hi im new to the forum and could do with advice on storage heaters.i have a 3.4kg storage heater which has been working fine for the last 2years,got up one morning to a cold home and by isolating the storage heaters one by one i found the one that is faulty.i have taken the front panel off checked all the connections and all elements,they all look fine.when i turn the heat control up and down there is no click from the stat ,would you need the power on to do this.if you put this heater on the m.c.b goes straight off.can anybody help please.
Fault Diagnosis - 3.4kw storage heater
- Thread starter spikey47
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It sounds like you have a wiring issue. What level of electrical experise do you have Spikey? and welcome to the forum?
AndyGuinness
AndyGuinness
Doc Hudson
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Welcome to the forum, looking at something visually will generally be of very little help in fault diagnosis, (unless there is a clear sign of damage.) You will need an electrical continuity test meter to verify the elements, and probably an insulation resistance tester to check there is no break down on the insulated parts anywhere. Do you have access to any test equipment? if you don't I think you probably need to borrow some or call an electrician in to test it for you. Did you mean 3.4Kg or should that be 3.4Kw? The weight of the item is not of much help for electrical diagnosis. If the MCB is tripping off there is some overload somewhere.
Doc H.
hi andy,the wiring has been renewed with new 20amp switch and has been working fine the heater is only 2to 3 years old,many thanks for your help.
---------- Post Auto-Merged at 14:27 ---------- Previous post was made at 14:21 ----------
hi doc sorry yes i meant 3.4kw,no i dont have access to any test equipment i will find somebody to test it for me,many thanks for your help.
Where in the UK are you Spike?
AndyGuinness
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Storage heaters don't actually have that much inside them really....
Could be a knackerd element shorting to earth maybe?
As has been said a quick 10min check of each element would soon eliminate them from your investigations...
have you been putting any clothes and stuff over the top blocking the vents?
does it trip off straight away or only after a while when it gets hotter?
oh and
welcome to the forumbulatorGuinnessGuinness
Friday night can be a bit mad.....
so bear with us....
Electricians winding down!!!!!! O)
Could be a knackerd element shorting to earth maybe?
As has been said a quick 10min check of each element would soon eliminate them from your investigations...
have you been putting any clothes and stuff over the top blocking the vents?
does it trip off straight away or only after a while when it gets hotter?
oh and
welcome to the forumbulatorGuinnessGuinness
Friday night can be a bit mad.....
so bear with us....
Electricians winding down!!!!!! O)
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You need to test them with a meter....
See what the continuity is through each elements, and check for any path between the elements and earth.
Gut feeling its most likely something in the heater, not the cable supplying the heater. :|
Guinness
Just to quickly rule out the supply to the heater,,, does the MCB trip if turned on when the heaters local isolator is turned off?
Riggy
Senior Member
Not very sophisticated but you can use the MCB as your fault finding tool, if you're prepared to invest the time.
Remember to turn off the MCB before you make each change!
Remove all elements (4?) switch the isolator off, turn on the MCB, see if it trips, if it does, you have either a faulty MCB or faulty wiring. If you feel competent, swap the MCB with another (turn the whole board off first, obviously). If swapping the MCB doesn't work, you have a fault with your wiring, call an electrician.
Assuming the MCB doesn't trip with the elements removed and the isolator off, turn the isolator on (still with the elements removed) and try again. If the MCB now trips, you have a fault with the heater wiring, call an electrician.
Assuming the MCB doesn't trip with the elements removed and isolator on, you can be fairly sure you have a duff element (or elements). Fit the elements, one at a time, testing by turning on the MCB with each element in turn installed will soon identify if one is faulty.
Hope this helps.
Remember to turn off the MCB before you make each change!
Remove all elements (4?) switch the isolator off, turn on the MCB, see if it trips, if it does, you have either a faulty MCB or faulty wiring. If you feel competent, swap the MCB with another (turn the whole board off first, obviously). If swapping the MCB doesn't work, you have a fault with your wiring, call an electrician.
Assuming the MCB doesn't trip with the elements removed and the isolator off, turn the isolator on (still with the elements removed) and try again. If the MCB now trips, you have a fault with the heater wiring, call an electrician.
Assuming the MCB doesn't trip with the elements removed and isolator on, you can be fairly sure you have a duff element (or elements). Fit the elements, one at a time, testing by turning on the MCB with each element in turn installed will soon identify if one is faulty.
Hope this helps.
im going to go with a faulty stat thats shorting to earth
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