Deicer failed. Need help with diagnosis.

[linguini]

Does it have a way to open it to get at the internal components? If so, use an electric meter set on ohms or just a battery powered electrical test light. You need to check each wire of the power cord to see if the wire is unbroken from the male prong to where that wire connects to the electronic or resistance heater element. Unplug it of course, check one side then the other. Once you rule out the power cord being bad use an electrical meter set on ohms to check the resistance in the heating coil. Again you are checking for continuity, electric is going in and out and the amount of resistance which is what produces the heat as it chokes down the flow of electrons.

If you don't understand any of this, toss the heater in the trash and buy a new one before you electrocute yourself.

Thanks for the suggestion. It's not clear if the unit is functioning properly - we'll know the next two days when temperature drops down to below 20. If the spouts froze, we'll try to to see if we can open the base and do some testing. We do have a multimeter handy. If all fails, we'll get a K&H submersible unit suggested by @jreardon1918 !

 

[Al Gerhart]

Thanks for the suggestion. It's not clear if the unit is functioning properly - we'll know the next two days when temperature drops down to below 20. If the spouts froze, we'll try to to see if we can open the base and do some testing. We do have a multimeter handy. If all fails, we'll get a K&H submersible unit suggested by @jreardon1918 !

Stick it in the freezer with a bucket of water to see if the heater is working.

 

[linguini]

Stick it in the freezer with a bucket of water to see if the heater is working.

It's a bit too gross to put it in the freezer Also, the base is quite huge. Luckily, the freezer provided by the mother nature is here now! it's 31F now, will be 20F in an hour.

 

[linguini]

I can't help diagnose why the unit failed. It looks like the waterer you have can accept a submersible heater. Here is the one I am currently using. It keeps the 5 gallon bucket *water* I use *liquid* all winter. It looks a bit cheaper than the warming plate.

Edited to add liquid.

Thanks for the suggestion. Finally gave up on our K&H platform deicer and ordered a unit of the deicer you recommended. The platform deicer seemed to work for a while till continuous days of low 20s. Even with extra insulation, spouts frozen solid again!

 

[linguini]

I can't help diagnose why the unit failed. It looks like the waterer you have can accept a submersible heater. Here is the one I am currently using. It keeps the 5 gallon bucket *water* I use *liquid* all winter. It looks a bit cheaper than the warming plate.

Edited to add liquid.

Thanks for the recommendation. We purchased one and used it in the Rent-a-Coop 5 gallon tank, it fits and works perfectly! Much cheaper than the >$70 platform option! It was 12F this morning, and will be 6F tomorrow. Just in time.