Electrolux convection heater instructions for use. Feedback on convectors with a tubular heating element

Recently we told that it stopped heating or does not turn on. If in your case the problem is precisely in this type of heater, we recommend that you go to the article we referred to. Now we will talk about how to fix another type of device, which is also widely used for heating in the house. So, read below how to repair the convector with your own hands, if it does not work or turns on, but does not heat up.

Electric heater device

So, first, let's look at the design of an electric convector, so that you understand what you have to check and repair. The heater consists of a cord with a plug connected to a socket, an on/off button, a thermostat and a heating element (heater). In addition, a thermal fuse can be located in the circuit that protects in case of overheating, as well as an inclination sensor that will turn off the power and save from fire when the mobile convector is overturned. Also, in some models, a special sensor can be installed to protect against the penetration of foreign objects inside the case.

We figured out the design, now we turn to the basics of repairing an electric heater with our own hands.

How to repair a breakdown?

So, to make it clearer for you how to act, we will provide a step-by-step instruction:

What to do if the button does not work

The main breakdowns of electric convectors

That's all I wanted to tell you about how to repair a convector with your own hands at home. We hope these tips have helped you solve your problem!

imitating TV
thanks to wall mounting

Another household heater, which came to us for testing, belongs to the convector type. Electrolux ECH/R-2000 E is a fairly large device, similar to a switched off TV, can be easily mounted on a wall or take any convenient place - on the floor or on any other horizontal surface. The declared power of 2 kW, according to the developers, should be enough to heat a living room with an area of ​​​​10 to 25 square meters. Let's check how well the device will cope with such a task.

Characteristics

Equipment

The heater is delivered in a cardboard box-parallelepiped, decorated in a plain dark blue color. Above the blue “shading” are images of the heater itself and a racing car, apparently hinting at the high speed of the device. Considering that the heater itself is black, and the photo of the car does not differ bright colors, then this design looks very mediocre. A black radiator rectangle on a dark blue background - what was the designer thinking?

From key features, which are marked on the box, it is worth mentioning the photo of the “high-efficiency heating element”, the presence of a separate control unit with LED display, as well as the air louvers with the patented Fine Screen design. The recommended heating area, as the inscription on the box tells us, is from 10 to 25 square meters (with a ceiling height of up to 3 meters).

The box is equipped with a plastic handle that makes it easy to carry the device. AT this case this is a really necessary thing: the box has rather large dimensions, and it will certainly be inconvenient to carry it without a handle. The contents of the box are protected from shock with foam inserts and plastic bags.

Opening the box, inside we found:

• the heater itself
• prefabricated legs with wheels;
• wall mounting kit;
• instruction.

At first sight

Visually, the device makes an extremely positive impression (of course, if you are not confused by the all-metal case, which creates persistent associations with industrial design).

AT assembled the heater (or at least the black version we had) is more like a TV on wheels. Getting rid of this impression turned out to be quite difficult, and potential buyers we propose to think in advance whether they are ready to see a black rectangle in the room (it is no secret that for this very reason many “mask” the TV, hiding it in special cabinets or niches).

In front of the heater is ventilation grille, on top - a control panel with an LED display, which is covered with darkened transparent plastic.

On the back is the power cord and a wall mount, very similar to the regular VESA mount used to mount TVs and monitors. The heater does not have a special compartment for the cord.

Instruction

The heater manual is a small brochure printed on black and white glossy paper. After studying the instructions, the user will be fully prepared to work with the device: here you can find sections such as “device control unit”, “preparation for work”, “setting the temperature”, “setting the timer”, etc.

In general, the instruction is useful, and it will obviously not be superfluous to familiarize yourself with it.

Control

The device is controlled by five mechanical buttons and a blue LED display.

After the first switch on, the purpose of the darkened “lid” that closes the control panel becomes clear: the backlight of the display seems too bright even in daylight. Well, since the heater is often used at night in the bedroom, such a bright backlight may be inappropriate. plastic cover, thus, partially alleviates the problem, but does not remove it completely: the display will still glow, although not so brightly. This solution does not look very reliable: the lid gives the impression of being fragile.

