ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area warm tile help?

Im havin trouble with warm tile we recently installed... itys only the second time we put this stuff in and of course it doesnt work any help? no resistance between red/black or ground its a 240 v warm tile system and tech support sent out a test kit but to no avail in finding the open line.


Any body else have any dealings ?


thanks

Denny

Was this a cable ot Mat installation, and did you set the tile or did someone else set it?

Usually before we leave the rough we test the installation with the GC or owner present, so when the setter destroys the mats, we are out of it.

One brand of heating mat we use requires a resistance check frequently as the tiles are being laid. In order to validate the warranty of the mat, you need to call them and they explain how and when to check the mats. www.nuheat.com

Same as Sixer, I've also installed several nuheat mats, and you have to record all resistance readings several times - basically at each step of the installation -and call in the results so the manufacturer can be sure there is no problem that can be blamed on them. This is very helpful if a fault occurs, as you can avoid performing extra steps on a defective device that will need to be replaced anyway.

No resistance tells me that you are shorted out. I hate to be ther bearer of bad news, but it sounds to me like the tile needs to come up and the section replaced. If you try to fire it up, it will pop the breaker or burn up under the tile.

Good luck.

No resistance OR open line, which one is it - perhaps you mean infinite resistance?

No resistance would mean it was open...usually a tile was dropped on the heating wire.

I have installed all of the above and u are in a tough spot. I check before after and again before I hook up any power for a resistence the value shoul be the same each time. It will vary with the size of matt/cable. U can try using a circuit tester, the kind that u trace the signal and find where it ends. I did have 1 fail on my third test. And showed my testing reults to builder and home owner. The tile man riped it up and replaced it and paid for a new kit/system. I was paid to do the job twice it was sweet

Ob

0 ohms (no) resistance means a short (feeder wires connected to one another prior to the load - like just touching the meter probes together). Infinite resistance would be open (no contact present in the circuit - no resistive load - holding the probes apart).

Or do I just need coffee?

Either way, looks like hammer time for those tiles.

....DUH.....
I'm the one that needs coffee. Sorry for the confusion.

Assuming the wire is damaged in only one spot, there should be no need to rip up the entire floor. We only use NuHeat in our installations and saw this demonstrated recently. The NuHeat rep came and rigged up equipment and slowly raised the voltage to activate separate ends of the wire. Then, laying several sheets of temperature sensitive film(about the size of standard paper) one after the other and tracing the pattern of the wires, he was able to find the precise spot in the break of the wire. One tile came up, repair was made and the floor works perfectly.

Check with a Nuheat rep in your area. If you have a non Nuheat floor, they may charge for the service.

Cut wires in heated floors is more common than you think! Plumbers have drilled through floors for their plumbing in kitchen islands, Finish carpenters have drilled through tiles to place their doorstops, etc.

[This message has been edited by Sandro (edited 12-12-2006).]