checking storage heater supply

[AJ16]

I had a new storage heater fitted in the office but it's stopped working, Dimplex have been out and can't find a fault as they connected temporary supply and it started to get warm.

Is there a simple way of checking whether the night supply switches on?

 

[Jay Sparks]

Yes, be there at the same time when the supply comes on!!

 

[Octopus]

Change the outlet to a socket and plug in a "mechanical" timer. Set to midnight, then the next morning you can see how many hours the timer has advanced with the power on.

 

[AJ16]

Change the outlet to a socket and plug in a "mechanical" timer. Set to midnight, then the next morning you can see how many hours the timer has advanced with the power on.

Thanks, it's in my rented office, I'm not a sparks so don't really want to do any disconnection etc. Is there any other way?

 

[Jay Sparks]

Your storage heater should still be warm when you get to the office in the morning. The bricks stay warm for a very long time, that's how they work.

 

[ruston]

And if you can, take a meter reading when you leave , then check it in the morning. If it has not moved no power.(providing there is only one on the circuit)

 

[Octopus]

Thanks, it's in my rented office, I'm not a sparks so don't really want to do any disconnection etc. Is there any other way?

If it's rented then get the landlord involved

 

[AJ16]

And if you can, take a meter reading when you leave , then check it in the morning. If it has not moved no power.(providing there is only one on the circuit)

There are two storage heaters in the office, one works. If I switch that one off I guess I could do the meter check thing, but if the new SH doesn't take a charge in the night then it won't really help will it??

 

[AJ16]

If it's rented then get the landlord involved

The landlord's agent is involved but we still need to know how to check the off peak supply the the wall outlet by the SH

 

[ruston]

There are two storage heaters in the office, one works. If I switch that one off I guess I could do the meter check thing, but if the new SH doesn't take a charge in the night then it won't really help will it??

No, but now you know the heater works and the supply to the other heater is good ,so it must be the supply to the new heater.
Why was the heater replaced?

Bad connection or blown fuse . It will be on it's own supply and fuse may have been overlooked on replacement, especially if the old SH had a fault.

 

[stevethesparks]

Makes me wonder if it needed replacing in the first place? Who installed it, why are you not calling them back?

 

[Octopus]

The landlord's agent is involved but we still need to know how to check the off peak supply the the wall outlet by the SH

Hum...... The land lords agent is obviously not a spark. Tell him to employ one!

 

[AJ16]

Thanks for all the useful posts. The old heater failed as the connection block on the bottom burned out on one terminate, like it was black although we never smelled anything. An electrician fitted it and when he left it worked fine for 2 days with input & output on max, we then turned it down for Easter and it stopped working. The fuse in the wall outlet has been changed for one that works and Dimplex have been out but couldn't identify a fault with it. The land lord's agent is helpful but I'm going to have to tell her that I've done all I can and leave it to her to sort out. It may be something to do with the night supply but again it's how to check it out simply, I guess the sparks may have to connect a monitor to it overnight.

 

[ruston]

If the other heater is working through the night ,and both heaters a supplied from the same board, then the supply to the board is ok.
Has anyone checked the fuse in the board. (fuse box)

If the Dimplex lads had it working , it has to be a fault in the supply circuit.

 

[Octopus]

Thanks for all the useful posts. The old heater failed as the connection block on the bottom burned out on one terminate, like it was black although we never smelled anything. An electrician fitted it and when he left it worked fine for 2 days with input & output on max, we then turned it down for Easter and it stopped working. The fuse in the wall outlet has been changed for one that works and Dimplex have been out but couldn't identify a fault with it. The land lord's agent is helpful but I'm going to have to tell her that I've done all I can and leave it to her to sort out. It may be something to do with the night supply but again it's how to check it out simply, I guess the sparks may have to connect a monitor to it overnight.

Get him back then.........

looking back at your earlier posts - are you a handman? sparky?

 

[AJ16]

If the other heater is working through the night ,and both heaters a supplied from the same board, then the supply to the board is ok.
Has anyone checked the fuse in the board. (fuse box)

If the Dimplex lads had it working , it has to be a fault in the supply circuit.

Thanks, the fuse board fuse must surely be ok if the second Sh is working?
Yes it seems that a fault in the supply circuit could be the culprit.

