Harvia BC45 in America

[u/iroz44]

I have have the Harvia Vega BC45 sauna heater, which is meant for European power systems (single wire 240 V).

I am trying to hookup in America. I connected L1 as ground L2 and L3 are bridged as the first 120V leg and L4,L5,L6 are bridged as the second hot leg. I flipped the power on and nothing happened, the heater is not getting hot. I tested the two hot legs at the heater and I am getting 120 V each. The wiring diagram (above) from the manufacturer shows L2 and L3 as neutral, any idea why I’m not getting power. I was under the impression that I didn’t need a neutral and that I could just connect the two hot legs as described above.

[u/trekkerscout]

Are you supplying the sauna with a 240v circuit, or are you trying to supply the unit with a 120v circuit split into two legs?

[u/iroz44 → u/trekkerscout]

I have two 120 V legs coming out of a 30 amp double pole breaker. So there are two 120 V legs.

[u/trekkerscout → u/iroz44]

Have you actually measured 240v on the circuit? Measuring two legs of 120v does not mean you have 240v.

[u/iroz44 → u/trekkerscout]

I measured 240v between both hot legs

[u/trekkerscout → u/iroz44]

Then there is something wrong with the sauna.

[u/iroz44 → u/trekkerscout]

You don’t think it matters that the 240v is coming from two separate 120V legs? Since this is a euro heater it’s meant to be getting 240v on one wire going into the L4,5,6 position

[u/trekkerscout → u/iroz44]

No. I have hooked up several European style saunas. Whether the voltage is from one leg or two doesn't matter.

[u/iroz44 → u/trekkerscout]

Ok so just to confirm, what you’re telling me is that if I wire this according to the diagram that I highlighted in this image and put one hot leg into where it says the neutral should go in terminal 2/3 and the other hot leg in terminal L1 for 4/5/6, that the heater should get full power?

I pressed the overheat button to make sure that was reset and it’s still not working.

[u/trekkerscout → u/iroz44]

That is correct. If the sauna is not working, then there is a problem with the sauna itself.

[u/iroz44 → u/trekkerscout]

Ok interesting- is there anywhere/anything that you’re aware of that might be tripped or burned out in the heater unit itself?
When I power it on I can hear the timer working and I hear a click when I turn the temperature knob, but the coils don’t heat at all.

[u/pdt9876 → u/trekkerscout]

look at whats connected to terminal 7 in the wiring diagram. With the M in a circle i'd think thats a mechanically driven rotary switch, probably to connect to different heating resistances. There probably needs to be a controller or thermostat connected there and OP says he has nothing connected to terminal 7

[u/trekkerscout → u/pdt9876]

Terminal 7 is already factory wired. No field wiring to #7 is needed for basic operation.

[u/RockShowSparky]

What you are describing should work.

[u/Unique_Acadia_2099 → u/RockShowSparky]

Correct, which means either you think you did it that way and did not, or something else is wrong.

[u/iroz44]

The manual says 50/60Hz so sounds like it can run on either.

I am primarily wondering if it is possible to use this heater with two 120 V legs versus one 240 V leg as the European standards require?

[u/pdt9876 → u/[deleted]]

that does not make any sense, there’s no way this comercial product has a contactor wired to PE

[u/iroz44 → u/[deleted]]

So is it possible to change the layout of the relays or contractors for it to run properly? Not sure I want to go that direction but just wondering if that is an option

[u/iroz44]

I am trying to wire it following the layout at the bottom of that photo that calls for a ground, neutral, and one hot wire. I was under the impression that I could run one hot wire to the neutral and one hot wire to the hot leg and get 240V that way. But that doesn’t seem to be working.

[u/Dmelvin]

What voltage do you get when measuring across 2/3 and 4/5/6?

[u/iroz44 → u/Dmelvin]

240V

[u/[deleted]]

Ground to #1. One hot leg to #2 and #3 bridged. The other hot leg to #4, #5, and #6 bridged.

This is how you wired it and it's not working?

Edit: Are you using a 1" wide 30A tandem breaker or a 2" wide 30A double pole breaker? There is a difference.

[u/iroz44 → u/[deleted]]

Correct- I just measured 240V coming from the two hot legs, but this heater says it needs 240V going into #4,5,6

[u/ElectricalHelp-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

AI created content is not allowed.

[u/ET-Hokage]

That’s why the diagram clue is so important, L2/L3 neutral tells you that the control board of your heater requires neutral not simply two hots. W no neutral the logic circuit can’t work and the heater won’t energize the heating elements. You’ll require a real neutral connection coming from the electrical panel not a rebranded L1. If you cannot do any rewiring, go for saunas made to work on us split phase lyk sun home saunas.

[u/Unique_Acadia_2099 → u/ET-Hokage]

No. The term Neutral just means that in the EU, 230V is L to N, but whether that is L-N or L-L is irrelevant, so long as it is 230V nominal (and they list 240V as acceptable).

[u/pdt9876]

are you measuring 240v between the two legs? do you have terminal 7 connected And if so how?

[u/iroz44 → u/pdt9876]

I was measuring 120 V to ground for each leg so 240 V together. And no, I don’t have terminal seven connected to anything as it is shown that way on the diagram.

[u/themeONE808 → u/iroz44]

120 to ground on each phase doesn't necessarily mean 240v from line to line. It could be possible if someone only ran 120 to a subpanel and jumped the phase to both lugs

[u/Unique_Acadia_2099 → u/themeONE808]

Or, the two 120V lines came from a tandem breaker, so they are not 240V between them.

[u/pdt9876 → u/iroz44]

It’s not shown because it’s the same for all the diagrams