Your Garage Heating System
If the name plate specs out 208v and doesnt list 240 volt/amp ratings, then the electrician installed the heater in the wrong application.
Maybe its a 3phase 208v only application.
Yes Mirada, you've got it down perfectly.
One of the main reasons we bought it was because this heater is made to work on either a 3 Phase or Single Phase depending on how it's wired. The shop is Single Phase.
It was our mistake buying the heater in the first place (brand new in the carton for $1400) but, according to the Grainger engineer who designed it, the licensed electrician
really messed up when he installed it, calling it "a rookie mistake." We hired him because we're not electricians and wanted it done right. And for the price of the job (+/- $2600 to wire the entire shop), that's what we thought we were getting. His bid wasn't the highest but it wasn't the lowest either, he's an older guy who's lived in Greenfield forever, and he was recommended by a couple people.
We made sure he had the right schematic available; before he got there to wire it, I had also highlighted the information about that model number on the front cover of the owners' manual where the schematic was so there was no confusion -- it's a healthy list in very small print of probably thirty different heaters. But the third column on the list shows it's clearly 208, and it's on the name plate too.
While Billy was on the phone with the Grainger engineer the other day, I was on my cell phone calling the electric company. It was only then that we learned the shop was 240 service rather than 208. We expect it would've been common knowledge to the electrician though, or at least he'd have checked in advance of the installation.
He's been back a few times at our urging because it's never really worked right ... it'd stay on for about ten minutes, then it would kick one side of the double-throw 40 amp breaker and shut off. His only offered solution for the last three winters has been to increase the size of the breaker (all the way up to 60 amps). After Billy put the 60 in there, it came on for just a few seconds, threw one leg on the breaker, and hasn't worked since.
Apparently the wiring to the heater is too small as well. The Grainger guy says the industry recommends a No. 3 but there's No. 6 up there. From what I've learned from my evesdropping on Billy's extensive phone calls the last few days, it doesn't seem the conduit is big enough to hold No. 3 wire either so that's going to have to be replaced too. The heater's on the ceiling beam midway of the 30x40 shop so it's probably a good thirty feet of conduit to the meter pan.
It should also have a double-throw 100 amp breaker. "It pulls a lot of power ..." Oh great, so even if it gets fixed it's going to cost a fortune to run the thing. It's no big secret that PSC isn't on the
Fortune 500 list of successful small businesses [yet :-D] and I'm not exactly getting rich doing this by any small stretch.
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After dropping this "Guess what we found out from the Grainger engineer?" bombshell on the electrician last Friday (when he came over to suggest yet an even bigger breaker), he stumbled all over himself and is trying to wash his hands of any liability. "It's been a few years ..." Yep. And he's known about the problem this whole time and his 'solutions' aren't fixing it. It's probably burnt up now since it won't come on at all anymore.
So it's time to chitcan the electric heater idea, go to a gas setup and just shut it down when I pick up that powder gun. Getting the licensed electrician to foot the bill is going to be The Fun Part.
Ya know there's always gotta be a fun part. :-D
