or ground. We could have both easily died.
ELB should be mandated in all Asian countries.
Wow!!!u even became an assistant to an electrician!!!Very informative video !!
This is really educational . I hope Malaysia also has this kind of story to tell their people
@Muhammed Ibrahim Md-Vladislav Mah Bayu is individual channel...aku pun tengok channel dia..what i try to meant is national prime media like Tv3 astro ke apa... CNA is a Singapore national news brand...
@Muhammed Ibrahim Md-Vladislav dlu...skrg xde dah...tv now penuh dgn drama hiburan tk berfaedah
@Muhammed Ibrahim Md-Vladislav I'd recommend 10mm2
plenty of cases there too..
@@fidelcatsro6948 definitely
I have heard of water storage exploding but this is actually the first time I've heard of water heater electrocution. A few years ago, my parents wanted to install electric water heater because they're old and taking cold water bath makes them feel uncomfortable and boiling water in the stove just to take a bath is cumbersome. I opposed that and recommended a gas water heater because electric water heater will need a lot of maintenance, I'm glad I said that. Now, time to check my water heater, jeebus.
Being an electronic engineer I am more scared of gas or anything that can explode. Of course I understand your point of view. I don't even trust electricians as not everyone of them takes pride in their job. I wired my own home and everything is a bit of overkilled. Here they suggest the wire size for water circuit is 2.5mm² which is acceptable given that th water heater requires less than 20A but I wire mine with 6mm² which can handle up to 40A current. 😅
Oh.... Great information
omg ... thanks for the info
Always check the water that comes out from the tank, whether it is clear or contains rust particles.
If rust is detected, is a tell tale sign of tank leak.
When replacing a water heater, ensure the 15amp electrical 2.5mm cable is safe (flexible) and not stiff.
Safety pressure valve(copper) must be new n check rust regularly.
The same things happened in Malaysia. A Japanese couple was electrocuted due to ELCB malfunction. RCCB with 10mA leakage breaker is a must.
This is incredible! Keep them coming!
Hi Steven, I recently received a letter from HDB informing about plans to upgrade flats with older electrical systems to those with RCCBs. This was due to the case where a family of 3 were electrocuted from an incorrectly wired water heater. I went back to read the judges verdict and was surprised that the flat had already been upgraded with an RCCB during the HUP to add a utility room in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the RCCB only served the utility room. Although not clear, the report seemed imply that the electrician had only routed wires from the RCCB protected circuit to the utility room, essentially creating a distribution box with a dual electrical system. This was in 2003 after RCCBs were mandated in all new HDB flats. I am not sure if the EMA has electrical codes requiring newly installed RCCB must cover the entire electrical system rather than just a single circuit, so cannot comment if any rule was broken by the electrician.
I wrote to EMA to enquire about the possibiliy of my home electrical system being upgraded as my home is fitted with an ELCB which predates the RCCB, and wanted to know if we would be included in this upgrading programme. Sadly, I was informed that we were not included as the RCCB is merely a renamed ELCB. EMA is not completely wrong of course because the original ELCB, which is a voltage sensing device that detects voltage leakage through the ground wire, whereas the RCCB, which was first called the current-operated ELCB was renamed to prevent confusion amongst electricians. However they differ drastically in operation and should not be confused with each other. Whilst RCCBs can detect any leakage in current (either through a short circuit in groung wiring or an alternative ground return such as through an object or person during an electrocution) the ELCB is severly limited to just leakage through the ground wire (which modern appliances tend to lack). Perhaps Talking Point could explore this topic further in your next episode? It is likely that a larger percentage of homes are currently installed with less protective ELCBs than RCCBs.
Water heater circuit must be required to protected by an RCBO.
Our water heaters in North America are usually in a utility room , basement , or in the U S south in the attics. I have never heard of anyone getting electrocuted in the shower , also the cabling you are using is way to light for 20 amps at 240 volts.
Very informative episode more needs to be done such as trusted water heater installation contact numbers for contractors
Stuff related to renovation/repairs are generally a very grey area. While regulations are in place, from the homeowner standpoint we may also be none the wiser whether the contractor is legitimate or not. Even for fire rated doors (supposedly a regulated thing) homeowners may also not know whether the label is legit , personally I did not receive the label..
