I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223

In article , DaveT wrote:

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223

DaveT-

Did the wire break, or did it just pull out of the crimp? It may have
just been poorly attached. If you can poke it back where it came from,
you can crimp it more tightly.

From the photo, it is not clear how it was crimped before. There may be
a metal sleeve that was placed over the joint and crimped. If the
filament broke, it may be best to replace the old sleeve and re-crimp.

As far as burning down the house, check to see that there are no other
points where the filament might be short circuited to itself. If part
of it shorted out, that would explain why it would burn through.

Fred

On 11/23/2014 11:29 AM, Fred McKenzie wrote:
In article , DaveT wrote:

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223

DaveT-

Did the wire break, or did it just pull out of the crimp?

It didn't pull out, it burned out leaving a stub of wire in the crimp
fastener. It was glowing orange right at that point in the weeks leading
up to the failure.


It may have
just been poorly attached. If you can poke it back where it came from,
you can crimp it more tightly.

From the photo, it is not clear how it was crimped before. There may be
a metal sleeve that was placed over the joint and crimped.

Yeah, that's the way it was fastened.



If the
filament broke, it may be best to replace the old sleeve and re-crimp.

As far as burning down the house, check to see that there are no other
points where the filament might be short circuited to itself. If part
of it shorted out, that would explain why it would burn through.

Fred

DaveT wrote in :

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are you even considering repairing it?
Is your time worth nothing?

On 11/23/2014 12:37 PM, DaveT wrote:
I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223

When talking about risk of burning down the
house,now is not time to get cheap.

The ceramic "black box" heaters are safer.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 11/23/2014 11:45 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are you even considering repairing it?
Is your time worth nothing?


It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and safely.

That's why I'm asking about it.

On 11/23/2014 11:37 AM, DaveT wrote:
I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223




Although I also agree that it's good to fix things rather than throw out...
I will save you the trouble.

I tried repairing a heating device similar to yours by cleaning the
connections very well and tightly crimping on an uninsulated butt
connector. It went bad again within a few weeks.


For $20 you got your money's worth by now....
toss it.

DaveT wrote in :

On 11/23/2014 11:45 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are you even considering
repairing it?
Is your time worth nothing?


It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and safely.

It's even more stupid to spend more than about an hour of your time trying to fix something
that you can replace for twenty bucks.

And you've already used up ten or fifteen minutes of that hour, writing your post and reading
the responses.

"DaveT" wrote in message ...
I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223

It looks as if it burnt off right at the connector. They make some crimp
lugs that are rated for the high temperatuers. Not sure where you can buy
them. You should be able to streach the wire the inch or so you need .
Years ago I tried that with some standard crimp connectors near the middle
of the wires. They only lasted for a short time as the connectors were not
rated for the high heat.

Here is one place that list them for $ 1.24 each. Not sure if you can get
just one mailed cheep or not.

http://www.cesco.com/b2c/product/134...8AOxoCxW7w_wcB



---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com

"philo " wrote in message
...
I tried repairing a heating device similar to yours by cleaning the
connections very well and tightly crimping on an uninsulated butt
connector. It went bad again within a few weeks.


Did the same thing myself years ago. They do make nickel high temperature
connectors that will stand the heat. Just did not have one at the time.



---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com

On 11/23/2014 1:34 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"DaveT" wrote in message ...
I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223

It looks as if it burnt off right at the connector. They make some crimp
lugs that are rated for the high temperatuers. Not sure where you can buy
them. You should be able to streach the wire the inch or so you need .
Years ago I tried that with some standard crimp connectors near the middle
of the wires. They only lasted for a short time as the connectors were not
rated for the high heat.

Here is one place that list them for $ 1.24 each. Not sure if you can get
just one mailed cheep or not.

Thanks, it's probably not worth the trouble.
Lowes and HD have plenty of connectors, but none described as high
temperature.
Amazon has high temperature connectors but price and s/h makes it not
worthwhile.

