Electric fireplace, no heat...

[lenny]

We are in the middle of our present camping trip in Waterton park. We have been using our fireplace for primary heat as the overnight lows are near freezing. However yesterday evening when we turned on the fireplace, there was no heat! The "flames" and everything else still work, but no heat output. I tried resetting the breaker, no change. No separate fuse that I can see. I checked through all our manuals, and I can't find one for the fireplace. To get at it I need to pull the wood trim off which is nailed on with small head trim nails so it would be pulling the nails through the wood. Has anyone had any similar experiences, or offer some insight?

Thanks

[NorskeNY]

What is the brand name? The may be a high temp. cut out switch that needs to be reset.

DIMPLEX units:
Resetting the Temperature

Cutoff Switch



This unit is equipped with a

thermostat which controls the temperature of the room by turning the heater on and off. The heater is

protected with a safety device to prevent overheating. Should the heater overheat, an automatic cut

out will turn the heater off and it will not come back on without being reset.

It can be reset by switching the Three Position on/off switch to off and waiting five (5) minutes before

switching the unit back on.

[lenny]

Found a data plate on the fireplace. Desa CEF26-3. Googled the manual, read the part about the thermal cutout. Flipped the breaker off for 10 minutes, reset and no change. Looks like I need to pull it apart. On the plus side, the heater element (120927-11) looks to be under $30. Just need to find one now... Preferably somewhat local to our current location so I can fix it this trip. try the local rv dealers, and fireplace retailers....

[NorskeNY]

Did some research and ours is a Model BLT-999A-2 fire place. Product of Shanghai Baolutong Electric Equipment Co., Ltd., founded in

1995, is located in Shanghai City China

[8iron]

Are all the switches on the fireplace turned on? Ours has a separate switch for the light and 2 for the heat settings. The light can run without the element if the 2 element switches are off. Just trying to rule out the obvious things first.

[lenny]

Yes, the heat is a separate button than the lights are. When you turn the fireplace on, all the lights come on but heat does not. Safety feature I guess. But I have tried it with all lights on and heat, all lights off and heat, and our usual setting, embers only and heat. No luck.

[Badwin]

We quit using our fireplace as a primary heat source just because of my worries over burning it out. We now only use it occassionally, such as a cold evening when we have company over and want the ambience. We bought a small electric heater and plug it in instead. Kind of sucks but does the trick.

Brian

[lenny]

Found a replacement heater element at Smoky mountain emporium www.smgeneralstore.comfor cheap. Shipping was just as much as the part itself. Showed up yesterday, and today I got around to doing the switcheroo. Pretty easy, just a phillips screwdriver and a flat pry bar to take the wood trim off. New element works fine. Here is a picture of the old one, had some wiring burn off!

[Roadie66]

Good job Lenny....lucky there was no fire!!!!

[lenny]

Definitely lucky it didn't cause a fire... I am a deep sleeper!

[DannyMust]

Hi! I propose Dimplex DFI2310 or simply browse this site http://proelectricfireplace.com/ With their plethora of product choices, you’ll definitely find what you’re looking for.

[stormseeker]

Originally Posted by Badwin

We quit using our fireplace as a primary heat source just because of my worries over burning it out. We now only use it occassionally, such as a cold evening when we have company over and want the ambience. We bought a small electric heater and plug it in instead. Kind of sucks but does the trick.


Brian

I had a fireplace heating element burn out red hot and char the framing above it on a Carriage Cameo. Fortunately there was no ignition of the cabinetry.

I personally will not have one again but at the very least would suggest not using one unless you are closely observing it.

[TxCowboy]

An old thread but a good discussion nevertheless.

Newer units have much better temperature control sensors plus timers that shut the fireplace down after a set time. Also, the internal components are much, much easier to get to than they were just a couple of years ago.

We use ours frequently for the main room and have a small space heater that we use in the bedroom area.

[MartyinSC]

Each time we bought a TT, we were told about using campsite electricity for heat, and saving the money on propane. Nevertheless, I prefer propane furnace heat, and use the noisy electric space heater for backup.

[mark5w]

I need the noisy noise in order to sleep. Or I have to turn on my white sound on my computer. The hum of the fireplace doesn't bother me.

[sleepyT]

Don't have a fire place took it out, now I have more storage...DW filled it up in no time at all...Have a portable infrared heater if I want electric heat...I also have teen age grand daughters for PLENTY of background noise...

[travelin texans]

We had ours deleted when ordered & had a printer drawer put in its place.
0624150958a.jpg

[sleepyT]

Originally Posted by travelin texans

We had ours deleted when ordered & had a printer drawer put in its place.

Travelin
I am a member of the NorthEast Crossroads Rally and when we told the other members that we were going to have the fire place removed in the new 5th wheel we were buying several of them told us we were making a mistake and we would be sorry...DW got her crook pots and about 200 pounds of other cooking thing-eee's down there...She loves the extra storage, and we are Still Not Sorry...

[mark5w]

Tommy,"You'll be sorry".

Ghost of past rallies.

[travelin texans]

We aren't sorry at all! Our last 2 rvs had fireplaces, but we needed a place for the printer more than the fp. What is it that we will regret, no heat, loss of trade value, or just visual effect.