Dodgy Fan Heater(s)

OceanSprint

OceanSprint

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On marina power i heat the boat with a fan heater. My first one started cutting out and taking a long time to come back on. I assumed it was a dodgy thermal cut out.

I have bought a new one, and it is starting to do the same. The boat is not warm, and the cut out should not be operating. And when it does cut off it stays off for ages.

Power is still ok. It is not the power cutting off.

Could it be the damp air? Anything else causing it? Any solution? I have thought of opening it up and bypassing cut off, but obvious dangers to this.

Thanks.
 
OceanSprint said:
On marina power i heat the boat with a fan heater. My first one started cutting out and taking a long time to come back on. I assumed it was a dodgy thermal cut out.

I have bought a new one, and it is starting to do the same. The boat is not warm, and the cut out should not be operating. And when it does cut off it stays off for ages.

Power is still ok. It is not the power cutting off.

Could it be the damp air? Anything else causing it? Any solution? I have thought of opening it up and bypassing cut off, but obvious dangers to this.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You do mean safety cut-out as opposed to thermostat?

Perhaps positioned so that it is recirculating its own warm air and therefore overheating/

Anything obstructing the air flow.?

I have only once ever had a fan heater cut-out operate and that was when the fan in the greenhouse heater failed.


Fan motors often need regular oiling of their bearings. Maybe if you haven't oiled the bearings regularly the fans are getting stiff/ slow. In fact the one on the floor beside me has a sticker on the bottom advising that the bearings should be oiled every 6 months
 
Last edited:
,
OceanSprint said:
On marina power i heat the boat with a fan heater. My first one started cutting out and taking a long time to come back on. I assumed it was a dodgy thermal cut out.

I have bought a new one, and it is starting to do the same. The boat is not warm, and the cut out should not be operating. And when it does cut off it stays off for ages.

Power is still ok. It is not the power cutting off.

Could it be the damp air? Anything else causing it? Any solution? I have thought of opening it up and bypassing cut off, but obvious dangers to this.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Cheap chinese crap, same as mine, it cycles on the overheat switch, done it from very nearly new. Got one at home exactly the same that works as it should so I know there is an issue. Am tempted at times to bypass the stupid thing!
S
 
I bought a £10 one, the second one was ok until the thermostat started arcing and then died. I opened it and bypassed the thermostat (not the overheat)
It ran all (cool) summer on un-metered marina power, hatch used to reduce temp...
 
skipper_stu said:
,
Cheap chinese crap, same as mine, it cycles on the overheat switch, done it from very nearly new. Got one at home exactly the same that works as it should so I know there is an issue. Am tempted at times to bypass the stupid thing!
S
Click to expand...

Sounds identical to mine. I'm shivering my n*ts off. Trouble is, unit is sealed bar 2 screws that need a triangle allen key sort of thing.
 
nigelmercier said:
Personally I would never leave a fan heater unattended.
Click to expand...

Neither would I.

We used to have a holiday home that got very cold when unoccupied. I left a fan heater in the kitchen with the thermostat turned down so it would only come on if there was a frost. Next time we visited we found the fan heater had burnt out. Fortunately it was sitting on a stone floor away from anything combustible. I won't do that again!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Robih said:
Oil filled electric heaters suit us best, a constant heat meaning no wild variations in temperature. Also silent so can sleep with it on. We have a delonghi bambino keeping us nice and warm.

http://www.delonghi.com/en-gb/produ...eating/oil-filled-radiators/bambino-trn0505m#
Click to expand...

+1 for DeLonghi oil rads, mine's 1.5kw, wasn't cheap but I live on the boat, fan heaters are noisy, consume more power and it goes cold when they cycle off, would only use as a last resort...
 
V1701 said:
fan heaters ............ consume more power
Click to expand...

There may indeed be plenty of reasons for NOT using a fan heater ...... but efficiency at converting electrical energy into heat is not one of them. In a closed environment they will produce exactly the same amount of heat as any other electrical heater. (Even the small amount of power used by the fan ends up as heat).

Now, a heat pump extracting warmth from the sea might be an idea ..... especially this time of year when the sea temperature is still around 10C. :D
 
Fendant said:
I would only use ceramic heaters specially designed for mobile applications:
http://www.ecomat2000.com/en/index.html
I have this one since 12 seasons and I am very satisfied.
I only use this when I am on board, but I know some of my friends use them over winter with the 400 W as frost protection.
Click to expand...

They look impressive, does it not go cold when they cycle off with the thermostat though, like with any fan heater?
 
A problem with the usual type of fan heater is that there is a draught of cold air being drawn into it to replace the warm air coming out of the front. So you're comfortable sitting right in front of it but anyone who isn't feels cold.
 
V1701:
The top models do not cycle off, they apparently reduce power when the set temperature is reached. I have the entry model, and yes it cycles and switches on with the set power rating when the room temperature drops by 2-3 deg. We normally just switch to a lower power setting for overnight comfort.
 
I have a metal cased fan heater in my garage and there's nothing like it for warming the space quickly. It doesn't have a thermostat but uses a two heat arrangement. I bought it when we got our first house in 1971. It does rattle a bit when it starts up but eventually quietens down.
 
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