If You think you Know What the Problem Is, please consider this:

(Not sure what is wrong? Go here.)

Whenever there is clear evidence of where the problem has occurred, congratulations, you are well ahead of the normal process of getting it fixed. Whether the fix is replacement of an old thermostat or a repair to the heating circuit, knowing the best methods, materials and techniques is just a good start. Additional post repair power and insulation tests, similar to the QC Tests in the factory, can give you greater faith in the safety and durability of the repair(s).

IF a thermostat quit working after less than three full years of service, additional care should be taken to help ensure the thermostat hasn’t been overloaded or mis-wired in some other way. This type of problem has been surprisingly common for many years, and of course could result in a potential fire hazard. I have taken literally thousands of calls from people who have very recently installed another new thermostat and it failed too soon, just like the one(s) before. I’ll do my best to keep you from being the next person frequently replacing their overloaded control.

IF a known point of damage on a heating cable is simply taped over or someone tries to fix the damage with any of the assorted “crimp connectors” I’ve evaluated over the years, it can eventually lead to a heating circuit failure at the repair point. Crimp connectors generally don’t hold up well to the thermal cycling of a heating wire, they can relax a little over time. Solder filled shrink tubes are not inherently fool-proof and soldering by hand isn’t either, particularly when the Copper alloy has a significant level of Nickel. I’ve examined countless pictures of splice repair jobs and saved a lot of people the trouble of having to dig it up and do it again when the repair looked perfectly good to them and their ohm meter.

MANY “professional repair jobs” are known to have failed in a fairly short period of time, but that doesn’t inherently indicate the known repair point has failed unless you’re already looking at something that clearly has failed again, or you know “less than ideal” splicing materials or techniques were employed. A new problem with your system is just about as likely to be in a new location, so I don’t recommend breaking up tile or concrete until you have confidence in the exact location of the problem. My 120 pound rolling damage locator crate can give very clear evidence of the exact location of the problem in most situations. It can also thoroughly test the circuit and insulation in both directions from that spot on the cable to help verify that’s the only point of damage before any repairs are made.

Having more than 20 years experience with electric and hydronic heated floors, sidewalks and related products, I not only know the best practices and repair techniques, I helped develop those best practices and techniques. I’ve inspected and evaluated a number of “dealer authorized repair kits” and “factory authorized repair kits” that I personally consider to be inferior or even unacceptable components and/or methods for long lasting repairs.

Many other problems like GFCI trips should be properly investigated and most general repair techs simply don’t have the right tools to be able to do thorough diagnostic testing before or after somebody makes a repair or changes out a component. Using the right tools, proper materials and repair techniques, and thorough testing of the finished repair can help ensure the repair will last. Trying to troubleshoot a problem or make a repair without the right tools, materials and experience has lead to headaches for many home owners and repair techs over the years.

Please pick your preferred contact method (found below) if you would like to resolve your system’s problem(s) with Victor’s assistance.