Since we are talking about using a heater in the bedroom, it is perhaps worth mentioning one more feature right away: pressing the buttons is accompanied by a rather loud sound signal(squeak), while working in automatic mode The heater makes a clicking sound as it turns on and off. At the same time, the “no backlight” and “silent” modes are not provided for the device.

The buttons located on the control panel have the following functions:

• on off.;
• more less;
• power selection (mode 1 or 2);
• mode selection (Set).

The indicators on the display show the selected operating mode and the room temperature.

The heater can operate in several modes. Firstly, the user is allowed to choose the power - full (2 kW) or half (1 kW). Secondly, it is allowed to set the air temperature that the heater will maintain automatically (from 5 to 35 degrees). Thirdly, the user can set the sleep timer from 0 to 24 hours in 1 hour increments.

From additional features it is worth noting the presence of the “anti-freeze” function (maintaining a certain minimum temperature), as well as the “ parental control» - blocking of control buttons. This mode is activated by simultaneously pressing the "more" and "less" buttons for three seconds.

Usage

Training

Before using the heater for the first time, it is necessary to mount the legs, or fix the appliance to the wall using the bracket supplied.

The installation of the legs is carried out in just a couple of minutes: first, with the help of two screws, you need to fix two plastic supports (the screws supplied in the kit are tightened by hand, without using a screwdriver). Then - insert the wheels into the holes intended for them.

To mount the heater to the wall, you will have to work harder: remove the wall bracket from the convector, mark the places for the holes on the wall, then drill the holes and fix the bracket with the help of dowels and screws attached to them. Final stage- hang the heater on the bracket.

During the installation of the device, it is necessary to observe minimum distances: at least 10 cm from the floor and wall, at least 1 meter from the ceiling. It is worth noting that at this point the developer contradicts himself: after installing the convector on wheels, the distance to the floor will be 5-6 cm, which is almost half the recommended ten.

Care

The convector does not require special care. The body of the instrument should be wiped from time to time with a soft cloth without the use of abrasive cleaners or solvents. Cleaning the space behind a wall-mounted heater is also quite easy: just press the latches and remove the heater by pulling it towards you. After that, you can wash the wall on which it is installed.

Testing

In order to test the heater, we took ordinary room in a city apartment with standard furniture: a wooden "wall", a table, chairs. The area of ​​our test room was 15 square meters, the ceiling height was 3.2 meters. In order to cool the room, we opened the window for several hours. It is clear that it is almost impossible to achieve a uniform temperature with this method, so we used two thermometers for test measurements. We placed one of them next to the heater, the second - at the maximum distance, at the opposite wall (at the entrance to the room).

The heater was installed in the coldest part of the room (on the windowsill) and turned on at maximum power. Temperature measurements were taken every half an hour.

The moment when the temperature at the open window turned out to be the lowest possible was taken as the starting point (taking into account the not very cold winter, we did not manage to reach zero).

The heater was turned on at maximum power (with the maximum settings of the selected temperature). The results turned out to be:

The maximum power that was recorded by our wattmeter was 1740 watts. In low power mode, the device consumes 850 watts, which is also slightly less than the declared readings.

As we can see, in the first half an hour or an hour, the temperature in the room increased quite significantly (we attribute this to the fact that after we closed the window, the air began to heat up from the walls and furniture). Then heating occurred evenly - 1 degree for every half hour. At the same time, the air temperature in the room was maintained almost uniform (the difference in the opposite corners of the room was no more than 2°), and the power of the device turned out to be approximately the same throughout the entire operation time.

The readings of the temperature sensor built into the heater, although not true, but (corrected for overestimated readings) may well be used to maintain the desired temperature in the room. As can be seen from the table, the sensor is wrong by 7-8 degrees, regardless of set temperature. Thus, with a maximum set value of 35 degrees, the device will actually try to maintain the temperature in the room at 27 degrees. And this is more than enough for domestic needs.

We did not find a tip-over shutdown in this model: the device continued to work regardless of its position relative to the floor. However, it turned out to be not so easy to overturn it: the convector stands confidently on wheeled legs, and it is unlikely that it will be possible to accidentally drop it (although a child or a large dog will quite cope with this task).

conclusions

The Electrolux ECH-R 2000E convector type heater turned out to be a nice and friendly device to use. He adequately behaved during testing and successfully coped with both heating the air in the room and maintaining the selected temperature (albeit with a slight correction for the inaccuracy of the built-in thermometer).

