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Jim Koepke
01-15-2018, 4:59 PM
It was early on a cold morning when the heater was turned on to take the chill off the house while Candy was still asleep. Nothing happened. My first check was to the thermostat. No voltage across the open contacts, hmmm… There should be little voltage or current across these whether it is gas or electric. Gas heaters of old have a thermocouple to generate a few millivolts to hold open the gas valve. If the pilot goes out the valve closes, saving folks from a disastrous gas build up.

There was no voltage, hmmm, more ruminations. There are breakers on the heater but there was also a fuse block inside the unit. The disconnect bar looked like it got a little warm over the years and had some problems. Likewise the fuses were the buss style and over the years heat had also deteriorated them a bit.

So to the internet to find a part. After garnering all the available information local heater repair and supply stores were called to see if we could avoid the shipping delay. Not a chance and the one that felt they could help quoted a price of 4X what an online supply house wanted with free shipping. The local guy may have given me a price with labor included.

One of my comments to the vendor where the replacement part was purchased was that these used to be made of ceramic and wouldn't melt from a bit of normal heat. My mind also drifted to the idea of buying two of them so the new one could replaced after another 25 years of use.

Some where there has to be a Buss fuse puller in my shop, but it just could not be found. So when that happens why not make your own:

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A scrap of fir was drilled and then sawn with a little beveling on the nose and works fine.

Now that the fuse block and disconnect bar has been replaced the heater works fine. Candy and the cats are now happier, especially Skittles who likes to sit by the heat registers to keep warm.

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Candy keeps track of the cats better than me. Skittles snuck in our back door when we were living in California and stayed. Candy thinks he is about 25 years old now. This picture of him was taken 7-1/2 years ago.

jtk

Bruce Wrenn
01-15-2018, 9:03 PM
I always keep a spare set of fuses in bottom of disconnect. Swap both of them out, and most of the time heat/ AC comes on. Later, I can check them and see which one is bad, as seldom do both go south at the same time.

Jim Koepke
01-16-2018, 1:38 PM
I always keep a spare set of fuses in bottom of disconnect. Swap both of them out, and most of the time heat/ AC comes on. Later, I can check them and see which one is bad, as seldom do both go south at the same time.

The fuses weren't the real problem. Both of them were replaced since the cost was less than $3 a couple of spares may be kept for the purpose. One thought is to check the fuse holding block every year or two to make sure the contacts haven't suffered from the heat of conducing electricity.

This seems to be the problem. The fuses and the holder heating and cooling during the times of use seems to be the real cause of failure here. The fuses checked okay even though they looked like they needed replacement.

jtk