anyone a plumber??

[lcowner]

immersion swicthed on and pipes in hotpress was gurgling like f**k tonight and it tripped the mains.then i put mains back on and it started gurgling again then i got a burney smell from in the hotpress ;D,thing is ive noticed it used to take 20 mins for the immersion to heat up for a shower but in the last few weeks it took 60mins+-------so am i right in thinking that immersion element needs changing and is it as simple as unscrewing the big brass nut
any advice welcome

[nige]

sounds like the element has cracked and got an earth fault.
It is as simple as turning the big nut thing {element} however if it has been fixed previously with boss white on the thread to stop leaks the cylinder may fracture on the boss.
try to nick the element slightly before draining the cylinder as the water adds strength to the copper cylinder

[nige]

there is 2 ways of draining the water a}shut of the mains and drain both tanks through the taps{more wasted water but no shutting off gate valves}
b} shut of gate valve feeding cylinder and drain from drain c**k {bottom of cylinder} prob with this way is if valves not maintained previous may not open again and drain c**k may not re-seal.
c} do an extra couple of hours at work to pay for some one else to do the job lol