Customer Reviews

Black & Decker BDCH200 Ceramic Heater

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4 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

We purchased this heater about a month ago and it is wonderful. It has excellent features, such as tip over or overheat safety. It automatically shuts down if it gets too warm or tips over. If you pick it up to move it, it also shuts down. It has different settings for room size and/or temp. We use it in a 14 x 14 sunroom and has kept it very comfortable so far (during Dec and Jan). We just love it - and it is inexpensive. What a deal!

I bought this heater less than 2 weeks ago, and it is already dead. The heater itself worked great, but the AST plug that it uses for safety is a piece of junk. The instructions recommend you test the plug prior to every use by pressing the test button, then the reset button (similar to a GFCI plug). However, this is what caused the death of my heater.

And I just found it it will cost me almost as much to send it back to Black & Decker to get it fixed as it would to buy another heater (from a different manufacturer, of course). So
I decided to open up the AST plug and find out what was wrong .. and boy am I glad I did...

Inside that plug, the reset button is a piece of plastic that is about a quarter of an inch around on the outside of the plug; but the functional piece on the back of that button that has to press a metal rod down and lock in place is about the thickness of a paper clip. And because it locks in place, it also has to flex back and forth to move notched areas into locking position. Well, this tiny fragile piece of plastic broke because I diligently followed the instructions and tested my unit before every use. About 10 times of pressing that button stressed that thin piece of plastic until it broke... thus rendering the entire heater useless.

I'm just going to throw it in the trash and chalk it up as wasted money; since getting it fixed would probably just result in my being able to use it a few more times before that cheap piece of plastic in the plug would fail again. I'm also never going to buy a B&D product again, as I've had nothing but trouble with their products; usually due to cheap parts.