With the cold weather, I have seen many of those little, white, oil filled radiator looking heaters laying out next to trash cans to be hauled off. I would say each and every one of them came from Walmart.
Me, being the scavenger and the curious type, I stop and picked up a couple. Plugged them in and got no heat.
Took the cover off the end and scoped out everthing. I wired direct to the heating coil connections and viola, heat. Tried continuity testing and finally found a little item wired in-line with the power to the switch- it was failed open.
Turns out it is a little thing called a thermal fuse (thanks to a local Heat and Air guy who recognized what I was talking about and explained them to me). Luckily it has some numbers on it, and I find them in a Newark catalog. The one I have here opens at 332° F. or 167° C.
87¢ apiece in last years catalog. They open up when the heater gets too hot and are not user (homeowner) replaceable. (On edit- maybe I could've sprayed some "Stabilant" on it and hoped for the best= Sarcasm intended for those who read that Stabilant thread) There are loads of these heaters laying around- what a waste of money for a $75 (walmart price) item. I wouldn't give $10 for one, but that's just me.
I've fixed one of the things and put it in my bathroom, just to keep the chill out of there. I find that they aren't designed to warm a room, which is what most people think they're going to do with them. They aren't made to run on high. That cord gets a little warm, which isn't good in my book. 1500 watt heater! I see some of them have a tilt switch, which is a good idea because they aren't full of oil, only partially. If the heater tips over, the heating element could be exposed and......!!
So, if you see some laying around and want a cheap heater, go for it. I rigged 2 of them back to life without that fusible link - just clipped it out and soldered the wire back together. I run them on low and keep the little thermostat set on 3.5 (out of a possible 10)
Me, being the scavenger and the curious type, I stop and picked up a couple. Plugged them in and got no heat.
Took the cover off the end and scoped out everthing. I wired direct to the heating coil connections and viola, heat. Tried continuity testing and finally found a little item wired in-line with the power to the switch- it was failed open.
Turns out it is a little thing called a thermal fuse (thanks to a local Heat and Air guy who recognized what I was talking about and explained them to me). Luckily it has some numbers on it, and I find them in a Newark catalog. The one I have here opens at 332° F. or 167° C.
87¢ apiece in last years catalog. They open up when the heater gets too hot and are not user (homeowner) replaceable. (On edit- maybe I could've sprayed some "Stabilant" on it and hoped for the best= Sarcasm intended for those who read that Stabilant thread) There are loads of these heaters laying around- what a waste of money for a $75 (walmart price) item. I wouldn't give $10 for one, but that's just me.
I've fixed one of the things and put it in my bathroom, just to keep the chill out of there. I find that they aren't designed to warm a room, which is what most people think they're going to do with them. They aren't made to run on high. That cord gets a little warm, which isn't good in my book. 1500 watt heater! I see some of them have a tilt switch, which is a good idea because they aren't full of oil, only partially. If the heater tips over, the heating element could be exposed and......!!
So, if you see some laying around and want a cheap heater, go for it. I rigged 2 of them back to life without that fusible link - just clipped it out and soldered the wire back together. I run them on low and keep the little thermostat set on 3.5 (out of a possible 10)