HomeGeyser repairs

Geyser Repairs
in Krugersdorp

Geyser repairs in Krugersdorp start with a test meter, not a new cylinder. A geyser that runs cold, trips the plug or drips outside usually needs one part, and you see which part failed before you pay for it. Replacement comes up only when repair no longer makes sense.

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An electric geyser with its covers off, showing two elements, their thermostats and the brass drain cock

What a geyser tells you before it gives up

Most electric geyser faults show up as one of these, and each one points to a short list of parts.

  • No hot water at all. Usually the element, the thermostat or its safety cut-out, and now and then nothing worse than a tripped isolator.
  • Warm, never properly hot. An element on its way out, or a thermostat stuck or set low.
  • The plug trips when it heats. An element leaking current to earth. Switch it off and leave it off until it is tested.
  • A steady drip from the pipe outside. A pressure valve or safety valve letting water by, or supply pressure that is too high for it.
  • Water in the tray or through the ceiling. A leaking fitting, or a cylinder that has split. The first is a repair, the second is not.
  • Banging, ticking or hissing as it heats. Scale on the element, or a valve that will not seat properly.

A hot pipe leaking under the floor gets moved, not patched

A geyser call sometimes ends at a hot-water leak below the floor slab. On a dolomitic erf there is a rule about where that pipe should go next.

Not every hot-water fault is in the roof. A geyser that never seems to stop heating, a meter that creeps with every tap closed, or a floor tile that feels warm underfoot can all mean the hot line is leaking somewhere under the slab. The geyser is working perfectly; it is heating water that never reaches a tap.

Patching that leak means breaking the floor, repairing the pipe where it lies and closing it up again, with the run still under the slab. On most erven that is a choice about cost. On an erf in Mogale City's Dolomitic Overlay Zone, created by clause 23 of the Land Use Scheme, it runs against the minimum precautions for dolomite land: no plumbing or drainage pipes under floor slabs as far as is practicable, and a sleeve wherever a pipe passes through a wall so the two can move independently.

The reason is the one behind that whole list. A leak under a slab stays hidden, and the Council for Geoscience counts leaking water-bearing services among the triggers for sinkholes on dolomite. Hot water draining into the ground for weeks before anyone notices is exactly the situation the rule was written to prevent.

The repair that follows the rule is a re-route. A new hot line goes above the floor, along the walls or through the ceiling, sleeved where it passes through brickwork, and the old run is cut off and capped at both ends. On the day it usually costs more than a patch, so both are priced side by side and you can see the difference.

If your erf is not dolomitic, the choice is yours, made on cost and on how much floor you are willing to lift. Either way the new joints are pressure-tested before any wall or floor is closed.

If a geyser call turns up a leak under the floor, ask for the re-route to be priced next to the patch. On a dolomitic erf, the re-route is the one the rules expect.

Section through a house: one hot pipe runs from the geyser down the wall and along it above the floor, sleeved where it passes through a wall; the other runs under the floor slab, where a leaking joint soaks into the ground out of sight geyser along the wall, above the floor: a leak here shows on the day sleeved through the wall under the slab: a leak soaks away unseen sink
Two routes for the same hot line: a drawing, not a survey of any house.

How a geyser repair is priced

There are no figures here, because the part that failed decides most of the price. This is how the number is reached.

Always part of it

  • A meter test on the element and thermostat
  • A check of the valves, the drip tray and its drain
  • The repair price in writing before any work
  • A heat-up and leak check after the repair

What moves the number

  • Which part failed: element, thermostat, valve or cylinder
  • The geyser's size and where it sits in the roof
  • Access: the hatch, the roof space, the ceiling
  • Missing parts that should be there, such as a drip tray or a vacuum breaker

When replacement comes up

  • A cylinder that is leaking or split cannot be repaired
  • Repeated element failures in a corroded cylinder
  • In both cases the replacement is priced as its own quote, so you can compare

What happens on a geyser call

Four steps, from your request to hot water.

  1. Tell us what it is doing

    Describe it in the form. If the geyser is leaking, switch it off at its isolator or at the board before anything else.

  2. Tested, not guessed

    Element, thermostat and valves are tested with a meter, and you see the reading that failed.

  3. Repair priced first

    The repair is priced in writing. If replacement is worth weighing up, it comes as a second, separate price.

  4. Heated and checked

    The geyser is refilled, powered and watched until it heats, with every fitting checked for leaks.

Geyser questions, answered straight

Cost first, then the questions that come up once the ceiling is wet.

What does a geyser repair cost in Krugersdorp?

The failed part sets most of the price. A thermostat and an element are small parts; a valve set costs more; a new cylinder is a different job altogether. So the price comes after the test, as a written list of the part, the labour and anything the installation is missing. The visit amount is said on the phone before anyone comes out.

Should I repair my geyser or replace it?

If the cylinder is sound, repair it: an element, a thermostat or a valve brings it back for far less than a new geyser. Once the cylinder itself leaks, repair is no longer possible. Where it is close, both options are priced so you can choose with the numbers in front of you.

Why does my geyser trip the electricity?

Most often the element has failed and is leaking current to earth, which the earth leakage unit is designed to catch. Do not keep resetting it. Switch the geyser off at its isolator and have the element tested.

Water keeps dripping from the pipe outside. Is that serious?

A few drops while the geyser heats can be the expansion water it is meant to let out. A steady drip or a stream all day is not: it usually means the pressure valve or the safety valve is letting by, or that the supply pressure is too high for the valve. It wastes water and electricity until it is fixed.

Can a burst geyser be repaired?

It depends what burst. A split fitting or a failed valve can be replaced on the existing geyser. A cylinder that has split or rusted through has to be replaced. Either way the cause goes on the invoice in writing, which is what an insurance claim will need.

Will my insurance cover the geyser?

That depends on your policy, so ask your insurer before the work starts. What helps any claim is a written cause, a list of the parts replaced and photos of the failed parts, and all three go on the invoice.

Can you work on a gas geyser?

Gas work is its own trade. By law, gas lines and gas appliances must be installed and signed off by an installer registered with SAQCC Gas, who issues a certificate of conformity. Ask when you book, and check the installer's registration on SAQCC Gas's public register before the work starts.

Is a leak in the hot pipe under the floor part of the geyser job?

It is found during the geyser call, but it is a separate repair with its own price. On an erf in the Dolomitic Overlay Zone the rule is to move that pipe out from under the slab, so a re-route is priced next to a patch. The section above explains why.

Jobs that often follow a geyser call

A geyser fault can uncover a leak, or start the conversation about going solar.

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Your name, a number and the suburb are enough to start. We phone you back to hear what is wrong before anyone drives out.

We use these details only to answer this request. See the privacy notice.

Where we come out

We come to the house: there is no counter or yard to visit. Krugersdorp and the suburbs around it are the core of the area, with the outlying parts of Mogale City by arrangement.

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Krugersdorp and close by

  • Krugersdorp North
  • Krugersdorp West
  • Monument
  • Noordheuwel
  • Kenmare
  • Rant-en-Dal
  • Silverfields
  • Mindalore
  • Wentworth Park
  • Dan Pienaarville

Further out in Mogale City

  • Muldersdrift
  • Featherbrooke
  • Cradlestone
  • Kagiso
  • Azaadville
  • Magaliesburg