Herpstat HP Tripping

[BPGator]

I have a new Pelonis oil filled heater and a new Herpstat HP. The heater has three settings that correspond to 600W, 900W and 1500W. When the heater is connected to the thermostat, any setting other than the 600W cause the thermostat to restart. My guess is the startup current is exceeding the capability of the relay in the thermostat, but I have a hard time understanding why that's the case for the 900W setting. I'd be fine with using the 600W setting, but I'm not sure at this point whether that's enough heat to keep my room warm. Anyone have any ideas on perhaps what I'm doing wrong or what else could be the issue?

I have the heater connected directly to the outlet on full power right now and it hasn't tripped my 15A breaker (no snakes in the room, in case you're wondering). The only things I can think of are:

1) startup current exceeds the capability of the relay, which should be 12.5A since the Herpstat is rated to 1500W.
2) the Herpstat relay has a much lower capability than advertised.


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[PitOnTheProwl]

I was just reading up on it as I am not familiar with it but it does sound like you are overloading it.
Is your heater a digital one?

[BPGator]

Not digital. It has 2 dials - the first one has the 3 settings mentioned above. The second is more like s potentiometer that would allow a range based on the main setting.


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[PitOnTheProwl]

Yeah that's the same as my DeLonghi.
Sounds like you may want to call Herpstat in the morning and see what they say?
I'm interested in knowing as well.
Herpstat claims 12.5/1500 and almost every oil filled I have looked at is the same 12.5/1500

[BPGator]

I emailed him already, hopefully I hear back tomorrow. Because the heater and the thermostat have the same limit, I wasn't expecting to be able to use the high setting, but I was very surprised that the middle setting trips it. I'll post back when I get a resolution.


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[bcr229]

The 600/900/1500W settings are all when the heater is running, not for the partial second when it first turns on. Many appliances with motors and/or compressors spike a lot higher than the constant runtime draw when they turn on.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Many appliances with motors and/or compressors spike a lot higher than the constant runtime draw when they turn on.

You would think Herpstat would have accounted for that??
I would bet the initial fire up is the same power draw no matter what setting its on...

[BPGator]

Maybe the Pelonis is cheap. My surprise is that the 900W setting has a spike that exceeds 12.5A! The running current should only be 7.5A at that setting - that's a huge spike. It pretty much makes it useless to use with the thermostat if I can only use the low setting. Hopefully I can troubleshoot it tomorrow with SpyderRobotics and figure out the problem.


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[Sauzo]

I have a Pelonis one as well. Probably same one as you. If I remember right, they use 13.5 amps and max 1500 watts. You will want to check that the Herpstat can handle 14-15 amps.

I just read on that HP unit. looks like it can handle up to 15 amps so ignore my comment. Call Dion in the morning

[BPGator]

If the HP is supposed to handle 15A then the issue is with the Herpstat. My circuit breaker is 15A and it's not tripping (and I have lights on that circuit too).

Where did find that it says it can handle 15A? I've only been able to find 1500W.


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