Electric Heat Strips (Wiring For Beginners)

Beginner HVAC wiring and schematics for electric heat strips. Learn heat strip wiring and schematic reading necessary for beginners to develop solid diagnostic skills.
/ jerseymikehvac

[@timbrown9305]

Yes on power need for (sequencers) first set on a 2 switch sequencer turns on in 15 ish (maybe 30 ish) seconds, second one above take another 30 seconds ish to 120 ish seconds to turn on. The are heat activated like a thermal safety. Great great video for beginners. Trying to find something for newbies. My edit: that delay between a double sequencer helps not flicker the lights...😳 Second stage can be done with a timer for runtime or sloop (temp drop).

[@thrillerjames01]

Thank you for another great teaching 🤝

[@brianmcdermott2430]

Great info. Thanks , Mike.

[@4skully]

Great lesson Thanks Brother!!

[@johnstancliff7328]

mike, I have a 30+ Y/O Coleman 3500 series furnace (15 KW, 3 elements) is it recommended to have the 3rd element on the W2 lead or just leave it in the original setup. I'm thinking efficiancy to help cut the costs in winter, if that does anything... does W1 and W2 on the thermostat work at the same time, or is there a temperature variable? I am using a NEST thermostat on my system.

[@1971omi]

Thanks Mike. Also there is Interlock schematic for heat strip whenever called for heat fan come on , which is that whole another topic. But anyway appreciate the illustration

[@vincenthuyvu2451]

Thank you! Could you please show how to install missing C wire for smart WiFi thermostat?

[@markathey1510]

Watched a ton of videos. You sir explained this perfectly. Didn't make this complicated and easy to follow. It has been said - if someone can't explain in simple terms they lack the understanding of the subject. Brilliant video!! Thanks

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

You are very welcome

[@leocarrell7416]

Great video! But just one correction, The brown wire is for calling foremergency heat

[@jbroheretoday]

I loved your video. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Just by chance this is the same model I have. The diagram on the air handler was not readable. Fixed my a/c with your video. Thank you.

[@hsuan-jenhankwang2448]

A very good lesson thank you very much

[@dmc4936]

Thank you Mike. I think your a great teacher.

[@fritzrobfern8154]

Thanks to you ❤

[@scotteric8711]

Greetings Jersey. Awesome video. Perhaps the best stationary hvac videos on YT for educational training. I'm repairing my handler unit as its heater strip was entirely missing! It seems to have been incorrectly wired for single stage when the heater was bypassed, but I need a 2 stage. Can a second run of romex from my main 60a breakers specifically go to the heater L1, L2 and use the same source from the handler for the other two L1 & L2 breakers?

[@paramountHVAC]

Could you possibly make a video explaining heat strip connection types in 3-phase? Thanks for the great explanation.

[@curtissmartin6322]

So if I have a double coil heat element do I need 2 thermo switches? Because mine has a place for 2 but only has one. An mine don't have the little meltable fuse at all it does have like a 3 amp chip fuse like the kind in a car. What could happen if the thermo limit switch isn't hooked up?

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Are they wired in as separate stages or in series as a single stage? The one thermal limit can cut out both heaters in series, but if they're staged I'd want to add another thermal limit. The fusible links act as a backup to the thermal limits., so it's double protection in the event the thermal limit fails to operate when it should. I'd feel more comfortable having them if you have only one thermal limit in there.

[@curtissmartin6322]

@@JerseyMikeHVAC the chip fuse runs off the transformer. But the thermo resistor wasn't never even hooked up it was by pass. That's what scares me an I been using the heat for about 5 years like that. But a double heat element can run off one thermo resistor? If it made to handle 2 an in series?

[@seadeas]

Very helpful 👍, Good job explaining.

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Thank you. Glad it was helpful!

[@daviddelacerda7773]

Thank you

[@wadebrink8149]

Great explanation of how the heat strip works. Important information going to see more and more heat pumps

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Yeah no doubt. They're getting a lot better than they used to be.

[@davidmerkrebs9967]

just bought a home in windam ny it has a oil fired furnace with an emergency heat strip system sooo interesting and you explained it all you know your shit love it

[@robertrmartin865]

can u put brown and white wire together if u don’t have thermostat with w2 port ?

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Depends on where those brown and white wires are going. I can't say just based on wire color.