The power of the convector turned out to be slightly lower than declared, but the heater uses its capabilities to 100% - it does not require "breaks" in operation and does not overheat. The design of the device is well thought out: the heater stands confidently on four "legs" - wheels, and is also easily mounted on the wall. The expediency of such a decision is left to the discretion of the user.

Ideally, we would like to see this device have the ability to turn off the backlight and the sound that accompanies pressing the buttons: not everyone will like the extra light and squeak in the bedroom. We did not find any other shortcomings during testing.

pros

• stable heating without pauses and stops
• timer
• keep warm function

Minuses

• the inability to turn off the display and sound
• relatively short cord

A couple of years ago I purchased several Electrolux ECH / AG2-500 EF convectors for 2000 rubles. Inexpensive heaters, nice design, and the name of the manufacturer - Electrolux inspired confidence. I read reviews on the Internet, people mostly praised, well, except that sometimes they complained about the loud switching of the relay. In general, there were no particular doubts about my choice, these are not “No name” products, buying which you already assume in advance that you can’t do without nuances with them. But everything turned out differently..

Advantages of the convector Electrolux ECH/AG2-500 EF

• Nice overall appearance.
• There is a memory of the last operating mode/state. Those. when the mains voltage is restored after emergency shutdown, the convector switches to the last set operating mode. If the device was turned on and set, for example, to 22 degrees, it will automatically turn on in the same mode. Or vice versa, the convector was turned off, then it will remain turned off. The option is very simple,
• There are no more pluses .. Price, this is a very controversial position, especially with a convector power of only 500W, so we don’t write it down as pluses.

"Electrolux" from the inside

In fact, I later realized that I had bought rubbish: these convectors turned out to be the same semi-basement Chinese product, whose quality is below average. Let me explain a little, looking ahead, the main problem of these convectors is the poor technical performance of the thermostat, both programmatically and in terms of the quality of the components (everything is very budgetary), either the problem is in the Electrolux engineers or in their management, who are not a belmes they understand the technical stuffing or something else .. It turns out like this: the heater works, it warms, it looks beautiful, it shows the temperature, the buttons are pressed, what else is needed, they say, set the quality control department and go ahead. But apparently the problem here is not only in the engineers and their management, everything is much more complicated, and we, simple people, we can only guess about the reasons for the creation of such consumer goods from a serious company. In my opinion, the problems of quality control, the financial component, that is, brutal savings on components and on the production itself. Moreover, quality control is necessary constant, and not only at the stage of creating a prototype. I would like to see the very first prototype, that is, a prototype for certification, which was created at the initial stage, even before the start of mass production. Indeed, in our world it has become so customary that sausage for certification is made from the most best products, but as soon as the cherished “paper” is received by the manufacturer, wholesale savings on ingredients almost immediately begin and a completely different product, of a different, lower quality, goes on sale. But if small companies usually do this, I would even say something like individual entrepreneurs I did not expect this from a well-known large company ..

I did not immediately draw such conclusions, it happened later, when, after an unbearable time of operation of these convectors, I was faced with the choice of either throwing them out, or throwing them on the far shelf, or modifying them. I of course chose the third. Since we have hands, why not try to refine them? Although, to be honest, it didn’t smile at me at all, because. spending time on them was very unpleasant, life is in full swing, there are many other projects, and I'm sitting here with screwdrivers, a tester and a soldering iron. But I chose the lesser of two evils, yet I bought eight of these heaters! It would be nice to have one or two, but somehow I can’t just take and throw out eight pieces without trying to finalize them.

So when I summed up all the nuances from my bell tower, such as: appearance, quality of parts, both outside and inside, as well as the correctness, or rather incorrectness of the thermostat program, I realized that Electrolux is no longer the company that previously cared about us - consumers. Apart from fake marketing and honestly not bad appearance of their products, it is no longer necessary to expect something of really high quality and reliable operation. Now I will try very hard to avoid buying anything from this manufacturer, but you may be lucky otherwise. Of the eight pieces, I have only one that works more or less correctly, does not torment at night with clicks and lies only a couple of degrees, but one of nine, it does not fit into any gate! Moreover, even the ninth mope, it is of a different series, but of the same manufacturer, according to the same principle, almost the same stuffing, only with the option infrared heating(holes on the front grille) and a power of 1 kW, not the 0.5 kW in question. A total of 9 convectors and 8 of them somehow lie, the tinted covers fall off, they are no good without modification! To be honest, I never would have thought that Electrolux would sink to the level of a Chinese semi-basement manufacturer.

