Installed A Heated Floor And It Didn't Work

[jonp]

I, well SWMBO, decided we needed a new bathroom so I got started on it. Tore it down to the ground, poured new footings, did a balloon build, crawled around in the dirt putting in PEX for the plumbing and wiring it new from a 20 Amp. She just had to have a heated floor so I bought some heated underlayment https://us.thermosoft.com/floor-heating/systems/thermofloor-mats?msclkid=d1e634b4263d1e105e1e6b3a2a19fba9&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=***%20Search%20-%20Brand%20%2F%20TM&utm_term=thermo%20floor&utm_content=ThermoFloor%20(US) to go over the sub-floor and wired it up then put the waterproof laminate over it. Stand alone bathtub, new toilet and sewer etc.. got the bottom done and ready for the ceiling so tested out the electric. Did I mention the heated, lighted mirror over the new sink? Ugh. Bottom GFCI outlets worked but the floor didn't come on like planned. I fiddled around with it for a few hours and left it. Today when I got home I got back at it. Took out the outlets, used a meter to check for current. All looked fine. Finally an hour later I figured out what was wrong....I forgot to turn the floor on. When I opened the front and hit the "on" button it came on just fine....:-|

[mozeppa]

life requires a on button......and many times needs a reset button as well.

[Petrol & Powder]

It's funny when it's over and you figure out what you did.....but not until it's over.

[William Yanda]

Way back in the last century, the restaurant in our little town remodeled to include heating the parking area-one car deep-between the building and the road. After the cement was poured and cured, they realized they forgot to connect the wiring. OOOps!

[dangitgriff]

That ON/OFF button has cost me some time as well...briefed my test lab manager on all the disciplined troubleshooting steps I had taken to get an assembly up and running but was having no luck. Guy walks out to my work desk, looks at it for a couple of seconds, and reaches around the back of the unit and pushes in the input circuit breaker. He was grinning from ear to ear as he walked back to his office...I was cussing up a storm!

[Land Owner]

The power probably needs to heat the concrete mass in the floor - for a time - before the radiant heat starts to leach through (at least I think so) - then the heat probably lasts a good while after the power is off. Figuring when to cycle it on and off, to get the greatest latent heat effect, is the key that only time will tell.

[MrWolf]

Wow. I've never made a mistake. I just chose to do it that way to see what wrong was like.. a lot of the time.. Have a saying that I have used for years.. Nothing like being Polish unless you show it. Have fun and need to be able to laugh at yourself before you can laugh at others.

[kens]

it's always the last thing you look at !

[redhawk0]

I do customer service work...way back in the day, Wang Laboratories called me up because the monitor on their tool wouldn't work. I took the 2 hour trip to the customers' site. When I walked into the lab...I pressed the power switch and the monitor came on. The customer looked at me and said...."how did that get turned off". Come to find out later (weeks later) that they did an investigation over it and found a cleaning lady came through the lab and to "save power" she turned off the monitor.

Now anytime I have calls like this, the first two questions out of my mouth are...."is it plugged in" and "is the power switch turned on".

redhawk

[Winger Ed.]

When I opened the front and hit the "on" button it came on just fine....:-|

That's happened to all of us.

After I fix something, and it still doesn't work-- more than once it was because a switch was in the "O", "F", "F" position.

[skrapyard628]

There was baseboard/boiler heat in the last house I lived in. They had also ran water lines under all of the concrete in the basement and garage. Normally Im not a big fan of that type of heating system but, man, did I really love the nice warm garage floor when I needed to work on a vehicle in the winter.

And the whole "is it turned on or plugged in" is something we deal with everyday at my job but more often in regards to "is the fuse blown or circuit breaker tripped".

I once flew from Illinois to California on an emergency service trip for one of our customers. We had been on the phone with their maintenance dept for a couple of days troubleshooting an issue and they kept telling me that they checked all the fuses. I showed up to their facility and when I got there the first thing I found was a blown fuse. Replaced the fuse and the machine was up and running within 15 minutes of my arrival there.

$5 part + $4000 emergency same day service technician = angry operations manager at customers facility.

[Winger Ed.]