I thought it might be a common problem w/ a common solution.




http://www.cesco.com/b2c/product/134...8AOxoCxW7w_wcB



---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
http://www.avast.com

On 11/23/2014 3:04 PM, DaveT wrote:
A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are you even
considering repairing it?
Is your time worth nothing?


It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and safely.

That's why I'm asking about it.


I'd invest in a ceramic heater. That said, it sure
looks like the wire wasn't crimped into the terminal
end. I'd slide the wire in, crush the terminal with
small vise grips, and increase my fire insurance
and put a new battery in the smoke detector.

-
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 11/23/2014 1:32 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

On 11/23/2014 11:45 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are you even considering
repairing it?
Is your time worth nothing?


It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and safely.

It's even more stupid to spend more than about an hour of your time trying to fix something
that you can replace for twenty bucks.

And you've already used up ten or fifteen minutes of that hour, writing your post and reading
the responses.

It's stupid to post that it's not worthwhile to inquire about repairing
something, in a forum where everybody is looking for information on
repairing things.

That's stupid.

DaveT wrote:
I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223
Hi,
I'd just buy another one. Repair may work for a while but will fail again.

On 11/23/2014 02:36 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
"philo " wrote in message
...
I tried repairing a heating device similar to yours by cleaning the
connections very well and tightly crimping on an uninsulated butt
connector. It went bad again within a few weeks.


Did the same thing myself years ago. They do make nickel high temperature
connectors that will stand the heat. Just did not have one at the time.


X

Thanks for the info.

Heck I've used butt connectors for over 40 years and never thought to
look into one designed for hi-temp. It seems obvious now that when the
devices are made, that's what's used.

On 11/23/2014 3:45 PM, DaveT wrote:

Amazon has high temperature connectors but price and s/h makes it not
worthwhile.

I thought it might be a common problem w/ a common solution.


It is and there is. Need anything else from Amazon? That way the
shipping is reasonable or free. The right connector is the key to a
good fix.

An alternative is to send it to the factory in China for their
technician to do the repair. Cost is 80 cents US plus shipping.

On 11/23/2014 03:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:45 PM, DaveT wrote:

Amazon has high temperature connectors but price and s/h makes it not
worthwhile.

I thought it might be a common problem w/ a common solution.


It is and there is. Need anything else from Amazon? That way the
shipping is reasonable or free. The right connector is the key to a
good fix.

An alternative is to send it to the factory in China for their
technician to do the repair. Cost is 80 cents US plus shipping.





The nickel crimp connector is kind of pricey and would not be worth it
to purchase for a $20 heater...
but I have ordered stuff direct from China before.


Might have mentioned here before but:

I needed some spare CMOS batteries for the computer work I'm always
doing. Figured they be a few dollars each at the local drug store.


Wrong. They were $7 each


I ordered from China $3.58


oh yes and that price included postage.

but I am not done yet


The $3.58 was for 20 of them!!!!!!


18 cents each ...including postage



The drug store that sells them for $7 each buys them from China anyway,
just puts them in a plastic package that probably costs more than the
battery.

On 11/23/2014 3:49 PM, DaveT wrote:
On 11/23/2014 1:32 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and safely.

It's even more stupid to spend more than about an hour of your time
trying to fix something
that you can replace for twenty bucks.

And you've already used up ten or fifteen minutes of that hour,
writing your post and reading
the responses.

It's stupid to post that it's not worthwhile to inquire about repairing
something, in a forum where everybody is looking for information on
repairing things.

That's stupid.


It's stupid to rebuke someone about a stupid post
which says that it's stupid to try to bring the
group on topic, because of the stupid replies to
the stupid original post. Got it, Stupid?

--
..
Stupid Moron
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 11/23/2014 4:20 PM, philo wrote:
On 11/23/2014 02:36 PM, Ralph Mowery wrote:
Did the same thing myself years ago. They do make nickel high
temperature
connectors that will stand the heat. Just did not have one at the time.


X

Thanks for the info.

