# Electric Baseboard Heaters Always On..



## volvik (Jan 22, 2013)

I have two electric baseboard heaters in a bedroom which are controlled by one thermostat on the wall. I moved one of the heaters to a different location in the room, reconnected but it appears I fouled up the wiring somehow as when I turned the breaker back on at the service panel both of the heaters come on even though the wall thermostat is turned off.

During the relocation I did use a junction box in the crawl space to connect the heaters together then I had to wire the one baseboard heater I did relocate. To confirm, both heaters come on with the thermostat off.

I'm pretty sure this is a basic error on my part so a kick in the right direction would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance....Ron


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## parman (Aug 9, 2012)

First instinct is that you have a line voltage thermostat and not a low voltage thermostat. I don't know because you did not state one way or another.

Being that the case, you somehow have the thermostat not in the circuit properly. Look at the thermostat wiring where you made the wiring changes and see if you can find your error.


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## mpoulton (Jul 23, 2009)

How was it wired before, and how is it wired now? Obviously you have bypassed the thermostat. We need much more information about your exact wiring configuration to provide any useful advice.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...034BB514E93FB3DE175540C4BDB1&selectedIndex=56


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## volvik (Jan 22, 2013)

*More information..*

Two baseboards in 'series' (?) controlled by one thermostat on the wall. I moved the 1st heater to another location so I had to pull two lines up from the crawl space and connect them to that heater. One line was from the panel and thermostat and the other went onto the 2nd heater.

I've taken the panel off a heater in another room and my connections appear to be correct....red to read and black to black. The only variable is which of the two black wires which are part of the heater go with the red and black 14/2 wires.....if that makes a difference or any sense.

Clearly somehow I have taken the thermostat out of the loop. :whistling2:


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## fltdek (Oct 14, 2009)

Post us a picture of your junction box, as well as the wiring housing contained within the heaters so we can see exactly what you have. We can figure it out for you.


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## volvik (Jan 22, 2013)

Okay...this is the wiring of the 1st of two heaters in the room. There are two 14/2 wires coming up from the two knockouts, one from the power/thermostat and the other goes directly to the 2nd heater. 

The only change was the wires were disconnected from heater #1, it was moved and then the wires from the power/thermostat and the 2nd heater were pulled up from the crawlspace through the knockouts and reconnected....which is what is really confusing me. Do I have the two black wires from the heater connected to the wrong wires?


Thanks in advance


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## fltdek (Oct 14, 2009)

Compare your wiring to this diagram, its a little difficult to see what is actually going on without seeing the rest of the wiring, of the thermostat, and junction box


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## volvik (Jan 22, 2013)

Understood...nothing has changed with the thermostat wiring from before when it controlled both heaters fine. 

Hrmm...the junction both is really in that image you see. Power is coming in on the left side (black tape on red 14/2) and the other 14/2 line goes directly to the 2nd heater. The wiring assignment in that heater hasn't changed so in my pea brain it has to be something i screwed up in that wiring image I posted.


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## fltdek (Oct 14, 2009)

Im just not seeing it in the image?? I dont see the problem there! The red 14/2 on the left with black tape is your source power coming from the thermostat, the 2nd 14/2 on the right is going directly to the 2nd heater you relocated correct?


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## volvik (Jan 22, 2013)

fltdek said:


> Im just not seeing it in the image?? I dont see the problem there! The red 14/2 on the left with black tape is your source power coming from the thermostat, the 2nd 14/2 on the right is going directly to the 2nd heater you relocated correct?


Correct...


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## mpoulton (Jul 23, 2009)

If the feed from the panel goes to the thermostat first, and then on to the heaters, then there is no way to wire the heaters so they are on all the time. There would have to be a problem with the thermostat. Can you check the thermostat and make sure it's working properly and has normal voltage readings (240V across it when off, 0 when on)?


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## volvik (Jan 22, 2013)

I'll check the thermostat today thanks.


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## curiousB (Jan 16, 2012)

volvik said:


> Two baseboards in 'series' (?)



You can't wire them in series. The heaters should be in parallel to each other. Is it 120 or 240 VAC heaters? 

If you don't know what this means maybe you're better off with an electrician.


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## volvik (Jan 22, 2013)

curiousB said:


> You can't wire them in series. The heaters should be in parallel to each other. Is it 120 or 240 VAC heaters?
> 
> If you don't know what this means maybe you're better off with an electrician.


You're correct they are parallel...and are 240v. What I neglected to include is that there are two small baseboard heaters in two other bathrooms each controlled with their own wall thermostat. Both of these thermostats control their respective heater without any problem.

It's just the two heaters in the bedroom that come on full when the breaker is turned on. The thermostat appears to have no temp control over them at all even in the OFF position.


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## volvik (Jan 22, 2013)

*Solved*

As suggested, the thermostat required a look. I decided to take the easy route and turn the breaker off and switch the thermostat from the '_problem_' bedroom heaters with the functional thermostat in the ensuite.

The problem with the constant ON moved from the bedroom heaters to the ensuite heater so I guess it's pretty clear that the culprit is the thermostat.

Now it's off to the store to replace the Broan/Nortron 1T22 thermostat.

Thanks for all the help! :thumbsup:


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