Storage Heater IR test

**Smugley** · 30-10-2010

Hi, quick question for anyone who knows a bit about storage heaters. I was asked to check if an old one was working but it's on E7 and wasn't powered up at time of inspection. Next stage would be to power it up temporarily off the main board, but just for now I removed the flex from the connector unit and did two tests:

1. Low resistance test between L-N. This showed around 30 Ohms which I think is about right for an average size storage heater element - calculates to about 1.8kW - and should confirm the overheat link is intact.
2. IR test between L-E and N-E. I got a reading of 1.2 MOhms for both.

Are these normal results? I wasn't expecting the low IR results.
Cheers

**stuart569** · 30-10-2010

Damp blocks caused this for me before. Let them heat up a good bit and test again

**malcolmsanford** · 30-10-2010

Could find that the element is not in the greatest condition, if it hadn't been used for a while dampness could have got in.

Seems like it might be a case now of firing her up and leave her running for perhaps half an hour then test the IR again.

**Smugley** · 30-10-2010

Thanks for the replies. It's an old flat - single glazed and a bit of mould around the adjacent window so you might be right about moisture. I'll give it a try. Hasn't been used for at least 18 months as far as I know. Cheers..