Heck I've used butt connectors for over
40 years and never thought to
look into one designed for hi-temp. It
seems obvious now that when the
devices are made, that's what's used.


Having made the connection, you are now the
butt of our ridicule. Turn up the temp!

-
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 11/23/2014 5:36 PM, philo wrote:
but I have ordered stuff direct from China before.


Might have mentioned here before but:

I needed some spare CMOS batteries for the computer work I'm always
doing. Figured they be a few dollars each at the local drug store.


Wrong. They were $7 each


I ordered from China $3.58


oh yes and that price included postage.

but I am not done yet


The $3.58 was for 20 of them!!!!!!


18 cents each ...including postage



The drug store that sells them for $7 each buys them from China anyway,
just puts them in a plastic package that probably costs more than the
battery.

Oh, man. I've got Billy Mays commercials echoing
through my head. And what would you pay for this!

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 11/23/2014 6:53 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:49 PM, DaveT wrote:
On 11/23/2014 1:32 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and
safely.

It's even more stupid to spend more than about an hour of your time
trying to fix something
that you can replace for twenty bucks.

And you've already used up ten or fifteen minutes of that hour,
writing your post and reading
the responses.

It's stupid to post that it's not worthwhile to inquire about repairing
something, in a forum where everybody is looking for information on
repairing things.

That's stupid.


It's stupid to rebuke someone about a stupid post
which says that it's stupid to try to bring the
group on topic, because of the stupid replies to
the stupid original post. Got it, Stupid?

It's stupid to be stupid.

DaveT wrote in :

On 11/23/2014 1:32 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

On 11/23/2014 11:45 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It
looks the nichrome filament burned through near a crimp
fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it
winding up burning down the house?

A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are
you even considering
repairing it?
Is your time worth nothing?


It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily
and safely.

It's even more stupid to spend more than about an hour of your
time trying to fix something that you can replace for twenty
bucks.

And you've already used up ten or fifteen minutes of that hour,
writing your post and reading the responses.

It's stupid to post that it's not worthwhile to inquire about
repairing something, in a forum where everybody is looking for
information on repairing things.

Maybe you should read more carefully. I didn't say it was not
worthwhile to *ask* about repairing it -- I said it's not
worthwhile to spend much time repairing something that can be
replaced so cheaply.

That's stupid.

So is responding to things that nobody ever said.

On Sun, 23 Nov 2014 11:39:30 -0700, DaveT wrote:

On 11/23/2014 11:29 AM, Fred McKenzie wrote:
In article , DaveT wrote:

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223

DaveT-

Did the wire break, or did it just pull out of the crimp?

It didn't pull out, it burned out leaving a stub of wire in the crimp
fastener. It was glowing orange right at that point in the weeks leading
up to the failure.


It may have
just been poorly attached. If you can poke it back where it came from,
you can crimp it more tightly.

From the photo, it is not clear how it was crimped before. There may be
a metal sleeve that was placed over the joint and crimped.

Yeah, that's the way it was fastened.



If the
filament broke, it may be best to replace the old sleeve and re-crimp.

As far as burning down the house, check to see that there are no other
points where the filament might be short circuited to itself. If part
of it shorted out, that would explain why it would burn through.

Fred

It was likely a high resistance crimp which caused the connection to
overheat, burning off the wire. Otherwise it was mechanical damage to
the wire at the crimp - with the same result (high resistance)
exacerbated by the wire being thinner (less thermal mass) at the point
of damage. In the past I've repaired situations like that with a small
split-bolt type connector (burndy) but the repair usually needs to be
repeated again a year or so later.