My question is this. I've always wondered what's the point of a Fuse in the 3 pin plug? Fuses generally are meant to prevent this kind of things no ? Once current draw exceeds 13amps , it's supposed to break internally , severing the connection and preventing a short . In this scenario , the wires already fused and connected to each other and STILL the fuse did not do anything when it is supposed to when the current draw exceeded 13amps.
I believe those 3 pin installs purposefully bypass the fuses, water heaters will to draw more than 13A so the standard usage would have already cause trips.
Additionally it is likely RCCB was also bypassed for the first case as electrocution by leakage didn't trip the breaker causing subsequent electrocution.
@@lucretius8050 RCCB yes , Higher chance of getting bypassed by 'electricians' , 3 pin plugs however no.
In the test that is shown in the video where he launches a extreme load test , You can see the fuse is still in the plug and yet the plug overheated to the point where even the wires melted which means the fuse did NOTHING to stop it.
I've had multiple melted plugs before and this question has always confused me as to WHY is the fuse not preventing anything. Only when melt until short circuit then the breaker trips ? A fire would've started before it trips.
@@xJayteeeFrom my knowledge the fuse should have tripped (or maybe i just have poor knowledge), melted cables can also be caused by frayed core wire, poor quality, using thin cables to over extend, cable wear, poor connection which does not actually increase the actual load.
It is melting cause it can't hold 13A load so it is "breaking" before the fuse.
In some cases, there are electricians that would just wound copper wires where the fuse should be. This bypasses the safety features of the fuse.
In some cases, the wires were under-gauged, being unable to even carry 13 amps in the first place. So wires giving up (burning) before the fuse gave way. (you can see this in the check the electrician in the video did with the ohm-meter, and got the resistance reading)
I've done solar work as a hobby, I have an EE background, but for serious work, I'd still bring in a license electrician any day, pays to be safe. In some cases, an unlicensed electricians could also invalidate your insurance policy, so makes sense to get a proper electrician and plumber to sort your devices out.
Stay safe folks.
@@kelvinlee7226 Probably then . Idk. I've tried some experiments , trying to overload the plug so I can try to get the fuse to pop but was to no avail .I ran a 18amp load through , and the plastic around the pins melted before the fuse did anything so I still don't understand what the purpose of it is.
If you're willing to share , years back I wanted to try solar power as well. But I couldn't figure out how to connect it to the grid power so I could switch inbetween grid and solar. So I had to run a inverter from my powerbank , to my inverter and connect it to a 3 pin plug to my select few appliances.
Can you share how you ran it along with the grid?
using lower gauge/thinner cables is how some electrician save money.
i've seen it done to a heated food display unit. the wire from the mains went into a splitter to make sure the wires dont contact each other. but the wires from the splitter to the thermostat and wires joined to the heating elements cables are of 2 sizes too small. as a result, they lasted a week before melting their insulation.
having two switches to a single water heater doesnt mean the heater gets double the power.
it can draw more current if there's a fault in the heater/wiring.
the wife was faster thinking in that case to switch the circuit breaker off.
in a fire, switch off the power and gas. you smell gas, shut off any flame and mains power.
there's a reason why there's a breaker under your electricity meter outside of apartment.
here's another thing to take note of, older HDBs have thinner cables, the circuits design is 15Amps while current new homes is 20Amps and 25-30 amps for high power devices(AC units/ovens/fridges).
if you are moving into a 30-40yr old HDB. check the home wiring, either from prev owners or getting an electrician.
my current home is 40yrs old, turning on circular Fluorescent lights causes brownout due to how old the circuits are and it has caused my desktop PC to crash.
My old house meanwhile is probably 1 of the minority with a 15A power point in the laundry yard (so the pins are circular instead of rectangular) for older washing machines, but newer ones draw 13A instead & thus use the more common rectangular 3-pin plug (BS1363). So when my family changed to a newer washing machine, we had to change to a 15A plug too
Hope for next is how choose , extension, what cable gauge, lengths, type appliances to use.
Previous my renovation contractor used poor quality wire to install my water heater . Keep on shut down after use a while . Handyman noticed is poor quality wire issue.
I was distracted by Steven driving his good old merc! :-D
im more afraid of technical faults appearing in over 40 yr old mercedes benzes..
I just feel that a law should be passed making it mandatory for contractors to engage only licensed electricians and plumbers. But then I wonder if this might be possible at all considering that only a small percentage are licensed?
