On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 03:53:29 -0800, Daniel Towner wrote:

Hi all,

The thermostat control in my night storage heater seized up recently,
causing overheating. Fortunately, the thermal fuse did its job, and
cut the power. I've now unseized the thermostat, and need to replace
the fuse. Should I buy the fuse from a spare distributor (for about
15UKP), or can I fit a thermal fuse bought from Maplins for 50 pence?.
Is there any real difference between the two types of fuse? The lowest
temperature Maplin fuse is 93 deg. C. which seems rather high. Roughly
what temperature should it cut-out at?


These are an important safety item. If you get the wrong spec you may have
a fire.

The thermal fuse is essentially a small rod of low melting point metal.
It probably is intended to melt at around 100C or more, we are talking
about the innards of the heater.

A frequent cause of these parts failing is new users of the heaters
covering them to dry out clothes, although in your case it was the running
thermostat that got stuck.


--
Ed Sirett - Property maintainer and registered gas fitter.
The FAQ for uk.diy is at http://www.diyfaq.org.uk
Gas fitting FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/GasFitting.html
Sealed CH FAQ http://www.makewrite.demon.co.uk/SealedCH.html