I need a manual for a ceramic element air heater, model 5126

The service manual is here.

You can find helpful exploded view diagrams and order parts by entering your full model number from the tag on the oven here.

You can download GE owner's manuals and installation instructions here.

mr heater makes a whistling sound as gas escapes around the gasket of the ceramic heating elements, that is ,all around the outside edges of the ceramic heating elements.

You can find out exactly where the gas leak is , by pressing down on the outside edges of the ceramic elements with a big, long
slotted (flat bladed) screwdriver while mr heater is running and hot.

The screwdriver needs to be long enough so that you dont burn your hands [the longer & bigger the screwdriver, the better] & it does not hurt to wear heavy gloves too, because it gets very hot, very fast in front of mr heater.
The thicker the blade of the screwdriver is, the less chance of damaging the ceramic heating element because a thick bladed screwdriver will not concentrate all the pressure in just 1 tiny point.

You are not trying to crack the ceramic with a wood chisel.

Dont press down so hard that you break the ceramic heating element, start by pressing down gently and gradually increasing pressure until you notice a change in the whistle or sparks comming out of the heating element as loose carbon deposits
come out of the heating element and burn in the propaine flame.

When you press down on one edge ,the other opposite edge may come up slightly, resulting in loose carbon deposits escaping and burning as sparks.

also, you may not be pressing at the spot where the gas whistling is comming from and will need to move the screwdriver flat blade around the edges, here & there, to test for the effect of pressing down.

When you press down on the outside edge where the diamonds stop, while mr heater is whisteling, the whisteling will stop & mr heater will run quite. Sometimes, just pushing down with the screwdriver will stop the whisteling ,for a while,and maybe a good long while.

The big pain in the **** solution is to put a new gasket around the
ceramic heating elements, but there is no guarantee that the new gasket will not whistle.
Its a big ,nasty job, which I would rather not do--so I just push down with the screwdriver, to temporarly stop the whisteling, I guess it depends on how much the whisteling annoys you, as to if you want to go thru all the effort & expense of changing out the gaskets, without knowing if it will still whistle when you are done.

Im just a diy guy that has 3 big buddys I keep going for 4 yrs now.
I took one apart to look 4 the cause of the gas whistling, and then put it back together. Funny,it stopped whisteling & that was 3 yrs ago. I didnt put in any new parts.

It may help ,a lot ,to increase the pressure with which the Mr heater ceramic is pressed down against the gasket material.


This is accomplished by a heavy stainless steel wire that runs behind the ceramic heater element and goes through sheet metal
tabs on each side of the ceramic mounting frame.
You can bend the wire and the tabs,but only a little bit, and be very careful not to break the tabs because the tabs are not repairable, to increase the downwards pressure of the ceramic element against the gasket material. This may stop the gas whisteling--
its a try & see thing, a finicky adjustment, that sometimes works
& sometimes does not and sometimes, after a week or two, the ceramic might reseat itself against the gasket material and the whistling stop. Mine did stop whistling, but not until a couple of months after i did the job, due ,i think to reseating of the cermic against the gasket material. its try & see thing.


also ,a gas tank that has higher than average gas pressure may start gas whistling up but the whistling will stop after you have burned up the higher pressure of the propaine.

The Bionaire BCH9224-CN is a ceramic space heater, one of apparently 4 related units. The 9224 is the tallest in the family and I also have the shorter BCH9212-CN. They are electric so I have no idea what all this talk about 'gas', 'pilot light' and 'flame' is. My 9224 failed in a way that seems quite common with Bionaire space heaters in general, namely, first the smell of burning electrical insulation, then a snap or pop accompanied by a flash of light out the lower side, and then no more heat. It is possible that the original questioner had this happen but wasn't around to witness it. Now it is possible that the failure is in the electrical control board but in my case (and in fact I'm betting for many or most of the Bionaire failures) it was a wire running to the ceramic heating block (element) that fried at the connection to the ceramic element. I would say it is very unlikely the failures of the Bionaires are in the ceramic heater blocks themselves, and in fact the 9224 and the 9212 (and I assume many or most of the other Bionaires) actually have two ceramic blocks/elements fastened together, one being used for the 750 watt heating and both for the 1500 watt heating. The central wire running to the blocks must support enough current (about 12.5 amps) for both of the blocks, whereas the wires to the individual blocks need half that (about 6.25 amps). In my 9224 unit the weak spot was clearly where the central, common wire was connected to the spade-like connector that was crimped onto the central, common tab of the ceramic block pair. At first I thought I'd just toss the thing but then I opened it up, did the autopsy and repaired it by replacing the 3 wires from the circuit board to the ceramic blocks with 14 gauge wire, and made the connection of the wires to the three soft metal (tin or tin alloy?) tabs of the ceramic blocks by carefully drilling holes in the tabs and bolting eye, crimp-type wire connectors to the tabs using small screws. Oddly enough I opened up the smaller unit (the BCH9212-CN) and it has the same ceramic element pair but no indication of burnt wires.