But it isn’t. License workers aren’t valued in our society because EMA haven’t done enough to regulate Non-license workers with sufficient protection or penalties.
EMA should make installation information freely available, instead of hiding it in a black box.
@@franklee8032 what do you mean by freely available? This itself is a trade that requires years of education and experience.
@@franklee8032 the information is freely available.
The ability to properly apply it though, that’s an entirely different matters. And that’s where regulations and certification comes in.
@@slowcyclist4324 You mean information like the one provided here? www.ema.gov.sg/Electrical_Safety.aspx
The link above does not provide information such as wire gauge sizing guide, grounding resistance, fuse/breaker sizing information, and so on.
Actually electricity is not a difficult topic to understand, especially in a residential setting.
Thanks to this episode, steve. I almost got a cheap installer to install my water heater.
Omg I rmbr that tragedy and it rrly made me uncomfortable cos you wouldn't rrly think much abt being electrocuted by your water heater. I'm glad this episode exists so we would be more aware
Steve, next documentary should be Lipo Battery. 😁
We've been using our water heater for 14 years. It was manually installed by my father who is an electrician in the Philippines but I'll ask him to check it again cause this gave me anxiety
Not only that, street lights also have electrocuted people in Singapore. Please look into that as well.
My 20gallon 120v hot water heater was installed on 240v power and finally failed after 1.5 years in operation. The hot water just stopped one day. Now working with original installers, which are just plumbers, to rectify the situation with a proper 240v hot water heater. All the wiring at least looks proper gauge though.
U didn’t ask after how many years should change house wiring? Or water heaters? Thanks for interesting & educational topic 👍🏻
Should the pressure release valve be made to be a compulsory item in the storage water heater? Should the authority makes it mandatory in installation? Most consumers don't know what are involved in installation. The shoo doing the installation could be made accountable.
Even if its made compulsory by law, unlicensed plumber/electrician will not care. And most home users don’t know how to see whether release valve is installed or not.
@@P53eud0nym05 Are you less likely to litter as there is a law against littering? No license is involved. Unlicensed contractors/vendors are humans too. They know the risk to themselves. Spot check if needed for compliance if needed.
@P53eud0nym05 the usa hot water tanks have temperature and pressure valves built into it its entirely possible to require by law you have to force on the manufacturer and not the installer
Tanks Explosions do happen in the US But it's usually due to mechanical failure not improper insulation
The one exception to that being is not installing an expansion tank when you have a water regulator
you are right, 90% water heater electricians are old, or low-educated, unqualified, improperly trained to install water heater, but sg gov just keeps quiet. i twice asked gov town council to recommend electrician repair heater i one instance, they were not cheap, in another instance, i saw the two 50yo uneducated singaporean uncles did the installation, i told myself i do not want to see them again, they used thin copper wires, 40core, to cut cost, not the 70core and cut time, cut corner! so angry !
Water heater storage tanks now are installed with pressure relief valve.
it's happened in Malaysia last year too when a husband and wife were electrocuted due to a water heater in Cameron Highlands
Ha! A licensed electrician and plumber. Sounds like a pipe dream here in Indonesia. But nice info. Wished I knew this when I was building my house.
No, if you have proper grounding and RCD (some old folks call it ELCB) circiuit properly installed in your hose/building. I am very surprised if SG don't have that safety requirement for new building/house. In AU they have DOUBLE RCD requirement for every new build. You need to fire/sue your whatever ministry in charge. Usually you install RCD before MCB to save cost because RCD cost 3-5 times as much as MCB fuse.
I feel that the regulatory authorities have to check and make sure ALL renovation installers need to check and give a certificate of good condition on electrical works...including the use of good quality wires and ECBs. For the vast majority of people this I not easy to check or understand. So just like the use of Gas connections and the need for a certified person to check and give a go ahead...the electrical works must also be checked by HDB approved, independent certified checkers....
It was mentioned that the handyman plugged up the pressure relief outlet. This is an unfounded accusation!
Why didn't the 13A fuse break when the water heater is drawing 14A-20A?
Now the question is why do you need a water heater in a tropical country that got same temperature all year long 😂
Im surprised why the 13A fuse didnt kick in during the test. Also, can someone advise if our water heater has ELCB built in, does it mean it does add a layer of safety compared to standard heaters without this added feature?