$5 part + $4000 emergency same day service technician = angry operations manager at customers facility.

At the safe company, our customer service folks ran into that deal pretty regularly.

A customer would call and say they couldn't open their safe. The rep. would pull up their safe & lock info.
and tell them due to its age, it probably just needed new two 9V batteries under the key pad.

"NO, its broken, we need a service tech. out here right now".

"OK, but if he comes out and only spends 30 seconds to changes the batteries, it will still cost $350.".

"Let me call you back"..... and they almost never did.

[Springfield]

Back when I worked in a motorcycle store as a mechanic, at least 5 times a year a customer would bring their bike because it wouldn't start. First thing I would do is check to look at the "kill" switch. Click. Vroom. You're good to go!

[jonp]

Good stories. A few years ago I couldn't get the rototiller to start. I darn near got a heart attack pulling the cord. Checked the fuel, dumped and replaced fuel, changed spark plugs and filter, pulled and cleaned the carb. Nothing. Finally as I was saying a few choice words I noticed the on/off switch was off. I always shut off the fuel and run it dry but my wife used it last and turned it off. Two or three pulls and vroom

[Mk42gunner]

I cannot count the number of times I have "fixed" an appliance by flipping a breaker that the customer was sure was on.

It made such an impression on me that to this day, some forty years later my first step when something goes wrong is to check the breaker. Then the on/off button. Only after that do I check for voltage and start trouble shooting.

Mom's new washer has some sort of computerization, sometimes all it needs is unplugging and plugging back in to reset everything.

Robert

[kens]

some years ago I was a support technician for an aircraft flight training simulator for the military.
A full bird Colonel was the instructor that day and I got a call that the computer quit.
I went into the box and jiggled the mouse, yep, the screensaver was on.
the look on the Colonel's face was priceless.

[popper]

Builder forgot to plug in the Jacouze tub so had to tear out the bottom panel.

[Land Owner]

Mom's new washer has some sort of computerization, sometimes all it needs is unplugging and plugging back in to reset everything.


The Informaton Technology (IT) group's FIRST step in computer glitches and likely the one that realigns the confused electrons. We should all take that to HEART in this computerized world.

[jonp]

The Informaton Technology (IT) group's FIRST step in computer glitches and likely the one that realigns the confused electrons. We should all take that to HEART in this computerized world.

Word! +1

[Idaho45guy]

Years ago I worked construction in Arizona and my boss was a recent immigrant from California.

He was working on an $8 million dollar mansion and installed Pex tubing throughout the ground floor, Pressurized it with water to test for leaks, and then poured $30,000 worth of concrete over it. He didn't bother to blow the water out of the lines and replace it with the anti-freeze mixture.

Overnight temps got down to ten degrees a week later and the pex swelled and ruined most of the concrete. Poor guy had never worked in cold temps before and hadn't even considered that water expands when frozen.

[nvbirdman]

A friend of mine bought a new lawnmower and it wouldn't start. He spent a half hour yanking the starter cord and it just wouldn't do anything. He called me and I drove over to his house. Started on the first pull. I then had to explain to him that you have to squeeze the handle.

[GARD72977]

Your story made me feel better

[GregLaROCHE]

I didn’t install a heated floor when I had the chance. I always wish I had. I hate cold feet!

[jsizemore]

At least you didn't start taking up the floor before you checked the on/off switch.

[10x]

Watched a guy trying to pull rope start a Honda® ATC200 trike , after about 5 minutes i walked over and said "let me try please" I flipped the Kill Switch from off to on and it made one compression stroke and was running.
I then made him turn it off with the kill switch, turn on the kill switch and pull the rope.
He was happy...

[jonp]

At least you didn't start taking up the floor before you checked the on/off switch.

No but I pulled a few pieces up when I realized I'd forgotten to put the temp probe in :p

[Handloader109]

But you didn't tell us the real story...



Does your Wife Like the heated Floor?

[jonp]

She is threatening to move into the bathroom

[dangitgriff]

You best get started on the kitchen floor—pronto.
Once they escape the kitchen, they’re damnear impossible to put back in.

[jsizemore]

She is threatening to move into the bathroom

As long as the frig and tv aren't in there your golden.