 

[AJ16]

Get him back then.........

looking back at your earlier posts - are you a handman? sparky?

No I just rent an office as a tenant, a professional sparks installed the heater

 

[ruston]

Thanks, the fuse board fuse must surely be ok if the second Sh is working?
Yes it seems that a fault in the supply circuit could be the culprit.

No, they are usually on separate fuses.
Also they are usually switched by a double pole switch and not a fused connection unit.

 

[AJ16]

Really, the sparks hasn't mentioned that, I try and check today. It might be a DPS.
thanks

 

[Octopus]

No I just rent an office as a tenant, a professional sparks installed the heater

So call him back then!

 

[AJ16]

If the other heater is working through the night ,and both heaters a supplied from the same board, then the supply to the board is ok.
Has anyone checked the fuse in the board. (fuse box)

If the Dimplex lads had it working , it has to be a fault in the supply circuit.

This is a pic of the board, my fuse board is the one on the left, it has 3 fuses, one for the ceiling lights, one for the sockets, the other must be the night supply the heaters.

 

[ruston]

The fuse box on the right is the one on off peak.
If you think the blue 15a mcb on the left board is controlling your storage heater it is not on off peak.
All breakers are set anyway , if the mcb is ok the supply is faulty or the Dimplex lads were wrong about the heater working supplied direct . (unlikely)
You need to get an Electrician to look at it for you, it seems it is a supply fault.
I have not deciphered all those cables , but that is the gist.

 

[SJD]

If your electrician were to open up the off-peak distribution board (after isolating), he (or she) would be able to identify the heater you are having a problem with, measuring the resistance (of the heating element - L to N), and being able to see it turned on/off at the local control or isolating switch. That would confirm the circuit is OK (or not). Your electrician should be able to do this without having to have this explained.

I have on occasion found a storage heater that has a faulty thermostat, so it turns off after a small amount of heat input, but unlikely in this case since it is new.

 

[Octopus]

One thing you could do, having seen this photo, is to take a reading each morning of the "low" reading - this should show if off peak power is being used and how much.

 

[marc_v33]

Run a temp supply through DP switch?

 

[YoungScud]

The metering seems a tad strange to me. Is there any way you could post another picture, but with the pale blue label under the meter held up out of the way? The right hand Actaris meter seems to be fed from the load side of the E7 meter, while there are two 2.5mm T&cpcs running between the Actaris OP meter and your OP board, which is also fed from the teleswitch. If I could see the underside of the E7 meter, I might get a better idea.

 

[kenny7askew]

is the room temperature actually dropping low enough at night to trigger the thermostat into switching the heater on,can you hear the thermostat click when you turn it,ive had callouts like this before with the thermostat set for about 15 degrees and a room temp of about 18 degrees so it never came on

 

[Dan the spark]

Looks like someone has done a bit of a bodged job and installed a check meter to monitor the usage from another heater somewhere else in the building and done a bit of a thru crimped connection inside the off peak db

 

[ruston]

Yes , as I understand it, he only has two heaters. The third fed from his board to.., or the fuse redundant.
I could not be bothered to try and decipher the cables lol.

 

[Dan the spark]

Try pushing the trip button on the fuses on the right hand board and then reset them.

 

[davesparks]

The metering seems a tad strange to me. Is there any way you could post another picture, but with the pale blue label under the meter held up out of the way? The right hand Actaris meter seems to be fed from the load side of the E7 meter, while there are two 2.5mm T&cpcs running between the Actaris OP meter and your OP board, which is also fed from the teleswitch. If I could see the underside of the E7 meter, I might get a better idea.

It looks to me like the sub meters are being used to bill a second rented out unit without going to the trouble of a second supply.
So both meters are connected after the DNO meter. The 24hr one Feeds the KMF and then the off peak one is connected to the outgoing way of one of that boards circuits, the other T&E being jointed to the original outgoing circuit

 

[AJ16]

This is all sorted now, the sparks came back and checked the night supply fuse & supply cable route, both fine, he then connected the SH with a temp lead again and it heated up. As a last resort he removed the fused was outlet, when he tested it it started to transfer current then stopped, he notice a hairline crack in it. He put a new one on and the heater works fine. Strange as there was no sign of the wall outlet heating up or anything. Thanks to all your inputs

 

[ruston]

Thanks for getting back to us,many don't bother.