Storage Heater advice

[JazzSP8]

Hi All

We've recently purchased and installed some new Storage Heaters (ELNUR Storage Heaters) for use with our Economy 7 system but I don't think they are operating correctly as the ones we replaced seemed to offer much better heating.

In the morning they don't seem that hot at all, also they seem to draw electric during the day which I didn't think they were supposed to do?

I've done some investigating and found on one of them that one of the elements only has one wire attached, the rest each have two. There is another wire there, but as they are spade connectors I don't imagine it to have come loose so am reluctant to reattach.

I've looked on the internet and found some talk of a reset switch which I don't think we have, if you take the front cover off then there is a red button but it doesn't press in.

Can someone please advise as to other things to check for, or if I should reattach the wire.

I'm not an electrican and didn't install the heaters, an electrician friend of mine fit them but he's not had much experience with storage heaters and doesn't understand how they work.

Thanks in advance for anyone that can provide any help.

 

[ColJack]

the heaters may have been "nobbled" to make them less than the 3.4KW listed so that they can be plugged into a standard socket or wired into a 13A SFCU..

get your sparky friend to trace the cable back and see where it goes.. ( 20 mins with a multimeter should do it.. ).


in general you have to remove the elements to put the bricks in behind them..so he may have missed a wire when replacing them..

 

[JazzSP8]

Hi ColJack - Thanks for replying.

Yup - He traced the wire back when we fitted the one in the front room, there was originally two, but because these were supposed to be more powerful we only installed one in the front room, he did the trace then to work out which one we needed in the fuse box.

The wires are all connected in the front room so I thought it would be pretty safe to reattach the one in the hallway, I will do that and see how I get on but there both not getting really warm.

We have a 2kw oil heater that warms the room more than they do.

With your comment to nobbling them, is it a possibility that the electrics themselves aren't meant for that kind of heater?

The fuse in the fusebox says 16a - I am assuming 16 amp?

 

[ColJack]

i was on about the loose wire inside the heater actually...

originally 2 heaters in the lounge?

or 2 wires to the heater?

some heaters come with boost heaters that act like small convector heaters..

what power rating were the old heaters..

you say you can see the elements when the covers removed?

there are supposed to be 2 rows of bricks, one behind the element, and one in front, encasing them..

if you've missed out a set of bricks that would explain the faster drop in stored heat.

 

[JazzSP8]

Hi ColJack - Sorry for the confusion.

To clarify;

There was originally two heaters in the lounge, we took them both out and now just have the one. There was one in the hallway which we replaced with another.

I don't know what power rating the old heaters where, but they are of an old design.

And, no, we can't see the elements when the cover is off, they were definately enclosed properly, I helped lug the bricks so could see what was happening.

The instructions do make mention of some kind of automatic setting, in the wiring diagram it mentions a "Temperature Limiter" and a "Charge Control Thermostat", but as far as I know he didn't have to wire those, he just used the Green/Yellow, Blue and Brown wires.

 

[ColJack]

those bits are internal wiring...

there should be 2 dials on the top of the heater, one for charging temp, and one for room temp..

it's a balancing act between the 2 to get the temp just right..

 

[JazzSP8]

Yes there is, an Input and Output dial

The output dial is attached to an arm that levers up some vents at the top of the bricks.

It has some wiring attached which I think is possibly a thermostat?

It says in the instructions that the outlet damper will automatically close when charging but the one in the front room seems to be permanantly down.

If I turned the room temp one all the way down and the charge temp all the way up and start from there do you think?

Thanks for your help with this, by the way it is really appreciated