Okay, digressed, expressed my emotions after two years of operation, now to the point :)

Cons convector Electrolux ECH / AG2-500 EF

• 4-5 degrees error in temperature readings.
• Very loud, well, very loud clicking internal relays. Sleep is impossible!
• When the set temperature is reached, the relays begin to click like a clock, back and forth, back and forth, they will wake up the dead!
• There is no correct hysteresis range, in fact there is no such range. At least 2 degrees would make a difference, it would save from clicks.
• The temperature sensor is located at the bottom, and since the floor temperature is always two degrees lower, or even more than the middle of the room, and the closer it is to the ceiling, it is thus difficult to choose the right operating temperature. Calibration of the sensor would help here, but there is no such option.
• The temperature sensor itself is resistive, which means it is "aging", i.e. requiring calibration over time. Thus, in the future there will be a large error in temperature readings. In addition, this type of sensor is the most cheap option for production. Not inexpensive, but cheap, and besides, the error of this sensor is 5%, which is also not fun.
• A very bright display, illuminates the entire room at night, they could either add a brightness adjustment option or at least reduce the brightness to an adequate level with primitive resistors. At a minimum, you have to cover the display with something at night, for example, with socks))
• The protective, darkened transparent cover over the display and buttons does not at all save from the brightness of the display, it rests on snot, you can’t put it differently, because. constantly falls off. Someone sticks several layers of brown tape on this cover to get rid of bright light.
• The buttons are pressed very loudly, the sound is no quieter than the inclusion of an internal relay. If you get up at night to regulate the temperature, these "clicks" are heard by the whole house without exaggeration. The buttons themselves on the board are not rubberized, not touch-sensitive, but the cheapest, with a black rod, which are full of all radio markets and Chinese stores. But touch buttons would come out even cheaper, for that matter ..
• The power converter of the display (LED segments) beeps strongly. The more elements are lit, the stronger the squeak. For example, with the number 1, the squeak is weaker, and with the number 8, it is stronger.
• The quality of the plastic is poor, or rather the very shape of the parts, the gaps between the elements leaves an unpleasant impression. Even if you disassemble and assemble the convector yourself, you cannot assemble it without gaps, because the details themselves are crooked and oblique.
• The lower bio-filter, air filtration, a marketing ploy and nothing more, is actually useless, ordinary gauze does a better job..
• Due to problems with thermal sensors, there is no energy saving. Either it boils around the clock, or vice versa it does not cope and does not heat. Here, who is lucky, it depends on the error of the temperature sensor in plus or minus, but errors in operation due to incorrect temperature readings are unacceptable, otherwise the point is in the thermostat?

In general, the list of shortcomings can certainly be replenished with some more points, but it is already clear that Electrolux is far from being a top-class company. At least products for Russia. This is not BORK at all.. This is not an advertisement for Bork. This is just a life comparison. The most striking thing is how long I did not like the Bork technique (and even now this trademark name itself does not bring joy and status to me personally), it reminded me of those same Chinese manufacturers of cheap goods from the POLARIS, Scarlett, Supra and other consumer goods series, but It just so happened that after playing and studying several positions of the BORK technique to the screw, I was shocked by surprise at how high-quality this technique is both from the outside and from the inside. Perhaps they (BORK manufacturers) entered the market at a difficult time, so unnecessary associations hinder their progress, but in my opinion, they did their best. They managed to change the attitude towards their products and the expensive price for these products really justifies itself. But this separate story, now we are talking about the ill-fated convectors from Electrolux. And not only convectors, I would also tell you how I repaired a water heater of the same company, and although this is also a separate story, but for me it once again confirms that the manufacturer Electrolux has become an unreliable companion of our everyday life..

Is it possible to modify the Electrolux ECH/AG2-500 EF convector?

