Bed heater
Why would my bed heater just stop working?
31 Replies
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
@blacksmithforlife moved it here
Stopped working how?
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
It’s just, stoped…. Heating and gave a error
And what was the error?
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
Heater not heating at expected rate
You need to check all the wiring. start with the MCU and confirm it is putting out voltage for the relay. Then check the wiring going into the relay. Then check the output of the relay. Then check the wiring to the bed.
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
How can I check the mcu? For it putting out power
Probe the “bed power” negative and positive?
graceful-blue•3y ago
Yes
Do you see the temps go up at all in the UI when you assign the heater to a temperature like 60? ie: is it heating slowly, or is it not heating at all.
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
Not at all
Yea, it’s 24v
graceful-blue•3y ago
Does your relay have a little light on it? If so does that come on when there's 24v from the MCU?
Use a multimeter
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
Yea, red light comes on
I did
graceful-blue•3y ago
I would unplug it from the wall and carefully double check all your wiring is securely inserted and seated, it sounds like there's a problem on either the relay (not actually working), or there's a problem with power connectors on the mains side.
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
I do know everything is seated properly.
could a crimp have gone bad?
graceful-blue•3y ago
Inspect your wires and see if the metal bit of the wires is in contact with your various connectors
No. But if you used the wrong wire type you could easily no have a break in your wiring which is preventing your bed from heating
graceful-blue•3y ago
Your options are probably:
A) The relay doesn't work. You'd have to test the far side of the relay to see if it is actually connecting mains power, but I will not advise you on how to test this with a multimeter because I don't actually know what you test against.
B) Your relay works but you have a disconnected/broken cable
C) The heating pad itself has died. This seems unlikely given that it's basically just a big resistor to generate heat. Maybe the thermal fuse popped, though that requires a really hot pad so I also find that unlikely.
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
So really a and b are my options
Well
It just seems to strange it was working fine
Then just stopped
No, you could have popped the fuse
graceful-blue•3y ago
I mean, C is also an option. You gotta work through your electrical system (with things disconnected!) and figure out where it's going wrong. Break down the problem into simpler steps.
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
With a really hot pad? I dokt think 90c is really that hot
And how did you verify it was actually 90⁰?
graceful-blue•3y ago
If you disconnect your mains wiring from the relay (and carefully wrap the ends to prevent them from touching anything while they hang there) you can probably test for continuity/resistance across the mains side of the relay to see if it's getting connected when the relay goes on.
Then you can check for continuity on the two wires that go through the heating pad and see if there's resistance across them.
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
@blacksmithforlife you said to check the output of the relay. How can I do that
I told you, use a multimeter
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
What to probe
I mean
graceful-blue•3y ago
It worries me that you built a mains-voltage application and don't know the path electricity flows through it 😅
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
This is why, I cannot do anything right lol ahahhaha
Welp. I did it. I mean I probably understand whare to probe, but I also really don’t at the same time
graceful-blue•3y ago
Do you know what a relay does
Then you need to get an electrician to help you
Seriously, AC voltage isn't something to mess with if you don't understand. Stop now, and get someone more knowledgeable to help you before you get hurt
optimistic-goldOP•3y ago
Yes
It’s a switch
Ok