How To Get Rid Of Defects In Infrared And Cable Underfloor Heating

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• Repair equipment
• Causes of malfunctions
• Finding cable breaks
• Checking the temperature sensor
• Heating cable repair
• Low voltage
• Inspection of film and heating mats
• Preventing malfunctions

When an electric underfloor heating was installed by professionals, there are almost never problems with its performance. A large number of problems and disadvantages are manifested by self-laying of the heating cable or other components of the underfloor heating system. In this case, it is necessary to repair the floor thermostat or other main components, including low voltage.

Repair equipment

In order for the underfloor heating to be repaired with high quality and without wasting time, you should purchase the necessary tool, the list of which includes:

• Classic electrician's kit: pliers to remove insulation, testers, including a hidden wiring tester (to check the operation of the heating cable), pliers.

• Perforator. It is necessary if there is a concrete screed and the requirement for its dismantling.

  

  It also allows you to free the required sections of the wires. In the process of performing the repair, you will have to stock up on a special nozzle resembling a spatula.

• The hair dryer is construction. It is necessary for heating the heat shrink sleeve used to isolate the break. Matches with lighters have a small effect.
• The connecting sleeves are crimped using press tongs. Some will try to use the means at hand for this, but time will only be wasted. Instead of buying, you can rent ticks for a specific time.

All these items will allow you to make quality repairs. At the end of the work, there will be no need to worry that the warm floor will generally cease to transfer heat into the room from the base of the floor, there will be a short circuit or even a fire in a separate area.

Causes of malfunctions

In order to avoid problems as much as possible during the operation of a warm floor, you should make its high-quality installation in accordance with all the rules and requirements.

You can get ready-made schemes from manufacturers, according to which all components are laid.

But even in this case, situations may arise when the heating efficiency is reduced or there is no heating in the room at all. Then you have to look for the reason why the breakdown occurred. Most often it can be:

1. There is no power supply to be supplied to the underfloor heating system.

2. The heating elements are damaged in any way.

   

   They can even occur when the selected flooring is installed or the concrete is poured.
3. The controls are faulty or not installed according to the rules. There may be cases when the heating from the warm floor is not switched off at all, but is constantly functioning.

It is the special tools that will allow you to find the true cause of the breakdown. At the same time, a large amount of time and effort is wasted. So it is best to follow the technology and carefully monitor the implementation of each of the stages of installing an electric underfloor heating in the room.

Finding cable breaks

In order to avoid dismantling the entire concrete screed, it is necessary to determine the place where there is a damage to the underfloor heating cable. This has its own complexity.

Even professionals cannot always cope with such a difficult task. Here you should be guided by certain recommendations and tips that will help you cope with the problem.

To find a break, you can do the following:

• Damage to the heating cable during sub-floor drilling. This is mainly due not only to the flooring, but also to further work - the installation of furniture, door closers, door stops. In order not to get into the cable, the laying scheme is considered and studied. In this case, when drilling, it will no longer be possible to get into the heating elements. If the work of the warm floor was disrupted after the indicated actions, then the real reason should be looked for here.

  

• Checking the resistance indicators of the underfloor heating electric cable using a special tester. A cable break (mechanical damage) will be indicated by a deviation from the permissible norm by even 5 percent. But it will be problematic to find the true break in the cable.

Voltage testers, audio detectors, or a high-voltage generator can help you find the true patch of cable damage. The main thing is to be able to work with them and achieve a positive result.

Checking the temperature sensor

The underfloor heating system does not always transfer the required temperature level to the subfloor. But the temperature on the regulator is completely different.

The main reason for this is the weak contact of all the wires in the system. In certain situations, they are simply poorly screwed. To eliminate the malfunction, it will be enough to tighten them to the required level.

The temperature sensor itself should also be checked. It is enough to check all other components of the underfloor heating to make sure it is defective. Elimination of the cause - complete replacement of the mechanism. Its cost is insignificant, and repairs are more expensive.

If the thermal sensor is not installed according to the rules, then it will be triggered early and power off at lower temperatures. False triggering mainly produces when it is very close to the heating cable. The temperature difference can be up to 2-3 degrees.

To check the thermal sensor for operability, it is enough to ring it with a multimeter. The resistance must fully comply with the passport data. It will be very easy to get the sensor out of the concrete screed if it is installed according to the rules and is additionally placed in the corrugation. Additionally, you can install an air temperature sensor if the initial one is problematic to pull out from under the floor. The air sensor will work according to the temperature indicators not under the floor, but the air in the room.