[@robertrmartin865]

@@JerseyMikeHVAC I only have the inside unit at this time for heat. white wire goes to w1 and brown goes to w2 for heat but this thermostat doesn’t have w2 for second strips.. well at the unit i put those two together and now i have 130deg heat instead of 98 deg thanks for the reply

[@felehandymancook3994]

Jersey, Thanks for the video. very well explained. I will use it to see if I can see the circuit and diagnose why the 50amp breaker on the Air Handler Unit is tripping off after 2 to 3 minutes of operation in the "HEAT MODE" on my Goodman 2.5 ton air handler ASPT35B14AB WITH A "HKS*08CXC HEAT STRIP KIT- I replaced the air filter with a new one for better air flow but stills tripping the breaker after 2 minutes operating in HEAT MODE ONLY. The AC Cooling mode is working fine and cools fine, but not on the HEAT MODE as the blower motors stops because both, circuit on the heater and air handler unit operates on the 50 amp breaker, and the Outside Compressor Condensing Unit operates on a separate 30AMP Breaker circuit. Perhaps the Thermal Limit switch is faulty or the heater links are drawing too much amps and overheating or the blower motor? Can you give me some advise

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Need to check amp draw on heater and blower first to get an idea of what's going on.

[@JohnDoe-ej1lw]

Thanks for the video....great learning

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

You're welcome

[@bruceglisson1720]

I don’t know what part of the world you live in, but the US that is the United States is and has been since the late sixties on 240 volts. To my knowledge and I may be mistaken, has never been on 115/230 volts. We that is the US switched from 110/220 to 120/240 volts.

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

These videos are being viewed elsewhere in the world and not just in the US.

[@dannypequeno4949]

EXCELLENT SIR THANKS

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Most welcome

[@XW1986]

Thanks for the video. Can you explain what is the usage of the PU wire connected to No.3 on PLM?

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

I did explain it in the video, but basically that purple wires serves no purpose in a properly functioning system. The only time it does something is when the relay that turns the heat strips on and off gets stuck on (sometime an arc flash welds it into the on position), and the heaters won't shut off when the system tries to shut down when the thermostat is satisfied. That purple wire connects to that heater relay, so if it still has power on it when the switch should be open and the heaters off, that purple wire will feed voltage to the relay on the fan control board, which will go straight to the blower motor and force it to run even though the system and thermostat aren;t calling for it to run. It's like a safety wire to keep the blower running if the heaters wont shut off.

[@bojack2740]

Excellent content

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Much appreciated

[@jesseflory9910]

Just what I needed. Thanks!

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

You're welcome!

[@gotchaplumber]

Great explanation!

[@cre8tive31]

Hey Jersey Mike! Can a 15k auxiliary heat strip be wired on one breaker or both breakers have to be wired? In other words can one side be used?

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Are you asking if you can use one breaker and power line for the heat strip and the air handler so you don't have to run an additional power line on a separate breaker? If so, my advice would be to put in a small sub panel by the air handler off of the existing electrical line (assuming it's sized for a 15k heater) and then split it with separate breakers from there. You can also call the manufacturer of the air handler and see if they offer a breaker kit for retro fitting heat strips that will serve your purpose. Most do.

[@cre8tive31]

@@JerseyMikeHVAC Mike, I have the breaker kit, I just wanted to know if it is possible to use 1 breaker out of the 2 on a 15 or 20kw heat strip just like I would use a 10kw with 1 breaker since there are 2 heat strips on both the 15 and 20kw heat strip. I have a 10kw, a 15kw and a 20 kw for a Goodman 4 ton variable speed air handler and an inverter variable speed heat pump.

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

@cre8tive31 You can wire up to one breaker and then jumper over to the other.

[@JayAlexander-k1w]

Mike, if I wire just 1 and not jump to the other, would that work and not affect anything? You are the best in the business and know your stuff. I enjoyed watching all of your youtube videos. You do a fantastic job. 👍👍👍

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

@@JayAlexander-k1w You may have only one of the heat strip coils working that way.

[@brandoncorrea511]

Do it again and how to ohm it out in video!thx

[@mayconlopez5929]

I have 2 coils heating element and both of them heats partially, you can see them only light one alf of the string, that means it's a bad heating element?

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

It's very likely. Could be a relay but less likely.

[@maheradous9257]

Good job

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Thanks

[@sheldon8115]

Impressive explanation 👍

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Glad you think so!

[@jacobr2530]

Can you explain why the heat strips need to two legs of power before they turn on?

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

Because you need both legs to complete the circuit, otherwise there is no current flow.

[@bigdaddy4975]

It’s a 240 volt circuit this type needs 120 from each leg to give the load 240

[@TropicBreezeRealty]

would it be safe to run a 15kw coil heater and air handler on one 60amp circuit?

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

The 15kw heater alone can potentially pull up to 60 amps, and that would be on #6 wire.

[@TropicBreezeRealty]

@@JerseyMikeHVAC Tell me if this works? Use the existing 60 amp circuit and wire to power only the heater coils and a separate 20 amp 220v circuit #12 awg wire to run the air handler.

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

That's a lot closer to workable. What's the model number of the air handler? From that I can tell you if you'll need 20 amp 12 wire or 30amp 10 for proper sizing.

[@TropicBreezeRealty]

@@JerseyMikeHVAC MAHM048ETA

[@JerseyMikeHVAC]

@@TropicBreezeRealty 15 amp breaker. 12 wire is good.