# stelpro n12v2 electric baseboard heater wiring



## jeanp319 (Dec 18, 2012)

Just bought a new home and got this brand new stelpro n12v2 electric baseboard heater wiring (240V, 1250 W) that just doesn't work.

The guys that made the renovations probably screwed things
as when i opened the baseboard wiring box, there was a wire loose !!
strange enough, when this wire was touching the metal case (ground) there was some reading on the thermostat !!

However the baseboard is not heating enough, just a little bit. Weather is getting cold here in montreal and i need to get this fixed fast.

There is 3 wires (120V) getting in the wiring box (3 black, 3 red and 3 grounds), the 3 grounds are properly connected but i don't understand how the rest is wired, and certainly not where that loose wire should be connected !!  The baseboard have itself 1 red and 1 black wires for its connection.

Could someone help ? i don't want to pay an electrician just to fix that, and i don't to try things just like that. Have a look at the attached pic.

As you can see from the pic, 1 black wire is connected to the black one from the baseboard.
2 other black wires  and 1 red are connected together
2 other red ones are connected together.
the red one that is loose is the one from the baseboard.

Thanks


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## nealtw (Dec 18, 2012)

You do understand that 240 volts can kill you!
Do you have a thermistat on the wall, how many wire are in that box and how is it wired and how many units like this are controled by that thermistat?


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## Wuzzat? (Dec 18, 2012)

jeanp319 said:


> However the baseboard is not heating enough, just a little bit.


If it's getting only 120v you're getting 1/4th of full power.


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## nealtw (Dec 18, 2012)

Wuzzat? said:


> If it's getting only 120v you're getting 1/4th of full power.


A single pole thermistat just turns off one leg leaving the other live @120 volts.


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## jeanp319 (Dec 19, 2012)

so, nothing really useful ?

yes 240V can kill, but only touch this when breakers are off.

only 2 wires on the thermostat, only one baseboard on the thermostat


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## nealtw (Dec 19, 2012)

Open the other end of the unit and see what that wire is hooked to.


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## Wuzzat? (Dec 19, 2012)

jeanp319 said:


> and certainly not where that loose wire should be connected !!


Using a known good ground as a reference, measure the voltage to the loose wire. 
If it's 120v put a 120v lamp across your voltmeter leads to make sure you're not seeing a phantom voltage.
If this all works, you should see 240v from this wire to some of the other black or red wires.


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## nealtw (Dec 19, 2012)

Wuzzat; The extra wire looks like a solid core wire coming from the other end of the unit, shouldn't be there. When therm. is off there will be 120 volts, and when it is on there will be 240 volts. That wire may have been put there for someone to check resistance in the unit and should not be hooked to the other end.


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## Wuzzat? (Dec 19, 2012)

nealtw said:


> Wuzzat; The extra wire looks like a solid core wire coming from the other end of the unit, shouldn't be there. When therm. is off there will be 120 volts, and when it is on there will be 240 volts. That wire may have been put there for someone to check resistance in the unit and should not be hooked to the other end.


Sounds like it would be useful if the OP provided us with a wiring diagram of what is visible in the baseboard unit.  It will eliminate chasing some wild geese.


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## nealtw (Dec 19, 2012)

It's not rocket science. Power comes in from breakers, one wire to the element, the other goes to ther. and comes back to hook to the other wire of the element. All that seems to be there, so what is that wire for??


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## Wuzzat? (Dec 20, 2012)

nealtw said:


> It's not rocket science. Power comes in from breakers, one wire to the element, the other goes to ther. and comes back to hook to the other wire of the element. All that seems to be there, so what is that wire for??


If none of us can figure it out, maybe it is rocket science.

The wire can go 
-nowhere
-to a switch
-to 120v
-to ground
-to one side of a load
or
-to neutral
and systematic testing with a light bulb, a heavy load like a hair dryer,  and DVM will find out which.

BTW, I used to work on sounding rockets.


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