Heater Mystery Blues

[Ron Hubbard]

My mother has a 1500 watt oil-filled heater that has been working
pretty well for a couple of years until first one power switch
disappeared, then sometime later the second switch disappeared.

There was no bang, no shorting, no arcing, no nothing to indicate
what happened, but both rocker switches has disappeared from out of
their sockets and not even pieces of them could be found. Does anybody
know what happened or ever hear of such a thing happening before?


Ron

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

My mother has a 1500 watt oil-filled heater that has been working
pretty well for a couple of years until first one power switch
disappeared, then sometime later the second switch disappeared.

There was no bang, no shorting, no arcing, no nothing to indicate
what happened, but both rocker switches has disappeared from out of
their sockets and not even pieces of them could be found. Does anybody
know what happened or ever hear of such a thing happening before?

Let me guess.... It is a DeLongi(sp?). Not sure if this is the same
problem but we picked one up at a garage sale a few years ago with a
bad switch (not missing, just bad). After contacting the mfg., they
told us that for $5, there was an upgrade which essentially replaced
the entire control panel.

In any case, switches don't evaporate so either someone is pulling your
leg or the parts are somewhere nearby. It's possible the switch overheated
and the front section popped out.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
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[NSM]

| My mother has a 1500 watt oil-filled heater that has been working
| pretty well for a couple of years until first one power switch
| disappeared, then sometime later the second switch disappeared.
|
| There was no bang, no shorting, no arcing, no nothing to indicate
| what happened, but both rocker switches has disappeared from out of
| their sockets and not even pieces of them could be found. Does anybody
| know what happened or ever hear of such a thing happening before?

Probably heater bacteria ate them. The switches taste the best - like
raisins in a bun.

N

 

[Ron Hubbard]

Let me guess.... It is a DeLongi(sp?). Not sure if this is the same
problem but we picked one up at a garage sale a few years ago with a
bad switch (not missing, just bad). After contacting the mfg., they
told us that for $5, there was an upgrade which essentially replaced
the entire control panel.

In any case, switches don't evaporate so either someone is pulling your
leg or the parts are somewhere nearby. It's possible the switch overheated
and the front section popped out.

It was a Lakewood, for what it's worth. After a lot of looking I found
the dead and burnt carcass of one switch; the other is still MIA There
was no arcing, no apparent over-heating, nothing to suggest there was
a problem until I went to turn the heat down and one switch was gone.
Ditto with the second and last one.

Have any idea why an illuminated rocker switch would burn up like
that?

Ron

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

It was a Lakewood, for what it's worth. After a lot of looking I found
the dead and burnt carcass of one switch; the other is still MIA There
was no arcing, no apparent over-heating, nothing to suggest there was
a problem until I went to turn the heat down and one switch was gone.
Ditto with the second and last one.

Have any idea why an illuminated rocker switch would burn up like
that?

Could have just overheated. Maybe the resistor to the neon lamp shorted
and the lamp exploded. Was that intact?

No real way to know without seeing the remains and maybe not even then.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header is ignored.
To contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.

 

[Ron Hubbard]

Let me guess.... It is a DeLongi(sp?). Not sure if this is the same
problem but we picked one up at a garage sale a few years ago with a
bad switch (not missing, just bad). After contacting the mfg., they
told us that for $5, there was an upgrade which essentially replaced
the entire control panel.

In any case, switches don't evaporate so either someone is pulling your
leg or the parts are somewhere nearby. It's possible the switch overheated
and the front section popped out.

It was a Lakewood, for what it's worth. After a lot of looking I found
the dead and burnt carcass of one switch; the other is still MIA There
was no arcing, no apparent over-heating, nothing to suggest there was
a problem until I went to turn the heat down and one switch was gone.
Ditto with the second one. Do you have any idea why a pair of
illuminated rocker switches would burn up like that? Besides being
expensive they are also big and heavy, and as such I don't want to
buy another heater and have the same thing happen.

Ron

 

[NSM]

| It was a Lakewood, for what it's worth. After a lot of looking I found
| the dead and burnt carcass of one switch; the other is still MIA There
| was no arcing, no apparent over-heating, nothing to suggest there was
| a problem until I went to turn the heat down and one switch was gone.
| Ditto with the second one. Do you have any idea why a pair of
| illuminated rocker switches would burn up like that? Besides being
| expensive they are also big and heavy, and as such I don't want to
| buy another heater and have the same thing happen.

Why buy another one? Replacement switches are cheap. It's an easy fix.

N

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

It was a Lakewood, for what it's worth. After a lot of looking I found
the dead and burnt carcass of one switch; the other is still MIA There
was no arcing, no apparent over-heating, nothing to suggest there was
a problem until I went to turn the heat down and one switch was gone.
Ditto with the second one. Do you have any idea why a pair of
illuminated rocker switches would burn up like that? Besides being
expensive they are also big and heavy, and as such I don't want to
buy another heater and have the same thing happen.

It's possible the switches were just poorly designed and failed
mechannically. No weay to know from here. Sure, could have been
overheating or a shorted element but maybe just bad switches.

You could replace the switches easily enough.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Mirror: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://repairfaq.ece.drexel.edu/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Note: These links are hopefully temporary until we can sort out the excessive
traffic on Repairfaq.org.

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header is ignored.
To contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.

 

[James Sweet]

It's possible the switches were just poorly designed and failed
mechannically. No weay to know from here. Sure, could have been
overheating or a shorted element but maybe just bad switches.

You could replace the switches easily enough.

I suspect the contacts became pitted, developed resistance, which heated up
with the heavy load and set the plastic switch on fire, I've seen switches
and plugs melt several times due to contact resistance.

 

[NSM]

| I suspect the contacts became pitted, developed resistance, which heated
up
| with the heavy load and set the plastic switch on fire, I've seen switches
| and plugs melt several times due to contact resistance.

Too many plastics mold shops run the jobs too fast which leads to cracking
and breaking of the plastic over time. The stress of the snap in mounting
and the heat from the contacts all lead to disintegration.

N