Electric Towel Heating Rail - installation problem

[mplar]

Hi everyone,

Please help! I ordered a 600W electric towel warmer for my bathroom (there is no heater inside) and got an electrician to install it.

He was utterly rude and arrogant and I think he botched the job (charging £380). He fixed the heater to the bathroom wall and connected the cable to the socket that powers the electric extractor fan. He left without testing the towel warmer to see if it was actually warming up shouting that he was an electrician and knew what he was doing.

The lights come on, but there is absolutely no heat. Should the unit be connected to the 13A mains socket outside the bathroom, because the circuit inside the bathroom may not be capable of supplying the current required for the heating element.

Please can anyone help put my mind at rest. Is it ok to connect the heater to a fused socket inside the bathroom? I left the unit on the maximum heating setting for 30 mins and it was still ice cold.

Many thanks for your help and advice.

m

 

[xr4x4]

Picture !

What has he connected it to?

I've never seen a socket in a bathroom powering a extractor fan!

So he's just fitted a 3 pin plug and plugged it in?

 

[sparkwright]

I assume there's a switched fused spur connection outside the bathroom?

Is it switched on, and is there is a fuse inside it?

You mention the bathroom fan. Does the fan have to be on for this heater to work?

Pictures would be VERY welcome.

 

[mplar]

Thanks for your replies. I'll upload pics soon.

The cable is connected to a fused box inside the bathroom which is also connected to the extractor fan.

The LEDs on the heater are coming on, flashing (I assume still not at full temperature) but I would have expected some heat after 30 mins.

Also, I didn't see the electrician fill the rail with fluid of any sort. Are there types that do not require fluid?

 

[sparkwright]

There are some basic towel rails that require water, etc to be added, there are some that don't require it.

Do not start added liquids before we know EXACTLY what kind of heater you have. Also keep it switched off for now.

Send details of the heater.

 

[mplar]

Not sure if this is the correct way to upload a pic - here it is:

Untitled

• mplar
• 2 Mar 2014
• 1

Because the heater is connected to the circuit controlling the electric extractor fan, it only comes on when power is supplied to the fan. In this case lights to the bathroom need to be on for the fan to come on, which means the heater can only be on if the lights to the bathroom are on!!

The electrician just did it without asking.

 

[mplar]

Here are details of the heater:
https://www.towelradiatorstore.com/600x1500mm-Stainless-Steel-Towel-Radiator-Polished.html



It is not getting warm despite lights flashing on unit at maximum setting. If the circuit is incapable of supplying the required current for the heater then the fuse would just blow. Perhaps the bathroom circuit is capable of supplying the heater. Just not sure why it is not getting warm.

 

[xr4x4]

Ermm.. Is that picture upside down?

Isn't the towel rail the wrong way round?

 

[xr4x4]

Did it come complete with the element out the box, or did you or your bloke install it?

 

[mplar]

It's the correct way round.

This is how the electrician installed it. The power controller is at the top right of the unit.

Utterly ridiculous. He was argumentative, rude, swearing... He installed it the way he saw fit then left without testing it.

 

[mplar]

Did it come complete with the element out the box, or did you or your bloke install it?

The element came separately and he inserted it himself.

 

[pompeygit]

Doesn't sound like an electrician to me wiring it into a lighting circuit . Did he give you an Electrical Installation Certificate? Work in a bathroom is subject to Part P of the building regs and this should be tested and certified.

If not you have recourse to Trading Standards or whatever name they have now. Certainly a very amateurish looking installation and beggars belief that the thing only works when the fan is on.

Indeed many of these rads have to be filled with water and a gap left for expansion. Without having access to the instructions for this particular model it will be hard to comment on this

 

[xr4x4]

If that's the case he should of filled it about 90% with water and inhibitor mix.

IMO the element should be installed at the bottom as heat rises, I can't see how it would be anygood at the top.

 

[mplar]

I plan to phone the company that sent him on Monday and complain. Very expensive installation (as much as the unit itself) for a really dodgy job. Can you believe I have spent £700 on this in total?

Thank you all very much for your kind responses.

 

[flameport]

Heating elements go at the bottom of the radiator, and the radiator must be filled with water.

He was utterly rude and arrogant and I think he botched the job (charging £380).

Was that price for the radiator, heater and installation, or just installation?