You can also try. But there aren't many options. It is absolutely correct to modify this converter without changing the controller firmware. Although it is this method that would solve the main problem with the operation of the thermostat by 100%. And you don’t need much .. Set the hysteresis to 2-3 degrees, and correct the table of readings for different temperature sensors. The problem with the chaotic clicks of the relays would have been immediately solved. But unfortunately we do not have access to the firmware, and even more so to the source code of the processor program. Still, there are some things we can improve on. What can be done:

1. Replace the temperature sensor with a better one and with normal parameters.
2. Or add a temperature sensor calibration using a potentiometer. Well, or one-time calibrate with a constant resistor.
3. Reduce the brightness of the display using the "tinted" film method. In our case, it was brown tape in two layers. Details below.

Improvements will be unambiguous in terms of more correct temperature readings, but unfortunately both of these options will still not eliminate the problem of chaotic clicks.

How to get to the temperature sensor?

To get to the temperature sensor, you need to dismantle the metal front part convector, having previously removed the legs with rollers and unscrewed three wide-head screws from the bottom. After that, from the bottom edge, with a slight movement, lift the casing up. Having removed the front casing, on the right we see a bundle of wires and among them a thin black double wire, it just goes down to the thermistor. Upstairs, the same wire goes to the connector, which is located on the power board with a relay on the reverse side.

After being removed front panel, from the bottom right, unscrew the small self-tapping screw that holds the right side of the heating element and the wires lie on it with a snake. We also remove these wires with a snake, leaving them hanging in the air.

And the last step, from the right end of the converter you will see the latches that hold the whole thing. We press the upper latch and at the same time pull the whole structure up. Taken! The temperature sensor itself is located below in this protrusion-tube. You can see this by following the path of the black double wire. To pull out the thermistor, you need to inside convector, use a thin screwdriver to squeeze out the plastic mesh plug from this "tube".

Option 1: temperature sensor replacement

What temperature sensor is installed in the Electrolux ECH/AG2-500 EF convector?

This convector has an NTC MF58 thermistor with a resistance of 5k at 25 degrees and with an error of 5%. MF58 NTC thermistors. That is, when the MF58 thermistor is heated, its resistance decreases, and when cooled, on the contrary, its resistance increases. The image shows this temperature sensor from this converter. It was wrapped in heat shrink.

According to my experience and observation, the thermostat circuit is designed for a sensor with a resistance of 4.7k and a measurement error of 1%. As I understand it, they saved money at the factory and bought "on Ali" a bit of the wrong quality, hence all the current problems. Therefore, if you find such or similar thermistor, feel free to change it, this option is the best. Try to find a sensor with an error of 1%, this way you minimize the "night" clicking of the relay as much as possible. There is no single standard for resistance and pitch values. Each manufacturer different row resistance and measurement errors. One manufacturer has a minimum sensor designed for 5k, another for 0.2k, one has a denomination of 4.7k, the other does not have such a denomination. You can compare these parameters according to the descriptions of the factory datasheets. You need MF58472F3470 THERMISTOR NTC 4.7K OHM 1%. But firstly, you do not have to use the MF58 series thermistor, you can buy any other in color and case, the main thing is that the sensor size is small, that is, for example, it can fit in the case of a ballpoint pen. Also, if you cannot find the denomination of 4.7k, try 5k, it is quite possible that this denomination may suit your case, the main thing is to buy a high-quality sensor with a minimum reading error. I personally bought these temperature sensors, as below in the photo.

Having soldered the temperature sensor to a freshly purchased one, we collect everything in reverse order.

Option 2: thermostat calibration

If the temperature sensor cannot be replaced, then without calibrating the thermostat there is simply nowhere. You cannot directly calibrate the temperature sensor, the sensor simply reads the temperature readings and transmits a signal to the microcircuit. The temperature reading from the sensor is just a resistance that changes depending on the ambient temperature. It is this signal-resistance that we need to "correct".

Preparation for calibration: If the temperature readings on the display of your convector are underestimated, then we do not cut off any wires, but simply solder a variable resistor parallel to the wire. If the readings are too high, then we cut any one wire and solder the variable into the gap. The value of the variable resistor I chose 30k. In my cases, the calibration was around 12-16k. You only need to solder the central and any one of the extreme terminals of the variable, but it is better to choose the extreme contact at which the temperature will increase when you rotate the potentiometer clockwise (the resistance will decrease).

