THANK YOU! very much for taking the time to make this follow along video. As a customer, who needed this repair done, I was first told by the tech, that he could restring my furnace until, the company salesperson rang the doorbell 1 minute later to high-pressure sell me a new furnace. You are an excellent technician in and a breath of fresh air in your profession to make up for the lazy, dumb cons like the ones that disgusted me with their bull today! Thanks again!
the restring kit is great if you can find them. Extremely difficult to do. Will require several hours of searching in most cases to find one that will fit your particular unit. Manufacturers always want to make theirs a little different so as to prevent the cheaper fix, but then there's the labor to consider, to restring will end up costing more than the new plug and play strip heaters. I've only restrung one in 25 years because they don't make them anymore, maybe because of liability issues and inexpensive cost.
Thank you for making this video, and all of your other videos. As a tech with a solid education and one year experience, it is hard working for someone who gives you zero support and zero time to do the job. You're expected to just know everything. With your videos, I am now able to be familiar with repairs I have yet to encounter. You bring comfort to an otherwise difficult situation. My employer thinks I'm an armored car driver that says 24/7 ac repair on it. They want me to pull in, get the cash, get out. They don't care about our customers or our employees. Thank you again, you are making a difference for a lot of people.
Is the ice even throughout the plate? Hollow center indicates charge problem or TXV. I know it was replaced. Was an oversized drier installed? That will increase charge. Compressor problems are indicated by higher than normal lo side and lower than normal hi side. Give me lo side press after 2 min op. Then lo side after 10 min. Is water manifold running smooth over plate? Could be as simple as adjustment of bridge. Also note blades of bridge should be clean. Let me know. GFM
I really enjoyed watching your video. I’m actually trying to learn how to restring my element for our bathroom heater right now and so your video was I think going to be helpful. Not sure what the diameter is or where to get it.
Great video! I've never used this kind of kit. The company I work for now has this restring kit as my truck stock... I would've figured it out if I had to use one(probly at 11pm on a holiday that I'm on call)but after watching this, you've definately cut my learning curve by atleast 30 minutes. Thanks a bunch brother! Keep up the good work!
This saves a lot of money. Like $15 instead of $400. Can you get the ceramic replacement? I just did it with a dryer it came with the insulators. There is usually 1 or 2 cracked
I cant agree on that one. Almost all electric furnaces are repairable with general replacement parts with some exceptions. Efficiency is not an issue as they are all the same efficiency. I would change out the furnace if it made sense from a fuel source standpoint. GFM
I think that element was from an appliance store from around 1980. It was some sort of general replacement part and I used them for a short time with double washers on the end. When I found kits that had the fuse, mounted bolts and ceramics in the kit, I changed. I some times replaced element carrier assemblies because of broken ceramics then took the carriers apart and reused the good ceramics. Thanks for the comment. GFM
@@grayfurnaceman we have charcoal furnace 8mm thickness sheet of MS Plate 10 Feet long 05 feet width it runs up on wood which we fire under the furnace to rise the internal temperature to 500 Degree for converting wood into charcoal can you tell me about replacement of wood with heater under the furnace to raise the temperature ? if yes then please tell the type of heater. Thanks
Do you think that strip went a certain model or just a factory screw up,forgot to install bolts or what? I tryed to think if i ever came across something that would have used 1 without bolts,nothing comes to mind,i have changed several diff types of strips,some that some 1 else already screwed up and stretched to far,just had to start over,a lot of those insulators are very weak and not well made,very easy broke,i have used dryer strips also 4 heat strips but gotta look at kw closely,great video
Hey buddy. My old mobile home furnace uses 3/4" heating coils. Can I use 3/8" instead?? I accidentally ordered 2 brand new 3/8" restring kits. Thank you
the one I did several years ago took forever to find a replacement wire for and it was three phase and in many pieces. I ended up measuring the would be path with a tape for the length and put one bold in the vice and stretched it out like 150" so that it would be evenly stretched. Started in the middle like you and it worked out great. I wish there was a formula for these nichrome wires, like checking the required KW and voltage and finding the resistance needed somewhere along the length of the wire, cut it there and connect.
Well, we dont always have that choice. Many electric furnaces are no longer made. And parts aren't available. This is just a repair that can be done under some circumstances. Thanks for the comment. GFM
Some heat sections are not designed for element replacement and the section must be replaced. However, some are easily replaced and the price difference is quite high. I cut my teeth on electrics, so I have a bit of a soft spot for them. GFM
thanks GF man...used your vid to install all 6 new elements in a 30kW Brady Bunch era Rheem model. By my calculation this unit with six sequencers (25 ohms per coil) has about 6 ohms on the transformer secondary, pulling about 4 amps. Has the industry established a standard size transformer to accomodate that many sequencers?
