Help! Wickes undertile warmer has stopped working....

[fairgoldmail]

About 18 months ago I installed Wickes undertile warmer in the kitchen. I installed two kits to cover the area. It has been working great. Just this week one of the kits has stopped working. Obviously I don't want to have to rip up the whole lot. Does anyone know of a person near Enfield (Nth. London) who could come and fix it. I doubt the cable is damaged but we are at the limit of my knowledge on this. Any advice (other than ringing Wickes Technical Helpline ) would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[Gary Cavie]

Are they both running from the same control unit? If not, you might be lucky and find that either a fuse or controller has failed. If not, then you're probably looking at a failed mat (or temperature probe).

Do you have a multimeter which you could check the comparitive resistances of the heating mats with (L-N)? If not, any electrician worth their salt should be able to check it out for you, but if the mat itself has failed, you probably need a floor tiler first. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news :-(

[fairgoldmail]

They are both running from the same controller. It's not a mat, it's the wire laid out in a zig-zag pattern. The probe controls both so I doubt its that as one is working. No, I'm afraid I don't own a multimeter. Many thanks for your help.

[Nick]

Multimeter cost about £15 off Ebay..... one would help you find where the 'break' is.

" [e-mail]" wrote in message news: [e-mail]...

[Andrew Gabriel]

and usually £2 - £3 from Maplin, or maybe as much as a fiver if they don't have one on special offer.

[John Rumm]

or £5 in any Maplin

[sPoNiX]

Oops! One of the major drawbacks of underfloor heating.

Salesmen would have you believe that this stuff never fails. Reality is somewhat different..

sponix

[Chris Bacon]

Absolutely ghastly method of heating, too.

[sm_jamieson]

Yep,and a nightmare if you suffer from hot feet. Main advantage is the space it saves. New build grand designs etc. seem to love it. Simon.

[wkearney99]

For whole rooms, as their primary source of heat? Yeah, it'd be a bad idea. But underfloor radiant heat using liquid tends to be a lot more reliable. For a simple bathroom underfloor mats work well enough, provided they're installed properly.

[Chris Bacon]

For me, reliability ain't the issue - I just really dislike UFH! AFAIK this view isn't unique, 'though there are people who really, really like it. I hope it's not simply radiant heat, though, I've an idea that'd set fire to my slippers!

[Roland Butter]

About a fiver from Maplin.

--=20 Roland Butter :- There's nothing like a knob of butter.