this could have to do with the main gas feeds to the ceramic panels . they might be obstructed with a spider web or dirt,foriegn material etc.
easiest fix is to take a air compresser with a blow gun tip and blow out ant foriegn material or spider webs from the gas feed pipes to
the ceramic burners.
the gas feed pipes have large air induction holes that a small blow gun can fit its nozzle into to blow out the gas feed pipes without
having to disassemble them.
that is a big time & work saver.
I took my gas feed lines to the ceramic burners all apart, only to get out a spider web that i could have blown out with compressed air and saved myself 2 hours work.

anything inside the gas feed pipes to the ceramic burners will result in dark spots or the panels not staying lite, irratic burning
or no burning at all.
the gas needs to be able to get through unimpeded at proper flow and proper pressure for proper burning.
a spider web will mess up proper gas flow. some gas, but not enough gas will get through and ceramic wont burn well and might not hold a flame.


clean out the foriegn material from the ceramic gas feed lines.


Rare posibility,if the gas behind the ceramic element escapes around the edges of the ceramic, through a bad seal of the gasket,
this also will stop the ceramic from burning well.


mr heater is not made for easy diaassembly so try not to do more work than you have to.


use compressed air rather than taking mr heater all apart to clean out a gas feed pipe.

Here is an email address for the Lasko Products Help Dept. They should be able to provide that for you. [email protected] If you prefer to call them the number is 800-233-0268.

Hope this helped you.

You have an excess amount of lint buildup inside the ceramic element, you need to take the unit apart to clean the element. The fan housing covers the backside of the element and blows the air forward, over a period of time lint builds up.

You need a qualified person to take it apart safely and clean it. It takes a Special Chinese Triangle Bit screwdriver to remove the 2 tamper proof screws from the back. Purchased mine at mcmastercarr.com

Triangle Bits

These power bits have a 1/4" hex shank and are 2" long.
Size(A) EachTA180.070"5941A11$3.77TA200.083"5941A123.77TA230.090"5941A133.78TA270.100"5941A143.77

dirt , foriegn material,spider web in gas feed line to the right side ceramic element of mr heater big buddy. take plastic back of heater
off, many #1 philips or smaller screws. find large air induction holes
in gas feed line to right side ceramic element and blow out with compressed air and fine tiped /straw tipped air blow gun.
straw tipped air blow gun is a better tool for this.
reassemble & try lit mr heater again.
If it dont work after air blow gun the gas feed tube, you didnt get the gas feed tube cleaned out ,***** & span (something still in there ) and will need to disassemble the gas feed tube and inspect for foreign material blocking the gas flow.

If this dont work,need to take the gas feed line off the gas valve attached to Mr. heater red knob. red knob just pulls straight out, might need pliers to grab red knob.
check gas valve output for dirt etc that stop gas from getting through. check inside the gas line to the ceramic burner for dirt,
foriegn material- that stop gas from flowing through strong.

any stopage of gas flow , even a slight stopage or dirverting of the gas flow, spider web is common, will stop ceramic element from burning properly.

needs to be clean ,like a carburator.

most likley the high limit,you can check with ohm meter,or simply short it out,but thats a fire hazard.if element is burned out is junk.again check with ohm meter.

warranty is usually 90 days parts n labor. when the cells build up with lint and dust, the elements may burn it off but if its really stopped up, blow air through it in the opposite direction. use a blow gun on an air compressor.

check for dust in the air path through the heater. the fan forces air through the element.  if you have an air blower - blow air in a reverse direction through it.