Can you use a restring kit that is the same KW and the same voltage just slightly bigger diameter strip? Wouldn’t the resistance be lower causing it to pull more amps or since it’s the same KW it wouldn’t matter?
@@grayfurnaceman thank you. The reason I asked is I restrung a heater on a VAV and the 3 phase 480 volt 5KW Heater was pulling 17 amps when it was supposed to pull only 6 amps. What could cause the new 5 kw strips to pull high amps? Would a faulty contractor be a potential issue?
@@grayfurnaceman so a coworker ordered these 480v 5KW restring kits about a year ago and he ordered them to replace the 3 phase heaters we have in our building. I just looked up the part number online and you’re 100% right he ordered single phase restring kits instead of 3 phase. You’re the man Gary. Thank u very much.
hey dude great video, im trying to install a new heating element kit for a Lennox air handler A/C only system, it do see the space where the kit goes, doe you have a video on how to install or add a heating element ? I could use the help. Thank you Richie from, Baltimore
I do not have a video on that procedure. The heat kit is usually a fairly simple install and the kit should have instructions. The largest problem I can see is you will need to run larger wire to accommodate the new element. GFM
Absolutely. When you watch the video, note that when I stretch the element, I make it shorter than it needs to be. That is to keep it tight when it is stringed. When it heats up it stretches so you want to be sure it does not sag. GFM
I love taking stuff apart and getting tedious as much as the next guy but in the long run I think it would be better for the customer to be trouble free for a while
I'm having difficulty finding a supplier of Nichrome or Nunal or Kanthal or similar electric element heating coils like those used for furnaces etc ? They need to be approximately 0.9mm wire in approximately 8mm coil and resistance approximately 40 Ohms. I need to stretch them out to approximately 3.6 meters to replace broken ones in my machine. Supplier suggestions please ?
+grayfurnaceman You're correct.You're a genius. I tried the butcher, the drugstore, Wallmart, a carpenter, a bricklayer, a candlestick maker and the tailor but they all said "These are probably made in a 'factory'somewhere". Then I foolishly asked a 'furnaceman' if he knew of a company that made or sold nichrome or similar coiled wire elements because he had a youtube tute on the subject of replacing coiled wire heater elements. How stupid am I ? And I guess you can't tell me which butcher, drugstore, Wallmart, carpenter, bricklayer, candlestick maker, tailor, factory or industrial supplier you buy your coiled wire heating elements from ? They're only available as OEM factory parts eh ? Cool. I'm so pleased I asked. ps Are you located in Minnesota or Canada ? Do you feature in any of the Fargo episodes ?
I just replaced the high heat limit switch on my electric drier. I inspected the heat coil while I had the back of the drier off and replacing the failed switch. I posted a short video on my UA-cam channel.
Electric furnaces are 100% efficient. If it is overheating, it will either overheat the structure or, if the fan is not running while the element is on, overheat the space it is in. The heat must go somewhere. I would be looking for heat loss problems in the structure and compare to last year's bill. GFM
grayfurnaceman - I have a Sundial electric air handler, it was a company that ceased to exist in 1986. It has a separate coil from the blower and the coil was just replaced a year and a half ago for the cold air. Well, the heater elements have crapped out on us and our repair guy says the only option is to replace the unit (quoted $2800 for that). It’s a 3 ton unit. Anyways, I was just so amazed that fixing the heater was not an option (even if a replacement part was not available). Would this be a viable option? I don’t know anything about this stuff so I might be using the wrong verbiage or terminology.
If the elements look similar to ones in this video, they are replaceable. Many service techs don't understand electric furnaces and generally replace either the furnace or the entire element assembly. However, there are some element assemblies that are not replaceable due to the type of element used. GFM
We have to restring vav boxes. They usually take 3 strips. If rated for 5K for example, I am being told you put 2 2K’s and a 1K. To equal 5K. That does not sound right to be. I would think you put 3 rated at 5K.
for curiosity sake , could someone tell me why one couldn't simply tig weld or bridge the broken part of one? It seems that the nichrome would heat up just the same so long as the electricity flows.
Brady Rose I am not sure nichrome wire is weldable. You could wrap the ends together, but the joint overheats. I will probably do a video on wrapping it together. Remember, these elements are not expensive if purchased as a restring kit. GFM
grayfurnaceman To be clear, I should point out that I am not asking this question in an HVAC context. I am interested in the use of nichrome wire in the context of a variety of applications and am not looking at this as simply replacing a coil in a household heater. It does appear nichrome wire can be welded together, but probably welded to itself rather than using filler.
