clueless
But a sucker for your name...so let's see.
First, does anything happen. Any heat coming out at all?
When you adjust the temperature, do you hear any reasuring "clicks" or just grating silence?
If there is no heat, then start at the beginning. Is the plug, the cord, any and all connectors functional? It is well possible that a wire has broken in the last fifty years.
If all of that is ok - and do be careful of safety with these things, you don't want to roast you -
Then look at the connections to the thermostat. Everything tight?
That "grating silence" was only half a pun - sometimes things fall apart over time and drag. So look at the thermostat to see it it is cycling on and off properly - and the contacts are clean.
Did I mention electrical safety? I did, good.
All that is left is a possible switch or interlock you have overseen - or somebody added - and the heating elements. You can test them all sorts of ways...with a VOM you should get a few ohms out of them...not very much. But if resistance is infinite, then that is where your problem is.
Hope this helps - I tried to list it from most likely to least likely.
Keven
