110 V Power to Fireplace Failed

[Duane & Cheryl]

We lost our power to the fireplace overnight last weekend. We use the electric fireplace to supplement the propane furnace and it has been exceptional up to now. At first I thought it may have been timed out and then I thought the remote control battery was dead so I changed the battery and even tried the control buttons on the front of the fireplace but nothing worked. While the family went into town doing the tourist thing I stayed behind to research this issue. Long story short I discovered that I had power on the black wire when I used the common ground but when I touched the neural with black no power. All connections behind the breaker panel are tight. The wires in the wall receptacle to the fireplace were making good contact. My question is might there be a junction box located between the breaker panel and the slide power to the dedicated fireplace wall plug? If I know where to look I could check connections there otherwise my only answer is that the neutral wire in the dedicated circuit has been broken.

 

[huntr70]

The wiring has to move since the fireplace is in the slide.

Can you trace any of the wiring that is underneath the slide room?

May be a place to start...

 

[Bamaman]

On my 323BHS, the "home run" 110 volt wire starts at the island at a GFC outlet. Then it goes to the other end of the island before going over to the television and fireplace in the slider. I suggest you test the GFC push buttons on that circuit to see if they've popped off.

 

[offtohavasu]

Can't help you with location of stuff, but the issue is definitely an open neutral.

 

[Duane & Cheryl]

Found the problem late Sunday. There is a junction box outside under the slide on the street side towards the rear. Pulled the weather proof plate and sure enough a white to white connector had heated up and melted causing a disconnect. One white is solid copper and the other was stranded copper. My only guess is that the connection was poor from the beginning and over time deteriorated due to the heat generated from a poor connection. There were no heat damaged wires at the breaker or the fireplace when I pulled it apart to inspect. Anyway I will be keeping an eye on the outside junction box for a while to be sure that the connections are sound. Many thanks to all of you for your ideas as I hope others will benefit from these conversations. Now the fireplace is working great.

 

[Cate&Rob]

Hey Duane,

Thanks for following this through and letting us all know the root cause and the repair. One more "I know how to fix that" to add to our growing collective list.

Rob

 

[Scott and Jan]

Yes, thank you. And glad you found it and can enjoy your fireplace again. Too dang hot here in FL to enjoy ours now, even just to look at the flames with no heat!

 

[offtohavasu]

A loose connection will definitely cause some burn marks. Just had to replace my friend's kitchen outlets due to the same thing. Neutral was loose and running a toaster on it.