The big problem is the $25 heaters are really $5 Chinese heaters that
someone made $$10 on after paying $10 to ship it over from China. We
bought 4 or 5 of the "oil filled" electric radiators a few montha ago
from Canadian tire and one by one the switches are melting down on
them. Otherwize they don't appear to be too bad quality, but you can't
buy the replacement switch. (I imagine I could import them 20 at a
time from China - but why bother?) They failed under warranty so were
returned for a refund applied to slightly better quality $39 Sunbeam
radiant heaters - We will see haw well they last. (I have one that is
at least 10 years old - also made in China - that still works)

On Sun, 23 Nov 2014 20:32:43 +0000 (UTC), Doug Miller
wrote:

DaveT wrote in :

On 11/23/2014 11:45 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are you even considering
repairing it?
Is your time worth nothing?


It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and safely.

It's even more stupid to spend more than about an hour of your time trying to fix something
that you can replace for twenty bucks.

And you've already used up ten or fifteen minutes of that hour, writing your post and reading
the responses.
I'm like Dave though - why add more junk to landfill if I can fix it
for an outlay of less than 5 bucks and half an hour of "tinker time"?
Sure, I've wasted a lot of that "tinker time" and numerous outlays of
$5 on repairs that failed - but also many times the repaired item goes
on to outlast what I would have replaced it with (if I manage to
repair the deficiency by making it what it should have been in the
first place.

First rule of buying Chinese - consider it to be a "semi-assembled"
kit.

On 11/23/2014 4:53 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:49 PM, DaveT wrote:
On 11/23/2014 1:32 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and
safely.

It's even more stupid to spend more than about an hour of your time
trying to fix something
that you can replace for twenty bucks.

And you've already used up ten or fifteen minutes of that hour,
writing your post and reading
the responses.

It's stupid to post that it's not worthwhile to inquire about repairing
something, in a forum where everybody is looking for information on
repairing things.

That's stupid.


It's stupid to rebuke someone about a stupid post
which says that it's stupid to try to bring the
group on topic, because of the stupid replies to
the stupid original post. Got it, Stupid?


Now that is totally stupid. Got it, stupid?

On 11/23/2014 7:42 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

On 11/23/2014 1:32 PM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

On 11/23/2014 11:45 AM, Doug Miller wrote:
DaveT wrote in :

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It
looks the nichrome filament burned through near a crimp
fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it
winding up burning down the house?

A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are
you even considering
repairing it?
Is your time worth nothing?


It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily
and safely.

It's even more stupid to spend more than about an hour of your
time trying to fix something that you can replace for twenty
bucks.

And you've already used up ten or fifteen minutes of that hour,
writing your post and reading the responses.

It's stupid to post that it's not worthwhile to inquire about
repairing something, in a forum where everybody is looking for
information on repairing things.

Maybe you should read more carefully. I didn't say it was not
worthwhile to *ask* about repairing it -- I said it's not
worthwhile to spend much time repairing something that can be
replaced so cheaply.

That's stupid.

So is responding to things that nobody ever said.

If a usable connector was easily available, it wouldn't take an hour to
squeeze it on. People repair things all the time that don't cost much,
if the parts are available and it's easy to do.

*That's* what I was asking about.

On 11/23/2014 3:36 PM, philo wrote:
On 11/23/2014 03:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:45 PM, DaveT wrote:

Amazon has high temperature connectors but price and s/h makes it not
worthwhile.

I thought it might be a common problem w/ a common solution.


It is and there is. Need anything else from Amazon? That way the
shipping is reasonable or free. The right connector is the key to a
good fix.

An alternative is to send it to the factory in China for their
technician to do the repair. Cost is 80 cents US plus shipping.





The nickel crimp connector is kind of pricey and would not be worth it
to purchase for a $20 heater...
but I have ordered stuff direct from China before.


Might have mentioned here before but:

I needed some spare CMOS batteries for the computer work I'm always
doing. Figured they be a few dollars each at the local drug store.


Wrong. They were $7 each


I ordered from China $3.58


oh yes and that price included postage.

but I am not done yet


The $3.58 was for 20 of them!!!!!!


18 cents each ...including postage



The drug store that sells them for $7 each buys them from China anyway,
just puts them in a plastic package that probably costs more than the
battery.

I got some rechargeable AA's from China a few yrs ago and they didn't
turn out too be much good.

