Old Wesix portable heater

[stan]

Thanks Phil

O.K So the length or how tightly the coil is wound dose make a difference.
I'll investigate.
Thanks Eddie, I think I saw that one.. Probably easier, may go that route.

 

[stan]

Results of me investigating LOL

Since learning the shorter length of the coil offered more resistance I decided to cut my coil in half...just to see what it would do...
It's putting heat out now but looks funny..guess I could have spaced it out more evenly
I need to get the one off ebay, or get the right parts.. This kinda scares me, but it works LOL

 

[stan]

Back in its home

For the moment.

 

[ea56]

Hey, good job Stan! Looks like its working great. I hope you're real careful with the heater so close to the tub, especially an older heater like this one, I'd hate hear that you got electrocuted.
Eddie[this post was last edited: 11/5/2015-00:09]

 

[supersuds]

Sounds kind of funny to say this

But that's a charming bathroom, Stan!

 

[rp2813]

Stan, in the picture above with the cover off and shortened coil glowing, is it the camera or are there sections that are glowing brighter than others?  Usually a too-bright portion will eventually fail, but I'd say use the heater and see how it goes.

 

Glad it's putting out heat like it's supposed to.  Just in time, I might add.  Nice job!

 

Ralph

 

[stan]

Why Thank you John

Don't think I've heard it described that way. The bathroom is the same as what was next door, but last owners destroyed it. Took out the tub, arch, tile ect.
A design team has re done it again, and made it beautiful, but original "charm" is gone.

Thanks Eddie for your concern LOL but at least the cord is too short for someone to run in, pick it up and throw it in the tub.
(Plug would pull out from the wall before it hit the water)
It's just a tub ..no shower there. Theres a stall shower is behind the door.
I'm not confident about this repair. Yet.
It bugs me when something doesn't work, even if I don't use it very often, I'll piss with it til it's fixed.
I'm a weirdo

 

[stan]

Ralph

There was some spots that were glowing brighter, but I went back and tried to space it out more even. After running it, turning it off, running it again, it seems to glow even now.
It doesn't put out the heat that the original did, and because I shortens it I couldn't string it across every wrung..had to skip some.
To get it perfect, I'm either going to have it keep pissing with it, or better to do exactly as Phil has said above. Or get the one on Ebay.

 

[sudsmaster]

That old Wesix heater is very similar to the one we got at a thrift shop in SF for $5 back in the '60s. The one I nearly baked myself to a crisp with by leaving it on when I fell asleep in a very small bedroom with the door closed one night. I remember waking up in distress from the high heat and just barely stumbling out of bed into the hallway for the relatively cold blast of air from the rest of the flat. Then I went back in and unplugged that damn thing. They are charming but I don't think I'd use one again without new wiring and a thermostatic control. The control probably could be salvaged from a more modern heater of the same wattage, perhaps integrated into the wall plug so as not to alter the look of the heater itself. And while one is at it, retrofit that bathroom outlet with a GFCI number, if it isn't already.

 

 

 

 

[kb0nes]

Stan, do you have any way to measure the wattage drawn by it? Something like a Kill-A-Watt meter etc. You could also do it with a DMM if you can measure the amperage and multiply that times the voltage. It would be interesting to see how close you are to the original design heat with your current element. If it is in the 1000-1300 watt ball park I wouldn't mess with it further.

A resistance wire heater is all in all a simple device. A given amount of resistance will yield a certain amount of heat at a given voltage. By altering the resistance (length or gauge of the wire) you will alter the wattage drawn. Lower resistance will make more heat, draw more energy. Electric resistance heat is basically 100% efficient so you get 3.41 BTU's per watt.

As Ralph mentioned the hot spots are going to be the first areas to fail, but even glowing yellow it could run a very long while. A nice even orange is what you want to shoot for.

All in all a heater like this is pretty safe. It probably lacks a tip over safety and surely doesn't have an over temperature thermal fuse. It could be a shock hazard too as it likely un-grounded but used in your tiled bathroom it isn't a likely fire hazard. I do agree with Rich that a GFCI should be used!

 

[stan]

Phil

A Kill A Watt Meter is something that sounds like I need to have in general.
After running it for a hour, I felt the cord, the plug, and the outlet and everything was cool.
There's no ground wiring in the house. And the plug is not CFCI.
Nobody's been killed yet! LOL
I did spot a Westix today in a antique store with the same innerds as mine? Outside was a little beat up but the tag said it worked.. I might go back and grab it. At least I'd have the same length and gage and wire. And that part looked to be in good shape.
A lot of trouble for something this silly isn't it!

 

[rp2813]

Stan, if you get the antique store Wesix, maybe you can just switch out the entire ceramic block and coil assemblies between the two heaters.  If it's possible, that would be quicker and easier than harvesting only the coil and having to re-string it on your existing heater's block.

 

[stan]

Yep

It looked like it would be a easy swap.

 

[stan]

Funny thing is

I hardly ever go into antique stores.
A wrecking yard or a junk store is more interesting to me, but I was walking passed this place, walked in, and there it sat!

 

[kb0nes]

Kill A Watt

Stan,

Indeed I think a Kill A Watt meter is something that EVERY AW member MUST have. People that are curious about electrical appliances (AW members!) should have tools to extend their knowledge and aid repair troubleshooting.

A watt meter and a basic Digital Multi Meter (DMM) are all but mandatory.

A Kill A Watt meter is also an interesting gadget to see how much power a given device uses over time. They will gather and store data over hours/days/weeks and report how many Kwh are used. Plug your fridge into one and let it go for a week and you can extrapolate cost per year etc. I have 3 Kill A Watts so I can be testing several things at once!

 

[stan]

I'm gona

get one!
I'd like to see what my fridge uses.
If PE&E where to come do a walk throgh this old place, they'd have a heart attack when they saw the my fridge.

 

[rp2813]

they'd have a heart attack when they saw my fridge

And they'd probably disable your floor furnace!

 

[supersuds]

I've enjoyed using my Kill-A-Watt. I was wondering if I really needed a full size freezer, but the meter says its only costing $2 a month to run, so why not?

 

[stan]

Messed with it

some more by shortening the coil by 4 inches, and got the coil to turn a lighter yellow orange. Seems to be putting out more heat. I'm living dangerously LOL
Going out tomorrow to hunt for a Kill A Watt meter.

 

[gusherb]

I have to admit

Those kinds of heaters give me the heebie jeebies. Seeing a glowing element makes me feel like my house is going to burn down or something. Kinda like how some people are deathly afraid of natural gas appliances and heating...I feel the same about certain types of resistance heating.

That heater is pretty neat though... From afar. I remember visiting someone in Forestville, CA that had not a single modern amenity in their home. Not even Internet or central heat. They cooked and heated with a wood stove in the kitchen, and fireplaces in other parts of the house. She had a 1930s hot plate in her bedroom for making tea that freaked me out when I saw it, and saw that it was being used. The house was real cool though, they had a library with all wood paneling that they got from an estate in England (long story how it ended up here), and in it they had a wooden phone booth with a connected and working rotary phone. There was other stuff too but it's been so long I can barely remember.