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Posted by Joe on February 19, 2007, 3:39 pm
> My home is about 40 years old (ranch style) and I have 2 baseboard
> heaters that are not working. I have purchased new heaters, but need
> to know how to attached them and how to troubleshoot what is the
> problem. Heaters in other parts of the house work fine. I thought it
> might be as simple as 1) shutting down the electricity 2) attacing the
> wall wiring to the new baseboard 3) turn electricity back on and turn
> the zone one and wait for the heat to come out! Anything wrong with
> my plan of action?
Yes. Don't use use new parts as a test method. You didn't diagnose the
problem. Go back to square one. Open the breaker box. Use a test lamp
or voltmeter to determine if there is power at the terminal(s) of the
breaker supplying the heater(s). Be careful, use common sense there
and call a pro if you feel intimidated. If you have 240 V there the
breaker is likely OK. Remove the access cover on the heater and check
for voltage there. If present, your wiring is OK so return to the
service panel and turn off the breaker. Back to the heater, check for
voltage again to make sure you flipped the right breaker, and if none
present on either heater terminal, remove the connected wires. Check
the disconnected heater restance with an ohm meter and it will read
infinity if the element has burned out. If you read, say, 15 to 20
ohms, the heater is OK and the connections were bad. The usual clean,
tighten and so on would correct that problem. I assume your heaters
are 240 V and are supplied by a double pole breaker. Good luck.
Joe
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