Hot Water Services

Fault-Finding a Continuous Flow Unit That’s Not Firing in Ardross

In this job, Rich is called out to an Ardross property with a frustrating problem:
Hot water is working on one side of the house, but completely dead on the other.

The homeowner has:

• A gas continuous flow unit (not firing) on one side
• A gas storage unit (low pressure, but still heating) on the other

Let’s run through the full on-site diagnostic process — and show why checking the basics first always pays off.

🔍 Step 1: Test the Closest Tap

Rich starts by turning on the nearest hot water tap to the continuous flow unit — the laundry tap.

• The unit doesn’t fire
• That confirms there’s no activation happening when hot water is called

🔌 Step 2: Confirm Power Supply

• Rich checks the powerpoint and power cable with a tester
• ✅ Power is live at the socket and flowing through the lead
• Next, he removes the front cover of the unit to check for any signs of startup
• Still nothing — no electrical activation, even though power is confirmed

🔧 Step 3: Suspected Internal Fault

With the system receiving power but failing to respond, the likely issues could be:

• A faulty flow sensor
• A failed PCB (printed circuit board)
• Or another internal component not allowing startup

💬 “At this point, we’ve ruled out external factors. No point throwing a new unit on the wall without knowing what’s wrong with the current one.”

💡 Final Recommendation: Replace — But With Purpose

Due to the unit’s age and the lack of electrical response, Rich recommends a replacement system.

But not just a like-for-like swap — because:

• It’s better to troubleshoot first, so you don’t repeat the problem
• You get the chance to size the new unit correctly
• And ensure you’re not replacing a working system due to a simple oversight

🐾 Plumbdog — Perth’s real plumbers with all the gear, every idea, and a methodical approach to hot water troubleshooting. 

📞 No callout fee | ✅ Gas & electric hot water specialists | 🔎 Fault diagnosis done right 

Hi there, Rhyse from Plumbdog!

I’m just going to put a small video together and have a little chat about water meters and some of the unnecessary difficulties some plumbers go through when attending a property, where a client doesn’t happen to know where the water meter is.

What a water meter shouldn’t look like is this. The water meter should be visible and readily accessible so that in case of an emergency, it can be found and isolated. And obviously, if you call one of us out to do some work and we need to shut it off so we can do some work, that work can be done.

Just another friendly tip (we’re going next door here), generally speaking, wherever the hose tap is, the water meter will be in line with the hose tap. As we can see there’s another one here, almost camouflaged, but at least it’s not buried. But then if we go back over here, we’ll see that this scenario is a little bit different because we have the water meter on the right-hand side of the property but in this case, the hose tap is on the left-hand side. So that doesn’t always fare.

It’s always a good idea to know where your water meter is and have it readily accessible.

Don’t forget to hit like and subscribe so you’re notified each time we upload a video!