Why does Dimplex oil heater keep breaking?

Funnyonion79

Hi, I use a 2KW oil filled radiator to heat my daughter's room but they keep breaking. All of a sudden the heat stops coming out of it, even though the orange light is still on. It looks like it's still working - it's not dead. The only way you know it's broken is because there's no heat coming out of it any more.

I had it plugged into a 4 plug adapter and thought that perhaps there was some sort of power surge from the other devices causing something inside the heater to burn out so I now use a single plug adapter but it's just stopped working again tonight. This is the 6th heater I've bought in the last two years so I'm sure it must be something I'm doing as I don't hear of others having the same problems with them.

The only other thing I can think of is that I warm my daughters towel and pyjamas on the heater some nights - could this be causing the problem? I always make sure that I never cover the vents on the heater when I do this though so don't see how this would affect it....

Please help! I love these heaters but am so fed up having to return them every few weeks/months!!

Any advice would be much appreciated.

cast_iron

Sounds very strange for so many to go in such a short period of time. Perhaps there is a bad connection on the circuit and when you switch the load on it makes the circuit cut in and out. This could maybe wear out the heater.

But that's just pure speculation, there's no way of knowing unless someone took a look. Are they cheap radiators?

Either way, I hope you are bringing them back and getting them replaced free of charge from whoever you bought them off.

Funnyonion79

Thanks Cast_iron. Yes I've brought them back to Power City every time and got a replacement free of charge thankfully. I've bought several different models and manufacturers ranging in price from €50 up to €80 and the same thing happens every time. The first heater lasted 6 months and it was on practically 24/7 when my daughter was born, during the big freeze of January 2010. The next heater lasted a month. The next one lasted 3 months all through the snow last December, the next one 4 months and the last two only lasted for about a week at a time.

I wish I knew what the problem was. Maybe I'll try using a different power socket in case there's something wrong with the one I'm using. Bit weird though that it's just the heating element that seems to stop working and not the electrics in the heater itself.

Thanks anyway for replying. I appreciate it.

Outkast_IRE

I think a letter to Dimplex would be the route i would take, mention how you are a longtime customer and you have recently went through x amount of their models in the last year and you would like a resoultion to the problem.
I find any good manufacturer will have a quality dept which are there to handle such issues.

Funnyonion79

That's a great idea! Why didn't I think of that? I'll do that first thing tomorrow. Thanks so much, will let you know how I get on.

cast_iron

I'm not sure it will be of much use, though bigger companies like that are usually good to deal with.
A high number of issues such as the OP's is a bit unusual, and the fact that they all happened in the same house would do little but point blame in the direction of that house and its electrics, or as a result of its user.
I'm not saying it's either of those, but I can't imagine everyone else buying these has a similar problem so it points to something about the OP's setup.

There could be something causing a thermal fuse to cut out (the constant use and clothes on top) on a regular basis. That would also explain why the rest of the heater appears to work just not the heating element.

Does it say on the instructions not to put clothes/anything on it? I think they do, and this could explain things too.

Funnyonion79

Yes I know you're not supposed to put anything on the heater but they're literally only on it for a few minutes and I can't imagine that I'm the only person with these kinds of heaters that would do this. But that definitely could be the explanation.

I totally agree with you that it's more than likely something I'm doing or that the fault lies with my apartment/electrics, rather than the heaters themselves. I've googled this several times in great detail and I can't find any instances of anyone having similar issues repeatedly, the way I have.

I know nothing about how these heaters work internally so perhaps you could be onto something when you mention the thermal element inside. I also use one of these heaters in my sitting room (purchased from a different place and a different manufacturer) and this has never broken. So perhaps the fault lies with the socket I have it plugged into....

I've emailed Dimpco tonight explaining what's been happening so hopefully an engineer will contact me and have some more advice on what could be causing the problem. Like I said, I don't think at this stage the problem is with the heater either - more with where it's plugged into, but I'm hoping the engineer can advise me as to what I can do to avoid this happening again.

Funnyonion79

Just to update you - I emailed Dimplex telling them the problems I was having and they have confirmed that I'm not meant to put anything on top of the heater - ever - as this will cause it to overheat (see text from heater manual below)

Safety Overheat Protection
The heater is fitted with a thermal safety cut-out which will switch off the
heater should it overheat for any reason. If the cut-out operates it is the
result of abnormal overheating, and customer services should be contacted
for further advice - see ‘After Sales Service’.

So it looks as though me putting a towel/pjamas on top of the heater for a few minutes might've been causing the problem. I've returned my last one and got a replacement again so not going to put anything on it at all now and we'll see how I go....fingers crossed that was what it was. Thanks for the replies and suggestions.

DublinDilbert

Is there a way of resetting the thermal trip?? might just be a button you push?

Just reading your original post, might be a good idea to look at adding some extra insulation or insulated plaster board, can make a massive difference.

10-10-20

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Is there a way of resetting the thermal trip?? might just be a button you push?

Yes, I would have thought that the thermal trip was self-resetting. Perhaps due to safety concerns they put a non-resettable one in instead? Only a circuit diagram or the device-in-question would answer this.

Discodog

This is not what is causing your problem but it might help others. My oil filled rad suddenly stopped working & the lights wouldn't come on. I checked the fuse & all the obvious causes. It turned out to be a pendulum switch that cuts the power if the heater falls over. The contacts weren't closing.

Decc

Had to replace 5 Dimplex Oil-filled heaters over 3 years. Think its the element that goes each time

doh777

same issue here with dimplex 2kw oil heaters. lights are on no heat. gone through two.

have a de longhi, no issues.

i'm thinking it's a simple quality issue, or lack of.