Installation Guide

INSTALLATION 21
To avoid damaging the DITRA-HEAT-E-HK heating cable spool due to handling, we recommend turning the box over to
remove the spool from the packaging box. Then pick up the spool from underneath the heating cable coil, but not by the
cardboard washers.
i
Tests Conducted Term Resolution
Test 1: Conductor Resistance
+
Test 2: Continuity between Conductor and Ground Braid
+
Test 3: Insulation Resistance
+
Test 4: Thermostat Floor Temperature Sensor
15 years Assembly repair or replacement (labor & materials)
Test 1: Conductor Resistance
+
Test 2: Continuity between Conductor and Ground Braid
+
Test 4: Thermostat Floor Temperature Sensor
10 years Assembly repair or replacement (labor & materials)
No Heating Cable Testing
Conducted
No heating cable warranty coverage; Only 10 year warranty
coverage on the DITRA-HEAT or DITRA-HEAT-DUO membrane.
Test 1: Conductor resistance (required)
In order to perform the resistance test, you must set your multimeter for resistance
measurement and take an ohms reading between the two power leads. If the ohms reading
taken on the two power leads varies significantly (10% or more) from the value printed on the
spool, it either means that the cable has been damaged, or that the measuring instrument is
not set properly, or that it is simply out of calibration. The ohms measurement must be recorded
in your heating cable tests log (page 36).
Test 2: Conductor and ground braid continuity (required)
The heating cable is protected by a ground braid. An electrical insulator prevents any contact
between the braid and the two conductors. To make sure there is no contact between the
braid and the two conductors, you must perform a continuity test. Using the continuity test
(buzzer logo) function of your multimeter, test your cable between the braid and one of the
two power leads. If there is no continuity (if the test is successful), the multimeter will display,
depending on the instrument used, either “OL ” for “over load” or “I” for “infinity”. Otherwise,
if the test fails, neither “OL ”, nor “I” will be displayed and a warning tone will be heard. The
test result must be recorded in your heating cable tests log (page 36).
Test 3: Insulation resistance (recommended)
This test is meant to detect very small breaks throughout the cable insulation. These breaks
often remain undetected during the continuity test since they are not necessarily short circuits
between the conductor and the ground braid. Even though they are small, these breaks
are likely to cause a current leakage to ground. Such a leakage is usually detected by the
mandatory ground-fault circuit interrupter “GFCI” (thermostat with integrated GFCI or panel
mount GFCI). When a current leakage is detected, the GFCI trips the circuit, thus disabling
the floor heating system. In order to perform the insulation resistance test, you must, using
a megohmmeter (Mohm logo), take an insulation measurement between the braid and one
of the two power leads. Make sure the megohmmeter range is set at 1000 V. The insulation
resistance measurement must be equal to or greater than 1 Gigaohms (1 Gigaohms = 1 G
ohms = 1000 M ohms = 1000 Mega ohms). The insulation resistance measurement must be
recorded in your heating cable tests log (page 36).
Test 4: DITRA-HEAT Thermostat Floor Temperature Sensor Test (required)
Test the floor temperature sensors using a multimeter to verify accuracy of the sensors. Set the
multimeter to the resistance setting (i.e., Ω or 20K Ω +/-2, as applicable) at room temperature
and take a reading between the sensor leads. The resistance will vary according to the
temperature (i.e., the colder the sensor, the higher the resistance). Compare values with the
table of expected values and record in the heating cable tests log on page 36.
Heating Cable Tests
The following table outlines DITRA-HEAT system warranty coverage based on which heating cable tests are conducted, documented,
and submitted to Schluter. Please refer to the Heating Cable Tests Log on page 36 of this Handbook and Warranty on page 40 of this
Handbook for further information.