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August 08, 2008, 01:50:21 PM
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Dave_B
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« on: January 28, 2008, 11:17:21 AM »
My Warmfloor has been installed in our single faminly house for about one year.  It was installed by a local contractor who worked with the local Warmfloor representative in Brookfield, WI.  Included is a 1000W transformer and a Microreg controller.  We have used the system in 2007 during January-March and then again since the end of November.  It has been working very well and we are quite pleased with it.  However, in the past month, there have been two times that the circuit breaker has tripped.  Once I reset the circuit breaker, the Warmfloor operates again.  The time between the first breaker trip and the second one was about 3 weeks.  The Warmfloor installation is on a dedicated breaker (i.e nothing else is connected to this circuit).  If this continues or gets worse, I'm thinking of replacing the Microreg switch myself, before calling in an electrician to check/replace the breaker.  I know of no abnormal load on our electrical system that might have caused a surge, unless it was caused by the power entering the house.
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bbillhartz
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« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2008, 08:46:29 AM »
Dave, I am sorry to hear that you are having problems with your STEP Warmfloor system.  I have a question for you to further investigate the problem at hand.

Which circuit breaker is tripping - the service panel breaker or the transformer breaker?
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Dave_B
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« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2008, 09:35:51 AM »
The service panel breaker, not the one on the transformer.  Sorry that I was not clear on that.
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bbillhartz
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« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2008, 11:55:50 AM »
Is the 1000W transformer silver with an extruded aluminum casing and heat sink?  If so, the system is using one of our newer style transformers with toroidal coils.

Toroidal transformers are highly efficient transformers, but they do like to surge on startup.  For this reason, use a high magnetic circuit breaker to avoid tripping in the service panel, GE THQL1120HM or equivalent (Search with Google).  This should solve your problem, and these types of breakers should be available at your local electrical supply house.  As a dedicated circuit breaker with a 1000W transformer, your breaker size should be rated at 20 amps to allow for the surge.

Just to let you know, we are open Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (CST), and our toll-free number is 877-783-7832.
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Dave_B
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« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2008, 09:26:25 PM »
The 1000W transformer is not as you describe.  It is in a steel enclosure and no heat-sink.  It is connected to a dedicated 20amp circuit breaker.  To reiterate, it has operated without any circuit breaker trips for about one year, the first one being about a month ago, then again last week.  It has not tripped since then.  Note that the breaker on the underside of the transformer has never tripped.  Could it still be possible that something has gradually changed inside the transformer?
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bbillhartz
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« Reply #5 on: February 06, 2008, 08:54:55 AM »
Even with the transformer that you have, I would still suggest using a high magnetic circuit breaker with our system.  They will usually take care of nuisance trips.  I would also check and tighten up all the connections (on the transformer and MICROREG), particularly on the primary side.  Your transformer uses wire nuts, and they can come loose over time.  Tighten those up after about a year or so.
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