ELCB or RCCB should b periodically chk & tested by pressing a small button at ELCB. If you need extra layer of safety, ask qualify electrician to chk the grounding of the water heater hose. For the expert if the neutral point touch the water hose, ELCB will trip.
Most heaters dont have elcb built in to my knowledge
you are right, 90% water heater electricians are old, or low-educated, unqualified, improperly trained to install water heater, but sg gov just keeps quiet. i twice asked gov town council to recommend electrician repair heater i one instance, they were not cheap, 75yo, and he came and 'bundle and twist to tie-up' the three colour wires in just 5minute and after he left, it burst with a pop sound and fire smoky smell ! i was so angry but town conucil insisted nothing to do with them they dont take any responsibility... i had to find private again
It was mentioned that licensed workers are required to install the water heater electrical and plumbing. Does it mean the worker doing the job is licenced or his boss is licenced? What is the common practice in Singapore?
Mostly used to be just people on a motor from Malaysia come in. But those workers like it or not they do 20 years they are ok. But the thing is that a lot of bangla and Myanmar worker who moonlight on the side like this. Got license no license also go. And so what, who is to track?
@@MrBoliao98u dnt knw anytink dnt anyhow.say....under the Law....u must be a LEW CERTIFIED......IF DNT KNW WHAT IS LEW.go to singapore.power ........So only LEW certified cn do any installation.of the electrical equipments..dnt knw anytink..dnt anyhow smoke...stupid..idiots.....
What do u think? 😆 Even for HIP under HDB, what i see is electrician "worker" doing the installation without cables check & tests, nor the RCCB test etc. After everything install and done, just a simple test that instant water heater is working and signed off by another person (i guessed the licensed electrician)
@@raizan8493 you can say don't anyhow say, if you watch the video 90% of the work done is no license. Please watch the video finish before spouting gibberish.
@@MrBoliao98 Because they are lucky that things don’t happen to them. When bad things screw up. They are probably the first to escape responsibility and leave here.
Permanent high current installations should be directly wired. If the plug is loose in the socket, or corroded, it will heat up, even at lower currents. The fuse offers no protection against this. Nor does it protect against loose wires nor any bad contact -- that will overheat and cause fire. All connections should be inspected, and the loop tested for low resistance or checked under load with an infrared camera to verify there is nothing overheating.
Checking with an infrared camera is a good idea, not just for water heater, but all electrical wires and outlets. You don't need to be an electrician to do this since using infrared camera is not dangerous.
I just watched this video and there is mentioned that water heater current is between 14 to 20 amps. Here is where I am confused, why
1. does the 13amp fuse in the plug not blow out ?
2. the ELCB (earth leakage circuit breaker) does not trip ?
Here, the 2 "fail safe" mechanisms typically installed in our flats have themselves failed and killed the occupants.
The time a fuse takes to blow depends on how much of an overload there is, the higher the overload the faster it blows. A small overload will still blow the fuse eventually.
An ELCB/RCCB will only trip when there is an earth leakage fault, it will not trip for an overload fault. A CB is the device that protects against overload faults so that is why you typically use both in an electrical installation. A RCBO combines both earth leakage and overload protection into a single device.
this happen more than 1 time in singapore.... i bath with cold water for 20years
Lol
It will boost your immune system and improve metabolic rate.
@@Emsyaz I been taking cold showers.
3:48 I would expect either the fuse or breaker to trip if enough current was leaking to make the earth wire live; I wonder if the earth connection itself was a bit weak. Maybe a ribbon-style cord would be less prone to this kind of leakage, since the wires would be running parallel instead of twisted together. One other thing that has compromised earth connections in recent years has been the use of plastic piping. With metal piping and fixtures, nearly all the plumbing had its own connection to the earth despite any wiring shortcomings, but now the that path would be intermittent, depending on whether the plastic pipes are full at the time. The metal water main in my father's house was replaced with plastic a while back and the installers just left the earth clamp hanging, effectively de-grounding the wiring of the whole house. It was only when I went to sell the place, after my father had died, that I noticed this condition and installed a grounding rod to restore the connection to the earth.
good information in this video. Me, i use a gas heater.