+grayfurnaceman That would be great ! Can you provide a link to your youtube re wrapping to join elements please. If not then can you message me some instructions please.
If they dont have parts for the furnace anymore considering time and material the furnace is not worth repairing. Good time for a replacement unit. (Love that commission) lol
No wonder you broke that insulator off like that, look how stupidly rough you are when doing this job. This is the type of stuff that cause more cost for the homeowner when the repairman is breaking stuff.
THANK YOU! very much for taking the time to make this follow along video. As a customer, who needed this repair done, I was first told by the tech, that he could restring my furnace until, the company salesperson rang the doorbell 1 minute later to high-pressure sell me a new furnace. You are an excellent technician in and a breath of fresh air in your profession to make up for the lazy, dumb cons like the ones that disgusted me with their bull today! Thanks again!
+Kelly Sirons Unfortunate that you were treated that way. You are certainly not alone. I wish you were.
GFM
the restring kit is great if you can find them. Extremely difficult to do. Will require several hours of searching in most cases to find one that will fit your particular unit. Manufacturers always want to make theirs a little different so as to prevent the cheaper fix, but then there's the labor to consider, to restring will end up costing more than the new plug and play strip heaters.
I've only restrung one in 25 years because they don't make them anymore, maybe because of liability issues and inexpensive cost.
I’ve had to restring several over the years and there’s not much to doing it. Great video.
The best straight to the point instruction on how to restring! Great job.
Thanks for the support.
GFM
Thank you for making this video, and all of your other videos. As a tech with a solid education and one year experience, it is hard working for someone who gives you zero support and zero time to do the job. You're expected to just know everything. With your videos, I am now able to be familiar with repairs I have yet to encounter. You bring comfort to an otherwise difficult situation. My employer thinks I'm an armored car driver that says 24/7 ac repair on it. They want me to pull in, get the cash, get out. They don't care about our customers or our employees. Thank you again, you are making a difference for a lot of people.
acoustic4037 Thanks for the support. There are good employers out there, I hope you find one.
GFM
Is the ice even throughout the plate? Hollow center indicates charge problem or TXV. I know it was replaced. Was an oversized drier installed? That will increase charge. Compressor problems are indicated by higher than normal lo side and lower than normal hi side. Give me lo side press after 2 min op. Then lo side after 10 min. Is water manifold running smooth over plate? Could be as simple as adjustment of bridge. Also note blades of bridge should be clean. Let me know.
GFM
I really enjoyed watching your video. I’m actually trying to learn how to restring my element for our bathroom heater right now and so your video was I think going to be helpful. Not sure what the diameter is or where to get it.
Diameter is the size of the coils. You may have to compare by sight.
GFM
Great video! I've never used this kind of kit. The company I work for now has this restring kit as my truck stock... I would've figured it out if I had to use one(probly at 11pm on a holiday that I'm on call)but after watching this, you've definately cut my learning curve by atleast 30 minutes. Thanks a bunch brother! Keep up the good work!
These videos are enriching the world ! ! !
This saves a lot of money. Like $15 instead of $400. Can you get the ceramic replacement? I just did it with a dryer it came with the insulators. There is usually 1 or 2 cracked
Yes and no. I have seen kits with insulators but some insulators are different.
GFM
Thank you so much for this great video. Could you please forward the name of the supplier of those heaters element. Thanks.
What you are looking for is a 5 kilowatt furnace element with the same size coils as what you have. A home appliance dealer may be your best bet.
GFM
Well done sir. I like to see guys out there re-string out there. Lost skill
I cant agree on that one. Almost all electric furnaces are repairable with general replacement parts with some exceptions. Efficiency is not an issue as they are all the same efficiency. I would change out the furnace if it made sense from a fuel source standpoint.
GFM
I think that element was from an appliance store from around 1980. It was some sort of general replacement part and I used them for a short time with double washers on the end. When I found kits that had the fuse, mounted bolts and ceramics in the kit, I changed. I some times replaced element carrier assemblies because of broken ceramics then took the carriers apart and reused the good ceramics. Thanks for the comment.
GFM
Can u help me out
@@goatsinsports6970 What is your question?
