Good morning Gurus. I have an ongoing situation with my bedroom baseboard heaters.
As reported earlier, when I turned up the thermostat there was a buzz and the breaker popped. I can't identify where the buzz is actually coming from. I changed the thermostat and the same thing occurred. Following Russ's suggestion I took the baseboard heaters off line one at a time and the same thing occurred.
Have any of you followed that circuit or run into a junction box between the thermostat and heaters (where they must spit off to each heater). Any help greatly appreciated. The nights are starting to get cool up here in the Cariboo area of B.C.
Hi Bill, if they are Cadet heaters look at Homedepot.com
I bought 2 new heaters for my '93 and had them shipped to me for about $75 total.
Might be worth it to just replace them.
hi bill,
are you saying that when the baseboard heaters are disconnected, you hear a buzz and the breaker trips?
or just when one at a time are disconnected?
so, both heaters are on the same 20a breaker?
are you sure the connection from the thermostat doesnt have the wires for both baseboard heaters put together right at the thermostat? thats what i would expect, rather than running the wires to a separate junction box.
that said, if there is a junction box, i suspect that it is in one of the bays below. the wires for the baseboard heaters, do they go through the floor or up the wall?
on my 90, it did not have baseboard heaters in the bedroom, but it was wired for them and the wires went down through the floor.
is there any chance the breaker itself is what is buzzing?
that is a lot of current flowing through a breaker continuously when electric heaters are on. could be the breaker itself is bad?
just shooting out ideas.
tom
Hi Tom, yes the buzz and breaker tripping is the same with both heaters disconnected. Both heaters are on the same 20 amp breaker. The thermostat only has 2 wires coming in to it. The wires cross the top of the closet and down to the panel, from there the appear to go down to the floor and to the drivers side heater. I have not figured out the route from there to the other side yet. When the heaters are both disconnected and the thermostat is turned up when it reaches call for heat level the buzz is heard and breaker trips. Cannot nail down where the darn buzz is coming from. I think I'll find a breaker and try that before digging much deeper.
Forest, I'll change the heaters this winter when we're in the US, even if they are still functional. Thanks for the Homedepot heads up.