DaveT wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:36 PM, philo wrote:
On 11/23/2014 03:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:45 PM, DaveT wrote:

Amazon has high temperature connectors but price and s/h makes it not
worthwhile.

I thought it might be a common problem w/ a common solution.


It is and there is. Need anything else from Amazon? That way the
shipping is reasonable or free. The right connector is the key to a
good fix.

An alternative is to send it to the factory in China for their
technician to do the repair. Cost is 80 cents US plus shipping.





The nickel crimp connector is kind of pricey and would not be worth it
to purchase for a $20 heater...
but I have ordered stuff direct from China before.


Might have mentioned here before but:

I needed some spare CMOS batteries for the computer work I'm always
doing. Figured they be a few dollars each at the local drug store.


Wrong. They were $7 each


I ordered from China $3.58


oh yes and that price included postage.

but I am not done yet


The $3.58 was for 20 of them!!!!!!


18 cents each ...including postage



The drug store that sells them for $7 each buys them from China anyway,
just puts them in a plastic package that probably costs more than the
battery.

I got some rechargeable AA's from China a few yrs ago and they didn't
turn out too be much good.

Hi,
I got some AA Lithium batteries from China, they were worse than
Duracell Alkaline ones and leaked too. I threw them out some unused.

On 11/23/2014 9:12 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
DaveT wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:36 PM, philo wrote:
On 11/23/2014 03:53 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:45 PM, DaveT wrote:

Amazon has high temperature connectors but price and s/h makes it not
worthwhile.

I thought it might be a common problem w/ a common solution.


It is and there is. Need anything else from Amazon? That way the
shipping is reasonable or free. The right connector is the key to a
good fix.

An alternative is to send it to the factory in China for their
technician to do the repair. Cost is 80 cents US plus shipping.





The nickel crimp connector is kind of pricey and would not be worth it
to purchase for a $20 heater...
but I have ordered stuff direct from China before.


Might have mentioned here before but:

I needed some spare CMOS batteries for the computer work I'm always
doing. Figured they be a few dollars each at the local drug store.


Wrong. They were $7 each


I ordered from China $3.58


oh yes and that price included postage.

but I am not done yet


The $3.58 was for 20 of them!!!!!!


18 cents each ...including postage



The drug store that sells them for $7 each buys them from China anyway,
just puts them in a plastic package that probably costs more than the
battery.

I got some rechargeable AA's from China a few yrs ago and they didn't
turn out too be much good.

Hi,
I got some AA Lithium batteries from China, they were worse than
Duracell Alkaline ones and leaked too. I threw them out some unused.

The chinese AA rechargeables I got would last roughly 1/2 the time that
regular US name brands would run, before needing recharge.

Let's hope they're using the same standards in the navy and air force
they're building.

On 11/23/2014 8:17 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 23 Nov 2014 11:39:30 -0700, DaveT wrote:

On 11/23/2014 11:29 AM, Fred McKenzie wrote:
In article , DaveT wrote:

I had a $20 space heater fail after about 4.5 yrs of use. It looks the
nichrome filament burned through near a crimp fastener (below is a pic).

Is there any cheap easy method of repairing this, without it winding up
burning down the house?

Thanks

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126231...ed=14666684223

DaveT-

Did the wire break, or did it just pull out of the crimp?

It didn't pull out, it burned out leaving a stub of wire in the crimp
fastener. It was glowing orange right at that point in the weeks leading
up to the failure.


It may have
just been poorly attached. If you can poke it back where it came from,
you can crimp it more tightly.

From the photo, it is not clear how it was crimped before. There may be
a metal sleeve that was placed over the joint and crimped.

Yeah, that's the way it was fastened.



If the
filament broke, it may be best to replace the old sleeve and re-crimp.

As far as burning down the house, check to see that there are no other
points where the filament might be short circuited to itself. If part
of it shorted out, that would explain why it would burn through.

