Base board heater in Kitchen

[Jerry Carr]

Hello

I have 2 base board heaters that are electric, they have been nice and toastie when making coffee in the early AM.

I have developed a problem with the one located in the kitchen, I did try the normal trouble shooting as listed in our 06 manual,
1. reset the 120v circuit breaker( the breaker was not tripped)
2. I have also pushed in the red reset button located at the heater.

The Bathroom Heater is fine,
Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on what I should do next.


  

[LarryNCarolynShirk]

See if there is a ground fault outlet in the circuit.  Just a thought.

Larry

[Edward Buker]

I would turn off the breaker and pull the heater. You should be able to disconnect it and verify that 120v is present at the feed wires with a meter with the breaker switched on for this measurement.

If you have power at the feed wires then you could measure the ohms of the heating element which I am guessing should be around 10 ohms. If it has a dial thermostat at the heater you can verify if that is switching on when it clicks. It should measure tenths of ohms across the thermostat. A good guess would be that either the thermostat contacts are shot or the element is open. If that is the case you may be able to get parts or a new heater. Hope this helps...later Ed

[Jerry Carr]

Thanks Ed I will give it a try this week, I can hear the click of the thermostat but have no idea if I have power, like I said I have down the first step checks, so pulling the unit will be my next step

[Jerry Carr]

Thanks Ed, For your trouble shooting tips on our 06 Pat. floor heater.

This is what I found, after tripping the breaker to the Kitchen heater (#4 breaker) located in the bathroom. I then pulled the base board heater out from the toe kick, a pretty easy job just 4 wood screws. I then pulled the heater top cover plate to access the electrical connections.

Once I had the unit out I located the problem immediately, the hot wire goes to the thermostat and the rivet holding the connection at the thermostat had failed.

I cleaned it as well as I could and then used a solder joint connection to reattach the connector. I am a little concerned about the new connection but am hopeful it will hold, I am thinking if I use an epoxy over the connection point that will bond to the thermostat body would give the connection a better chance, of course it would also prevent me from doing a future repair.

I think the correct repair would be to order a new thermostat with the factory connection, but I know the problem and plan to keep an eye on the heater if it fails I will see if a new part is any where to be found.

 
Regards, Jerry

[Edward Buker]

Jerry,

Try and sort out why it failed. If it involved heat/burning due to arcing or corrosion then be sure and get a new one. If it involved metal fatigue due to vibration from the fan or the road then solder and epoxy and keeping a watchful eye should be sufficient. This assumes that you do not sense any heating of the newly soldered contact and electrically and physically the connection looks adequate. Stay warm...

Later Ed