Dimplex Duo Heat storage heater fault(s)

[ProDave]

A local office heated by these Dimplex Duo heat combined storage and convector heaters with electronic controls.

With one of them, the storage bit is not working, it's stone cold in the morning, until they turn the convector bit on. with another, it's almost too hot to touch in the morning suggesting the thermostat is not turning off and it's over charging.

Two faults, same type of heater.

So I had a look inside. They are controlled by a circuit board that appears to have a relay to turn the off peak heating elements on and off.  The elements test okay as does the over heat cut out.  So it's got to be a fault with the controls.

Here's a picture of both sides of the control board. I couldn't see any numbers on the board. apologies about the lousy picture from the phone camera. The heaters are all DUO500n.

Does anyone have any service information on these to save me fighting in the dark please?




 

This appears to be the control module for it http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIMPLEX-Duoheat-Space-Night-Storage-Heater-PHASE2-Charge-Controller-Module-/191828939710?hash=item2ca9e553be:g:regAAOSwv9hW6siu

OUCH £120 for that. Total rip off if you ask me, I will see what the customer says about that.
 

 

[Lurch]

I would suspect the relays. Same story with boiler PCBs, repaired a few recently. Test the contacts and see what they are reading, if one is open and the other is closed then I'd start with just replacing the 2 relays.

 

[ProDave]

Yes may be. I didn't open the one that was overheating, That would be easier to diagnose if it was a welded relay contact.

this is the trouble with something you are not familliar with. If it was in my own house I would rig a permanent feed to the off peak inoput and spend hours with a meter trying to work out how it was supposed to work and tracing out the wiring diagram and hopefully finding the fault, but you can't really do that in an office full of people trying to work.

This proves my (outdated?) belief that to much electronics without adequate service information is a bad thing. There was nowt wrong with a storage heater with nothing more than elements and a mechanical thermostat (where's the "i'm an old phart" smiley?)

 

 

[skystorm]

If the Charger Goes on the storage heater you have to replace this item go onto uk spare to find one

 

[ProDave]

since this thread has been resurrected, I thought I would post the outcome.

I declined to attempt to fix them due to lack of information, so they got Dimplex to come and fix them. They replaced the control board in each one for £125 per heater, which considering what it would h ave cost me to buy the board, seemed to be a fair price.
 

 

[Sharpend]

Thanks for update Dave we always ask that the poster returns with an update and sure enough they always need a prompt :innocent

note to self : don't buy dimplex heater!

 

[rapparee]

note to self : don't buy dimplex heater!

Only buy dimplex you mean. 

 

[Lurch]

note to self : don't buy dimplex heater!

Only buy dimplex you mean. 

Or just don't buy storage heaters!

 

[ProDave]

Or just don't buy storage heaters!

Or only buy old fashioned storage heaters that just have a thermostat, and none of this over complicated electronic controls, so that any electrician can service them.
 

 

[rapparee]

Or only buy old fashioned storage heaters that just have a thermostat, and none of this over complicated electronic controls, so that any electrician can service them.
 

Well from this year the eu says we can't make heaters with mechanical switches they must have electronic controls. Don't ask me why that's R&D's problem. It's costing us a fortune to bring in new testers. £100,000+

As for brexit we couldn't be bothered catering for a maybe/maybe not seperate british market. Maybe mechanical controls will be reinstated when the brexit dust settles.

 

[Dave Marshall]

contact with service center

 

[Tony S]

 Rapparee is customer services!

 

[rapparee]

 Rapparee is customer services!

Strictly electrical production and maintenance.

God help you if you have to ring the call centre in Liverpool. Even I managed to get narky with them.