Water heater sellers usually include installation as a package. When they suppressed contractors labor charges, there's where things go wrong.. Wire size and required water piping will be skimmed off to cover cost. If the resident can find their own qualified contractors, whatever charges imposed is nothing when safety and long term solutions is in question. Installation is less than 5% of the heater purchased and customers usually pay up. As mentioned in the video, qualified contractors are not easily available or their schedule is too packed to entertain immediate attention. Better yet. shop owners must bundled all the wires, piping and circuit diagrams for proper installation.
For my personal instant unit, my RCD is one foot away from the heater. The heater unit itself (consumers must know) also has a CB but the additional RCD is rated at 3mA. Lastly, don't buy metal cased instant heaters, metal shrouded flexible hose and metal shower units. to reduce electrocution risk. Children are prone to splash the unit with water during bathing time. Plastic casing is best.
Very informative! Hmm... how about Gas Water Heaters? Any information on those?
I use touch screen & the right circuit breaker. I think you can have an inline circuit breaker called RCBO for this. This is required by Australian standard. They lose license without doing this.
should make a habit of checking home RCCB or ELCB at home main circuit breaker box. provide protection against electric shocks or leakage.
I once get a license electrician to my house to install some new points.
he got his bangala to some over and install... after that the bangala just take some photos for his boss to approve
is that legal?
I don't know if its available in Singapore, in Taiwan they sometimes use LPG to heat the water, its instant heater but uses gas.
I hired my ID to handle everything. Now i am scare whether they got the license electrician to do the proper job or not.
No way to know. High chance ID will hire unlicensed cos cheap but jack up the cost & claim its licensed so more expensive.
My aircon was leaking so ID sent his contractor down. ID charged me a certain amount. Later contractor sent receipt to me.
I found out ID almost doubled the fee! Called him to demand & explanation & after hours of delays, he claimed his admin staff sent wrong invoice. Ya right! 🙄
If the aircon contractor didn’t send me the receipt, my ID would happily inflate the cost & act blur!
You shouldn't have let the ID handle everything and even if they handle everything it must be communicated via a clear channel for every installation and official invoices of the job must be handed over before & after completion of works.
For e.g. my home electric fitting and works are all done up by certified electricians that have done past projects for both commercial & home.
@@P53eud0nym05 luckily my AC Contractor was a referral by my ID not direct hired by the ID to do the AC works
@@P53eud0nym05 IDs are glorified main-con. Their main job is to con ppl of money.
A real architecture firm will have proper project managers and site foreman overseeing the entire project. Do you think the Sheng Siong owner and other GCB landlords have to worry about whether their electrical or plumbing is handled by a licensed personnel? The lawsuit and claims would more than cancel out their earnings if they try to cut corners.
they will alibaba with your licence ID ..
As an engineer, the installation is still not satisfactory and still a shock hazard. This is the major difference between hands on engineer and pub licence electrician and plumber. It's sad to say, the ones who really hands on are those foreign workers and the licensed person just look. Lots of things must use hands to check or done but they just only using sight to check.
Rather than monopolise the market by turning safe electrical installation into a black box, the authorities should make the information needed for safe installation free and widely available so that customers can protect ourselves from shoddy electricians, licensed or not.
Information is always free and available. Not many people even know you check EMA for whether a worker is licensed
But licensed electrician always charge a limb and a leg, thinking that it is tok cai tao day. I was once quoted $500 to change 1 water heater + wiring, when the material cost is at most $200.
how long should i heat up the water tank, how to know the water in it aleady heated up and ready to shower?
Yearly meggering will definitely avoid these types of tragedies which are caused by insulation failure.
Schools should make it mandatory to under how electricity works in general and what should be done in case of accidents like this.
One of the best solution: Since Singapore is in tropical area. No maintainance, No cost , Safety = Do not use water heater. Boom. That's it.
water is a poor conductor of electricity unless it has some amount of salts in it, pure water at least is not a good conductor. most tap water at least in the US is not very conductive, but with the 7 to 14 amp draw of the water heater, it's still likely to conduct some current through the water...
Electro boom should be hosting this video..
yes that fella is a walking Nikola Tesla (Menthol Lights)
The incident at the beginning - after investigation, wasn't it reported that the upgrading works of those HDB blocks did not include the wiring in the toilets henced that part of the circuit wasn't protected by any circuit breakers? Conveniently left out of this talking point?
8:27 I was glad I watched technology connection channel so I understand how RCCB work lol