Storage heater dead - wiring confusion?

[Leave]

One of my mothers storage heaters stopped working earlier this year and now I've been hassled to get it fixed.
All the other heaters are working fine apart from the one in the bedroom.
Looking at the heaters there is a switched fused spur and a switch with flex outlet next to each one.
I checked the fuse it was fine. then took off the switches.
Looking at the fused switched spur, the wires don't go into the supply and load holes, they both go into the supply holes, so the fuse & switch aren't doing anything.
At the switch with flex outlet, the wires coming into it aren't from the sf spur right next to it (checked with meter) and are dead.
Checking other heaters, their flex outlets were live (obviously - the heaters were hot).

I guess the sf spurs form a ring (both side were live when disconnected from the sf spur), but where are all the flex outlets going back to?
Mum has a modern smart meter with an E7 5th terminal, but that wire just disappears into the wall.
I'm confused, can anyone help? That heater has been working fine for years. Temporarily wiring up an entension cable to the terminals in the heater confirms the heater warms up fine, so it's definitely the wiring to that flex outlet that is at fault, but where it goes or what's happened to it is a bit of a mystery.

 

[SUNRAY]

There are a number of ways E7 for storage heaters are wired but the common method is for something like this.

I've drawn some wires to describe the operation.

The reds are 24hr power from the meter to the 24hr consumer unit (in this case the top half of a single unit) and also the black box in the middle.

That is the Radio Teleswitch, it receives a signal via radio and does 2 things 1) Tells the meter to change tarriff via my purple and 2) applies power to the cheap rate consumer unit (the bottom half of the single unit) via my pink

The black box may take different different forms, it may be a timeswitch for example but the wiring is usually fairly similar.

Is it possible to get a pic showing meter, consumer unit(s) and the wiring between them?

 

[SUNRAY]

One of my mothers storage heaters stopped working earlier this year and now I've been hassled to get it fixed.
All the other heaters are working fine apart from the one in the bedroom.
Looking at the heaters there is a switched fused spur and a switch with flex outlet next to each one.

It sounds like you have 2 flexes going into the heater

I checked the fuse it was fine. then took off the switches.
Looking at the fused switched spur, the wires don't go into the supply and load holes, they both go into the supply holes, so the fuse & switch aren't doing anything.

That is usually 24hr power, typically used for the daytime boost function and depending on the age of the heater it may run a daytime fan or control the operation, it may be from the general purpose ring or a dedicated radial but either way it's from the 24hr consumer unit

At the switch with flex outlet, the wires coming into it aren't from the sf spur right next to it (checked with meter) and are dead.

That is usually the the cheap rate supply and comes from the cheap rate consumer unit.

Checking other heaters, their flex outlets were live (obviously - the heaters were hot).

I guess the sf spurs form a ring (both side were live when disconnected from the sf spur), but where are all the flex outlets going back to?

cheaprate CU

Mum has a modern smart meter with an E7 5th terminal, but that wire just disappears into the wall.
I'm confused, can anyone help? That heater has been working fine for years. Temporarily wiring up an entension cable to the terminals in the heater confirms the heater warms up fine, so it's definitely the wiring to that flex outlet that is at fault, but where it goes or what's happened to it is a bit of a mystery.

Pictures please.

 

[Leave]

Thanks for the replies so far. I've got mum to whatsapp me some pictures -

Does that make it any clearer?

 

[Stuckinarut]

Wiring of the heater? Also, have you checked for a loose connection?

 

[JohnD]

Storage heaters often stop working when their internal overheat protector trips.

Sometimes this is a fusible link that melts, and sometimes it is a resettable thermostat.

It will be under the top of the casing, usually near the wiring for the switch or other controls.

The usual cause of an overheat trip is things being piled on top of the heater, such as damp towels or laundry.

 

[Stuckinarut]

Storage heaters often stop working when their internal overheat protector trips.

Sometimes this is a fusible link that melts, and sometimes it is a resettable thermostat.

It will be under the top of the casing, usually near the wiring for the switch or other controls.

The usual cause of an overheat trip is things being piled on top of the heater, such as damp towels or laundry.

An extension cable has been ran to heater to confirm it works.

 

[SUNRAY]

I haven't encountered a smart meter dual tariff meter yet, it appears from this picture it's all controlled by the meter now.
I wonder how recently the third consumer unit was fitted (extreme left) and if that was since last year; whether the MCB arrowed white and hidden by the tails was disturbed at the time.

 

[Leave]

Ah! Just messaged my mum and the switch at the back was off!
I think the confusion is coming from the timing. The meter was changed about 18 months ago, and yes, it's a dual tariff meter that (like all smart meters) has a clock, which switches the E7 cabling on/off.
But when the meter was changed, there a black 100amp main fuse carrier, which had pitch dripping out the bottom. The chap changing the meter said this was "potentially dangerous" and would be fixed ASAP. Six months later another chap turns up to change the fuse carrier, and installs the white one that's there now and prbably knocked the switch off. But this was April-ish time, when you guessed it, the storage heater where barely on, so mum ignore it.

We'll know tomorrow morning for definte!