Fault diagnosis

[resq]

I recently swapped out a non functioning night storage heater (quite old and ugly) with anew shiny one when I had finished the heater worked fine, it has now stopped working again. thinking it may be the switch I changed the spur switch to one with a neon in it (looks neater to me anyway). Still no luck.

The fuses in the consumer unit and the spur are OK (changed out with new)
I have checked the thermostat with doesn't seem to need resetting and I can measure a low resistance using my multi-meter of <1 ohm from the load side of the spur to the heating element.

I have been trying to get a local sparks to have a look but no one seems interested or I don't trust them.

Now its obvious that I am missing something but I can't for the life of me think what it is

any advice gratefully received as its getting cold outside

 

[Spark123]

Does the neon indicator light up when the other storage heaters are on power?

 

[resq]

The neon has not lit up which led me to question the supply, thinking a loose connection in the consumer unit, had the front of the CU and checked the connections terminals nice and snug.

I measured a low resistance across the load terminal of the fuse carrier and the neutral connect block in the CU. Does this demonstrate continuity to the heater spur or have a I got the concept completely wrong

 

[Spark123]

If there is a load present then you should read a low resistance as it is just a heating element and a series of switches, care should be taken that you are not reading the resistance of another connected heater, i.e. you have to make sure the fuse is out / MCB off and measure the resistance across the outgoing side of the fuse to N.
Always make sure the main switch is off on the CU before removing the cover and always be careful of the tails, albeit these shouldn't be live during the day treat them as if they are.

 

[sparkwright]

do your other storage heaters work ok?

 

[resq]

The fuse was out and I was getting a low resistance across the fuse holder terminal Load side and the neutral block

BTW appreciate the help

 

[Spark123]

Low resistance is good, the same resistance should go to infinity when you operate the switch next to the heater.
Also test the fuse with your multimeter to ensure it's continuity.

 

[resq]

This is does i.e. out of range

Sparkwright- other heaters working fine

 

[Spark123]

Sounds to me like it should be working, or you have corrected the fault. Bar checking the fuse is intact, put the fuse back in and see what happens when your storage heater supply kicks in.
BTW, what KW size is the heater and what size fuse is it?

 

[resq]

3.5 kw with 17Kw storage on a 15amp radial

fingers crossed on the fault

 

[ColJack]

stupid question..

you did put the elements back in right when you put the bricks in didn't you?

on the ones I've done, you had to remove the elements to get the back half of the bricks in place, then replace the element and tighten the screws then put the front bricks in..

the neon doesn't light at all?

 

[resq]

No such thing as a stupid question.....

The elements were as you described enveloped between two stacks of bricks. The heater was working nicely until about 3 weeks ago, no changes made at all at that point.

The neon has never lit

 

[flameport]

The fuse was out and I was getting a low resistance across the fuse holder terminal Load side and the neutral block

How low? 15-20 ohms would be typical.
Anything lower than 10 ohms is likely to be a fault, causing the fuse to blow when power is applied.

 

[resq]

IIRC from this mornings metering, it was around the range (24ohm) you mention. the fuse has remained showing a resistance of <1 ohm

 

[333rocky333]

Get someone to operate the neon switch when you test as you did it at the cu load side.
With the power off

That reading should then toggle between your reading and infinity.
That will roughly confirm that your supply cable is ok.

Spurs not normally used on storage heaters, usually a double pole switch, unfused.
Supplied from a 15 amp fuse in the cu.