Fred

It was likely a high resistance crimp which caused the connection to
overheat, burning off the wire. Otherwise it was mechanical damage to
the wire at the crimp - with the same result (high resistance)
exacerbated by the wire being thinner (less thermal mass) at the point
of damage. In the past I've repaired situations like that with a small
split-bolt type connector (burndy) but the repair usually needs to be
repeated again a year or so later.

The big problem is the $25 heaters are really $5 Chinese heaters that
someone made $$10 on after paying $10 to ship it over from China. We
bought 4 or 5 of the "oil filled" electric radiators a few montha ago
from Canadian tire and one by one the switches are melting down on
them. Otherwize they don't appear to be too bad quality, but you can't
buy the replacement switch. (I imagine I could import them 20 at a
time from China - but why bother?) They failed under warranty so were
returned for a refund applied to slightly better quality $39 Sunbeam
radiant heaters - We will see haw well they last. (I have one that is
at least 10 years old - also made in China - that still works)

Good luck with the new ones.
This heater lasted 4.5 yrs, so I can't complain - I just get a kick out
of repairing things when I can - it gives me the illusion that I'm
beating the "sell crap that fails so the consumer has to buy a new one"
system.

Doug Miller wrote in
:

Maybe you should read more carefully. I didn't say it was not
worthwhile to *ask* about repairing it -- I said it's not
worthwhile to spend much time repairing something that can be
replaced so cheaply.


Give it up Doug. You have allready made yourself look like an ass-hole.

On 11/23/2014 10:42 PM, DaveT wrote:

The big problem is the $25 heaters are really $5 Chinese heaters that
someone made $$10 on after paying $10 to ship it over from China. We
bought 4 or 5 of the "oil filled" electric radiators a few montha ago
from Canadian tire and one by one the switches are melting down on
them. Otherwize they don't appear to be too bad quality, but you can't
buy the replacement switch. (I imagine I could import them 20 at a
time from China - but why bother?) They failed under warranty so were
returned for a refund applied to slightly better quality $39 Sunbeam
radiant heaters - We will see haw well they last. (I have one that is
at least 10 years old - also made in China - that still works)

Good luck with the new ones.
This heater lasted 4.5 yrs, so I can't complain - I just get a kick
out of repairing things when I can - it gives me the illusion that I'm
beating the "sell crap that fails so the consumer has to buy a new one"
system.







I bet that I easily repair 80% of the "junk" my neighbors toss out.
Chairs, fans, lamps you name it.

A few times I've seen a neighbor throw something out and I repair it and
mysteriously return it to their yard.

On 11/23/2014 10:10 PM, DaveT wrote:



The drug store that sells them for $7 each buys them from China anyway,
just puts them in a plastic package that probably costs more than the
battery.

I got some rechargeable AA's from China a few yrs ago and they didn't
turn out too be much good.








The batteries I bought are fine...though certainly China does make a lot
of junk.

On 11/23/2014 02:49 PM, DaveT wrote:


snip

It's stupid to post that it's not worthwhile to inquire about repairing
something, in a forum where everybody is looking for information on
repairing things.

That's stupid.





At least no one here was dumb enough to suggest you solder it!

On 11/23/2014 11:35 PM, DaveT wrote:
On 11/23/2014 9:12 PM, Tony Hwang wrote:
DaveT wrote:
I got some rechargeable AA's from China a few yrs ago and they didn't
turn out too be much good.

Hi,
I got some AA Lithium batteries from China, they were worse than
Duracell Alkaline ones and leaked too. I threw them out some unused.

The chinese AA rechargeables I got would last roughly 1/2 the time that
regular US name brands would run, before needing recharge.

Let's hope they're using the same standards in the navy and air force
they're building.


I stupidly bought some stupid AA Nimh cells off
Stupid Ebay. They would not hold a charge, and
didn't last any where near the claimed value.

Some day I'll check the packages of the Rayovac
and Energizer NiMH cells, they are probably
stupidly made in China. I've heard Hong Kong is
far better quality.

