Almost did things right... Dimplex fireplace

[Art-n-Marge]

Turned on the electric fireplace and the blower/heater part of it did not work. Got the fake flames and the back light but no heat. Not good with the temps just starting to drop. It is a 10 year old unit, model BF5000. (no longer made by Dimplex).

Took the unit apart and it appears the heater/blower subassembly is no longer working (thermostat and switch buzzed out fine). Took the subassemply out and took pictures to note the wiring, then ordered a new part from Dimplex.

It took a few days, and then I started putting things together using the pictures I took. All went well until the last blue wire needed to be connected and I found that the picture I took obscures where that last wire goes. HELP!

Does anyone know? A call to Dimplex and the rep sent me an email with an attached schematic but with the unit so old, the drawing is so faded I can't make it out.

So now I need a big favor, that anyone take apart their fireplace to see if it's a BF5000, then take off the top cover and tell me where the two blue wires on the heater/blower assembly connect. I know one wire goes to the side of the assembly, but don't know about the other blue wire. I think it goes to the power wire header block but my picture is not clear enough, I don't remember, and don't want to connect it wrong (not fond of messing up a high current device).

I do realize this is asking a lot and I will keep trying to figure it out.

[DQDick]

If you don't get a reply, call Dimplex. Their customer service is good.

[Art-n-Marge]

I did call Dimplex... got a schematic and PDF and it was NO help. The drawing didn't even show blue, red and yellow wiring that runs throughout the assembly; it only showed black and white wires.

Well, the good news is that I believe I figured it out by just thinking about it for a while and remembering that I had to use a tiny screwdriver on a header that was connected to the AC black and white wires. I just put the blue wire with another blue wire that looked like it was malformed from two wire connectors installed into the header. Put it all back together and it all works perfectly. I'll take luck.

Sorry about the panic and we are looking forward to a warmer living room this winter.

[Kimo]

Check this pdf out, it has picks at the end. http://www.dimplex.com/cms/publicati...0380000R00.pdf

[Art-n-Marge]

Thanks for that, Kimo. Unfortunately, that does not look at all like my unit. According to Dimplex mine is old and discontinued and the lady on the end of the phone wished me luck at figuring it out. My RV is a 2006 and the fireplace so old and basic, it is not remote controlled. I was able to figure it out and now we happily wait for cold weather.

[ranch560]

Art, in 2006 weren't some of those fireplaces still wood fired?

[Art-n-Marge]

I don't believe ANY fireplaces in any trailer were ever wood fired, nor should they ever be. I would suspect, this would be too dangerous, not just because the wood temperature and finding a way to easily evacuate the hard to control heat and smoke, it would be difficult to control someone who might add too much wood when running it. Then there's the carbon monoxide dangers, etc.

Does ANYONE know of a successful wood fired fireplace in a trailer? I would imagine the weight of trying to control the hot temps would add TOO much weight to any rig.

I do recall that in 2006, it became more popular for trailer manufacturers to make an electric fireplace a standard or commonly added feature. Actually I think it started in 2004 or 2005 when we visited RV shows and these electric fireplaces were everywhere, until we finally bought our rig that happened to have one. We like it a lot,

[lostshakerofsalt]

I think ranch560 was making a joke. LOL.

[ranch560]

I meant to say coal. And the good news, Samsung has a new app on their Galaxy Note 7 smartphone that will light the fire if needed.

[1retired06]

Yup and a good joke!