You can install a thermostat with a timer. The system will turn on or off according to the set time limits. There is also an infrared sensor. In general, the choice will be for the performer, since there are a huge number of options. In addition, the repair of the floor thermostat may not always take less money than the cost of the equipment itself.

Heating cable repair

With the heating cable, everything is somewhat different and more complicated in terms of repair and fault detection.

For self-fulfillment, the following steps should be taken:

1. Remove the floor covering, if possible, from the area where the damage is detected. It will be more difficult to dismantle ceramic tiles. To keep it intact, initially the seams are cleaned of grout, then pry each tile fragment with a spatula. A wooden block is used to create a stop. These difficulties are typical for cases when electric floors are installed under the tiles.
2. Particular attention is paid to breaking the screed. The main thing is that the cable is not damaged in some areas. As soon as the necessary section of the cable is released, repair and restoration are carried out.

3. On sale you can find repair kits that allow you to repair the core of the heating cable.

   

   This set includes not only sleeves, but also heat shrink sleeves. The restoration is carried out as follows: the vein is cleaned in the place where the break is visible, after which the sections are connected to each other with a special sleeve. The connecting sleeve is put on in advance, so that later only to warm it up with a construction hairdryer. Crimping the sleeve is performed using special pliers.

4. When all the above steps have been completed, the underfloor heating cable has been repaired, the heating system can operate normally. But before pouring the screed and laying the flooring back, you should check the functionality. The thermostat is brought into operation. The wire will reach the optimum temperature after about 30-40 minutes.

Low voltage

There are cases of power surges or its supply is not at the required level. In this case, the electric underfloor heating will not work properly. To get out of this awkward situation, you should purchase and install a home network stabilizer. Even if the voltage is above the norm or drops below, the work of the warm floor will still not be disturbed.

Inspection of film and heating mats

Non-standard recovery is typical for heating mats and infrared underfloor heating. They have a sectional structure, where the connection is parallel. In this case, it is very easy to find areas with damage. Cold spots on the sub floor will tell us where the problem is. All other areas in this case will remain warm at the required temperature level.

For repairs, remove or dismantle the floor covering. After that, a non-working area is determined, which should be replaced. The section is not restored, but replaced completely. It is enough to purchase and connect it according to all the rules and requirements.

When the entire film floor in the room does not work, then you cannot throw everything off on the non-working sections. Almost one hundred percent guarantee of malfunction - failure of the sensor or thermostat. To repair the thermostat for electric floors, follow the steps described above.

Preventing malfunctions

If, when installing electric floors, you think about observing certain points, according to the rules and technology for laying an electric heated floor, you can generally forget about the occurrence of breakdowns and malfunctions in its operation. These include the following, the main ones:

• Calculation of floor power according to all the rules, depending on the desired result and the possibility of electrical wiring.

• Do not turn on the warm floor until the poured concrete screed is completely dry.

  

• The strength of the heating cable will be reduced by cutting it. This suggests that it must fully correspond to the parameters and area of the room where the electric underfloor heating device is produced.
• Testing the performance of the underfloor heating system before installing the concrete screed, as well as performing the flooring of the selected flooring option. Otherwise, it will be problematic to repair the warm floor when the whole "pie" has already been put together.
• When cutting infrared film to perform heating in a room, you should be guided by the special markings that are available on the sections.
• The temperature sensor should be placed in a special corrugated tube. This not only protects it from damage, but also creates favorable conditions if it needs to be replaced. It will be enough just to get it out of there and install a new one instead.

• When using heating mats, do not cut them.

  

  They are selected depending on the chosen installation scheme for the warm floor in a particular room.

• In the process of installing a warm floor, in no case should you step on any heating elements. They are thus very easily damaged and incapacitated.
• Carrying out high-quality thermal insulation, depending on the conditions.
• To avoid overheating of the underfloor heating components, they should not be laid in places where bulky furniture and household appliances will be installed.

Basically, the occurrence of malfunctions in the operation of the warm floor or interruptions are associated with improper installation of the entire system and the choice of a system for a particular room. When there is no experience in performing work in this direction, as well as the necessary equipment in stock, it is best to entrust everything to specialists. For a fee, they will complete the entire installation with high quality and on time. In the future, you will not have to spend money on repairing a specific problem.

But even with high-quality laying of floor heating elements, problems arise. Here the main reason is that a specific element of the entire heating system in the room has stopped working. Often all problems can be solved with self-participation. The main thing is to follow the instructions clearly.

Another good tip is watching videos from professionals, where they not only tell, but also show the procedure for repairing a warm floor, depending on the specific cause of the malfunction. All these tips will help you quickly return comfort to the room and the optimal temperature level.

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