Modernize a vintage heater

I started to title this Instructable "How To Void a Warranty," but decided that I have many ways to void warranties, and this is only one!

I found this old Kenmore electric heater that was probably made in the 1940's or early 1950's in a junk store one day, and $12 later it was mine. These old electric heaters were made before any of today's safety considerations and they can be pretty dangerous, particularly as they age. This heater was made with no on/off switch, no fuse, no thermostat, and no double insulation. Basically to turn it on, you plugged it in, and it would sit there and generate heat, at least until one of its porcelain insulators eventually cracked -- then it could become a metal housing filled with live current, and possibly elecrocute you and/or set your house on fire. Not a good way to begin a cold morning......

My wife and I thought this would look nice in our bathroom, so I decided I would replace the insde parts with the insides from a new ceramic heater. Then we could have the vintage look with modern safety features.

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Step 1: Disassembly

It was easy to get to the internals of this heater. All I had to do was remove four screws near the base and one on the upper rear of the heater and the base came off with the insides attached. The heat coils were attached to the base with four rivets. Since I would need the base, I drilled out the four rivets, tossed the old unit with the coils and the cord, and kept the base.

With the heater disassembled, I could now take measurements inside the heater's housing to see how much room I would have to fit the insides of a modern ceramic heater.

josefkooper says: Aug 7, 2012. 7:59 PM

I have the same type of ceramic heater, and when I disassembled mine was puzzled by the actual heating element, eventually finding out that it was probably Barium Titanate - a clever material that automatically regulates its own resistive heat output by having low resistance when cold and more when it warms up. Assuming yours is the same, the tiny thermostat on the fan housing is more like a secondary mechanism.

The survival dude says: Jan 16, 2012. 7:21 AM

OK,please explain to me why you would go to all that trouble if you have to get a new heater anyway????????? JUST KEEP THE NEW ONE AND DITCH THE OLD ONE!