GFM
@@grayfurnaceman we have charcoal furnace 8mm thickness sheet of MS Plate 10 Feet long 05 feet width it runs up on wood which we fire under the furnace to rise the internal temperature to 500 Degree for converting wood into charcoal can you tell me about replacement of wood with heater under the furnace to raise the temperature ? if yes then please tell the type of heater. Thanks
Do you think that strip went a certain model or just a factory screw up,forgot to install bolts or what? I tryed to think if i ever came across something that would have used 1 without bolts,nothing comes to mind,i have changed several diff types of strips,some that some 1 else already screwed up and stretched to far,just had to start over,a lot of those insulators are very weak and not well made,very easy broke,i have used dryer strips also 4 heat strips but gotta look at kw closely,great video
Hey buddy. My old mobile home furnace uses 3/4" heating coils. Can I use 3/8" instead?? I accidentally ordered 2 brand new 3/8" restring kits. Thank you
Probably not. Most mounts won't accept that small of an element.
GFM
the one I did several years ago took forever to find a replacement wire for and it was three phase and in many pieces. I ended up measuring the would be path with a tape for the length and put one bold in the vice and stretched it out like 150" so that it would be evenly stretched. Started in the middle like you and it worked out great. I wish there was a formula for these nichrome wires, like checking the required KW and voltage and finding the resistance needed somewhere along the length of the wire, cut it there and connect.
Glad you got it to work. I have had poor luck with 3 phase elements.
GFM
Great Video. where could we buy spare parts for the furnace
Some appliance parts stores carry them.
GFM
Well, we dont always have that choice. Many electric furnaces are no longer made. And parts aren't available. This is just a repair that can be done under some circumstances. Thanks for the comment.
GFM
How much power from the panel does that thing supposed to draw? I seen one at somebody's house tonite that was drawing 250 amps! From the panel
Not probable. That would be a 60 KW furnace. Most residential furnaces are from 15 to 25 KW.
GFM
Some heat sections are not designed for element replacement and the section must be replaced. However, some are easily replaced and the price difference is quite high. I cut my teeth on electrics, so I have a bit of a soft spot for them.
GFM
thank you. I found an element kit; online saved me from buying a furnace.
Glad it helped.
GFM
I’m need to electric furnaces. Are those the emergency strips?
They are not emergency strips, they are repair parts.
GFM
thanks GF man...used your vid to install all 6 new elements in a 30kW Brady Bunch era Rheem model. By my calculation this unit with six sequencers (25 ohms per coil) has about 6 ohms on the transformer secondary, pulling about 4 amps. Has the industry established a standard size transformer to accomodate that many sequencers?
Can you use a restring kit that is the same KW and the same voltage just slightly bigger diameter strip? Wouldn’t the resistance be lower causing it to pull more amps or since it’s the same KW it wouldn’t matter?
KW is KW. It will not pull more amps.
GFM
@@grayfurnaceman thank you. The reason I asked is I restrung a heater on a VAV and the 3 phase 480 volt 5KW Heater was pulling 17 amps when it was supposed to pull only 6 amps. What could cause the new 5 kw strips to pull high amps? Would a faulty contractor be a potential issue?
@@mbranbb You can't restring a 3 phase heater with a single phase one. You must replace the entire heater to make it work right.
GFM
@@grayfurnaceman so a coworker ordered these 480v 5KW restring kits about a year ago and he ordered them to replace the 3 phase heaters we have in our building. I just looked up the part number online and you’re 100% right he ordered single phase restring kits instead of 3 phase. You’re the man Gary. Thank u very much.
Glad I could help. Doesn't on call suck? Good money though.
GFM
hey dude great video, im trying to install a new heating element kit for a Lennox air handler A/C only system, it do see the space where the kit goes, doe you have a video on how to install or add a heating element ? I could use the help. Thank you Richie from, Baltimore
I do not have a video on that procedure. The heat kit is usually a fairly simple install and the kit should have instructions.
The largest problem I can see is you will need to run larger wire to accommodate the new element.
GFM
should I be touching the new coils with bare hands (oils) or use gloves?
As the coils reach 1500F, any oil on the wires is burned off.
GFM
Do you have to make sure that the coils are not touching each other? lets say at the turns.
Absolutely. When you watch the video, note that when I stretch the element, I make it shorter than it needs to be. That is to keep it tight when it is stringed. When it heats up it stretches so you want to be sure it does not sag.
GFM
I love taking stuff apart and getting tedious as much as the next guy but in the long run I think it would be better for the customer to be trouble free for a while
I'm having difficulty finding a supplier of Nichrome or Nunal or Kanthal or similar electric element heating coils like those used for furnaces etc ?
They need to be approximately 0.9mm wire in approximately 8mm coil and resistance approximately 40 Ohms. I need to stretch them out to approximately 3.6 meters to replace broken ones in my machine.
Supplier suggestions please ?
+Andrzei Czajkowski Are you sure it is that long? The maximum I have seen is 1 meter. I can't say I have seen any that long.
GFM
+grayfurnaceman. It's for my plastics vacuum forming machine.