How to calibrate: you need to prepare some kind of reference thermometer, which you will be guided by during calibration. We turn on the convector in a calm small room and preferably in which the temperature that is comfortable for you is set. It's different for everyone, who has 20 degrees is the norm, and who gives 24. As soon as the convector is turned on, turn the potentiometer approximately to the temperature that you have on the standard. After that, let the convector run for 15 minutes to settle the convector's operating mode. As soon as the convector enters the normal mode of operation, carry out a finer adjustment-calibration, looking at the readings of the reference thermometer. That's it, calibration is complete. Theoretically, after that, you can unsolder the variable resistor, measure its resistance and instead solder a constant resistor, but I personally left the variable, placing it on the back near the board on a plastic case with hot glue, after drilling a hole for a screwdriver.

Here's what I ended up with.

The final version of the converter with the ability to calibrate the temperature sensor.

This calibration has a small minus, on a cold start and until the room warms up to the calibration temperature, the temperature readings can lie, usually they are too low. This is because we add a "constant" resistance to the circuit, which will not change its resistance when heated and cooled, so it will invariably negatively affect the sensor readings when low temperatures. Just by implementing the sensor calibration in this way, we must understand that we are narrowing the range of accuracy of the readings. You should not worry about this, the readings will return to normal as soon as the room warms up and the convector will clearly keep the set temperature correctly. Unless, of course, physically this room you can warm it up with this convector, because if the power of the convector is not enough, then the heater will boil forever without turning off, but this does not apply to this convector, but to any in general.

Lowering the brightness of the display

The essence of the idea is simple, you can simply glue it on top with brown translucent tape, according to the principle of glass tinting. Only this option will not be very aesthetic, so we will do it a little differently. First you need to directly get the control board with buttons and display. To do this, on the back of the converter, unscrew the three screws on the gray plastic case that hides the control board and the relay unit, and pull the whole thing from above. Above in the photo you could already see how it works. When you remove the top white part with buttons and display, unscrew the printed circuit board from it.

Now our task is to carefully remove the sticker from the display. You can also remove it live, but this can be done most gently if you warm it up with a regular hair dryer during the process of removing the sticker, prying the sticker with a spatula or a not sharp sandwich knife. The eyes are afraid, the hands are doing, in fact, the process is very easy.

Then we cut off the excess along the edges with an ordinary clerical knife.

And now, carefully, in the sense of evenly, we glue the native stencil sticker back onto this layer.

That's all. Assemble in reverse order and enjoy soft, non-irritating light.

Note: how to properly warm up a cold room

An important explanation for those who like to set the temperature of the heater higher in order to warm up the room faster. Do you think that by setting the temperature higher than usual, the room will warm up faster? It's not like that at all! You will only be pushing buttons back and forth in vain. These movements are completely redundant!

Physically, the process of heating the room with a heater is as follows: in order to warm up the room faster, you need to change the power of the convector, but not the temperature! For example, your comfortable temperature is 23 degrees. You usually have the same amount set on the convector. But here you come on cold dacha, turn on the convector and "charge" it by 28 degrees. What will actually happen? Never mind! Well, except for the extra waste of electricity, after the room warms up to 23 degrees, because the remaining 5 degrees, the heater will drive electricity to idle until it reaches 28, if at all, or until you lower the temperature again to 23 degrees.

The main thing here is to understand that by increasing the temperature, you will not reduce the heating time of the room, that is, simply by changing the temperature, you cannot warm up the room faster, because the time for warming up the room to your comfortable temperature of 23 degrees will be the same, and no matter how many degrees you set, which is 23 , which is 28, which is 50.

How to warm up the room faster? Correct answer: it is necessary either to increase the power of the heater, if such an option is implemented in it, or to additionally install several more heating appliances. And finally, a very convincing example with a gas stove. As we turn the knob gas stove By increasing the gas supply in order to boil the kettle faster, we increase the amount of gas, that is, we increase the power, while the temperature of the gas itself is actually constant.

That's all for now! If you have any questions or vice versa, you have your own solution to improve this converter, do not hesitate to write in the comments. Later one of these days I will add more photos and descriptions to them to complete the article.