Japan made was supposed to be good, before the
tsunami damaged their island.
--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 11/23/2014 11:42 PM, DaveT wrote:

Good luck with the new ones.
This heater lasted 4.5 yrs, so I can't complain - I just get a kick
out of repairing things when I can - it gives me the illusion that I'm
beating the "sell crap that fails so the consumer has to buy a new one"
system.


I also enjoy squeezing some more life out of broken
products. When possible. I wonder if Lowes or HD
has high temp crimps that the OP can use?

A consumer product is a terrible thing to waste.

Just like the negro college fund, and minds being
terrible things to waste.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 11/24/2014 6:39 AM, philo wrote:

I bet that I easily repair 80% of the "junk" my neighbors toss out.
Chairs, fans, lamps you name it.

A few times I've seen a neighbor throw something out and I repair it and
mysteriously return it to their yard.

"What is that! I threw it out.
Back in the trash with you."

-
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On 11/24/2014 4:39 AM, philo wrote:
On 11/23/2014 10:42 PM, DaveT wrote:

The big problem is the $25 heaters are really $5 Chinese heaters that
someone made $$10 on after paying $10 to ship it over from China. We
bought 4 or 5 of the "oil filled" electric radiators a few montha ago
from Canadian tire and one by one the switches are melting down on
them. Otherwize they don't appear to be too bad quality, but you can't
buy the replacement switch. (I imagine I could import them 20 at a
time from China - but why bother?) They failed under warranty so were
returned for a refund applied to slightly better quality $39 Sunbeam
radiant heaters - We will see haw well they last. (I have one that is
at least 10 years old - also made in China - that still works)

Good luck with the new ones.
This heater lasted 4.5 yrs, so I can't complain - I just get a kick
out of repairing things when I can - it gives me the illusion that I'm
beating the "sell crap that fails so the consumer has to buy a new one"
system.







I bet that I easily repair 80% of the "junk" my neighbors toss out.
Chairs, fans, lamps you name it.

A few times I've seen a neighbor throw something out and I repair it and
mysteriously return it to their yard.

Emperor Vespasian: a day without doing someone a favor, is a day wasted.
(That's at least close.)

On 11/24/2014 5:14 AM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 11/23/2014 11:42 PM, DaveT wrote:

Good luck with the new ones.
This heater lasted 4.5 yrs, so I can't complain - I just get a kick
out of repairing things when I can - it gives me the illusion that I'm
beating the "sell crap that fails so the consumer has to buy a new one"
system.


I also enjoy squeezing some more life out of broken
products. When possible. I wonder if Lowes or HD
has high temp crimps that the OP can use?

Not that I saw when I searched their site.

A consumer product is a terrible thing to waste.

Just like the negro college fund, and minds being
terrible things to waste.

On 11/23/2014 3:48 PM, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 11/23/2014 3:04 PM, DaveT wrote:
A twenty-dollar space heater is a disposable item. Why are you
even considering repairing it? Is your time worth nothing?


It's stupid to throw things away that can be repaired easily and
safely.

That's why I'm asking about it.


I'd invest in a ceramic heater. That said, it sure looks like the
wire wasn't crimped into the terminal end. I'd slide the wire in,
crush the terminal with small vise grips, and increase my fire
insurance and put a new battery in the smoke detector.

- . Christopher A. Young Learn about Jesus www.lds.org .

I did exactly that type of crimp repair about 10 years ago on a space
heater that was already about 10 years old. Haven't had the slightest
problem with it since.

To those who commented on why someone would waste their time trying to
repair such an inexpensive item, I offer the following comments:
1. For some people, $25 (or is it now about $35?) to replace a broken
item is real money.
2. Some people enjoy fixing things, or at least trying to fix them. It
is a form of entertainment and is done in time that otherwise would be
used for other forms of entertainment that might cost much more.
3. Some of us are retired and have almost unlimited time with no
opportunity cost for puttering about, doing what we want after decades
of having to please parents, teachers, bosses, etc. etc.