+Andrzei Czajkowski It is probably a factory part only.
GFM
+grayfurnaceman You're correct.You're a genius. I tried the butcher, the drugstore, Wallmart, a carpenter, a bricklayer, a candlestick maker and the tailor but they all said "These are probably made in a 'factory'somewhere". Then I foolishly asked a 'furnaceman' if he knew of a company that made or sold nichrome or similar coiled wire elements because he had a youtube tute on the subject of replacing coiled wire heater elements. How stupid am I ? And I guess you can't tell me which butcher, drugstore, Wallmart, carpenter, bricklayer, candlestick maker, tailor, factory or industrial supplier you buy your coiled wire heating elements from ? They're only available as OEM factory parts eh ? Cool. I'm so pleased I asked. ps Are you located in Minnesota or Canada ? Do you feature in any of the Fargo episodes ?
I just replaced the high heat limit switch on my electric drier. I inspected the heat coil while I had the back of the drier off and replacing the failed switch.
I posted a short video on my UA-cam channel.
My furnace runs me a high electric bill. Do you think it might be the heating element
Electric furnaces are 100% efficient. If it is overheating, it will either overheat the structure or, if the fan is not running while the element is on, overheat the space it is in. The heat must go somewhere. I would be looking for heat loss problems in the structure and compare to last year's bill.
GFM
grayfurnaceman - I have a Sundial electric air handler, it was a company that ceased to exist in 1986. It has a separate coil from the blower and the coil was just replaced a year and a half ago for the cold air. Well, the heater elements have crapped out on us and our repair guy says the only option is to replace the unit (quoted $2800 for that). It’s a 3 ton unit. Anyways, I was just so amazed that fixing the heater was not an option (even if a replacement part was not available). Would this be a viable option? I don’t know anything about this stuff so I might be using the wrong verbiage or terminology.
If the elements look similar to ones in this video, they are replaceable.
Many service techs don't understand electric furnaces and generally replace either the furnace or the entire element assembly.
However, there are some element assemblies that are not replaceable due to the type of element used.
GFM
We have to restring vav boxes. They usually take 3 strips. If rated for 5K for example, I am being told you put 2 2K’s and a 1K. To equal 5K. That does not sound right to be. I would think you put 3 rated at 5K.
Can you order new ceramics?
The ceramics at the end that connects to the wiring are generally available with a rewire kit, but the internal ones are probably not available.
GFM
for curiosity sake , could someone tell me why one couldn't simply tig weld or bridge the broken part of one? It seems that the nichrome would heat up just the same so long as the electricity flows.
Brady Rose I am not sure nichrome wire is weldable. You could wrap the ends together, but the joint overheats. I will probably do a video on wrapping it together. Remember, these elements are not expensive if purchased as a restring kit.
GFM
grayfurnaceman
To be clear, I should point out that I am not asking this question in an HVAC context. I am interested in the use of nichrome wire in the context of a variety of applications and am not looking at this as simply replacing a coil in a household heater. It does appear nichrome wire can be welded together, but probably welded to itself rather than using filler.
+grayfurnaceman That would be great ! Can you provide a link to your youtube re wrapping to join elements please. If not then can you message me some instructions please.
Thanks, very helpful
thank you
If they dont have parts for the furnace anymore considering time and material the furnace is not worth repairing. Good time for a replacement unit. (Love that commission) lol
What was the "dammit" in regards to at 3:10?
+Bill Cheechoo I can't remember.
GFM
Dont see many of those up north. The electric bill must be crazy
Actually, I am up north. We used to have very low electric rates, so there are some. Can't compete with gas any more.
GFM
There are areas were I live which have been deemed too unstable to support gas lines. They either use electric heat, a heat pump, or propane.
the video is good but this tecgnition forgot to use glove and thats is the primary thing to recoment..you know..
Compont in wire connection
I have a train unit and one of the elements failed 😭
Most Trane models have elements that are quite hard to find for restring. I would first check to see if the element over temp fuse has not blown.
GFM
grayfurnaceman I had it checked with a certified AC company, he found a break in the element.
Wiring diagram
Dammit!
Replace the dam heaters and move on to the next call we don't got all day
p
Just change the electric heat section, or better yet, sell them on on propane or gas, electric heat is the dumbest, most expensive way to heat a house
That's why you do it your self fokes
Houd you like this hacker fixing you heating ELEMENTS
fake
No wonder you broke that insulator off like that, look how stupidly rough you are when doing this job. This is the type of stuff that cause more cost for the homeowner when the repairman is breaking stuff.
Look again, the insulator was broken before I started.
GFM
thank you...