I saw the previous thread on how to inspect a heat pump, but what about an electric heating systems. Here in Tennessee often we have central electric heating, without a heat pump, and just 2 -4 electric heating elements. Really not that much to inspect…
I usually look for broken wires, popped fuseable links, and any scorching. I don’t check the sequencer. Of course all of the regular stuff like blower motor, ductwork, temperature differential.
Really not that much to check. Am I missing anything?
Electric heaters are cheap to repair. If you miss a bad one, its really no big deal for your pocketbook.
An Amp meter would be your best bet.
There is no reason to even dive into that mess of wires to test. Just clamp onto one of the main conductors to the system and turn on the thermostat. You’ll initially get a blower at about 1.xx amps. Then depending upon the size and number of heat banks you’ll get a jump (heater Watts divided by voltage = amperage) as they sequence on.
You may find excessive amperage draw; this indicates that you may have a broken heater coil (that is still working), but shorter in length because it shorted out with itself.
Each heater bank consists of three components that may fail. #1 the heater coil. #2 high temperature overload (shuts off the heater if the fan airflow is restricted). #3 a fusible link (which is a one time failed device).
Ahead of the heater coils you have a sequencer, an over current protection device and the thermostat.