Presto HeatDish Problem

I rewired my heat dish. I UNPLUGGED THE HEAT DISH. I loosened the three screws on the back and removed them. Then I unclipped the dish at the bottom. The dish should be loose and the bottom section of the dish should be detached from the plastic casing. Look inside the casing at the bottom. There is a red cable attached to the buzzer (it’s the silver metallic piece). Detach the red cable from the buzzer. Now look directly behind the buzzer is a black wire that connects to the circuit next the buzzer. Attach the red cable to the female receptor foot the black cable. Plug it in and it should work fine. This will permantly disable the buzzer, SO YOUR HEATDISSH NOW LOINGER HAS A WARNING SYSYTEM. IF YOU TURN YOUR HEATER OVER THE BUZZER DOES NOT GO OFF, THE BUZZER ALSO INDICATES OVERHEATING OF THE UNIT. SO BE CAREFULL. MAKE SURE THE UNIT IS UNPLUGGED WHEN WORKING ON IT. GOOD LUCK AND BE SAFE

DO NOT DISCONNECT THE BUZZER! This is dangerous and unsafe.

There is a design flaw within the unit. You need to do 2 things.

1. Clean the surface of the dish very thoroughly. You can use a pair of plier to bend the edges so you can pull off the front cover.

2. There are 3 screws to remove the back of the dish. One at the top and two at the back to remove the plastic back stand. Now drill tons of holes in the top of the plastic stand and down the sides. The more holes you drill the better. What is happening is the heat is building up at the top of the unit tripping off the heat sensor. By venting the top, this won't happen anymore. I have no idea why they didn't do this from the factory. The system has to have air flow.

Also, you cannot buy replacement parts from Presto. They are worthless.

I think almost everyone has this problem at one point or another. I actually managed to get through to a customer support person on the phone at Presto (or its successor company; can't remember which atm). She said the only solution they knew of was to clean the inside of the dish carefully. I asked about rewiring to bypass the buzzer and she said that she had heard of ways to do that but was too electrically challenged to offer much help.

I had an enormous problem cleaning the dish because of the cage until I figured this out: you can use a wire cutter to remove enough of the cage bars to be able to get your hand inside the cage. If you do it symmetrically, it looks as if that was the original design.

Even cleaning the dish throroughly hasn't stopped the buzzing. Next step is to try re-wiring it. I'll post the results.

Did you buy it at Costco? Return it under their 100% satisfaction guarantee. Costco prides itself on curating quality products from reputable manufacturers for its customer base. A product such as this should last more than a couple years imho. If costco sees enough returns due to failure and lack of customer support from manufacturer costco may pressure mfgr to change tune or stop carrying their products. Returning used products to costco shouldnt be taken advantage of. But if you experience quality concerns with a product they sell, returning it is equivalent to placing a yay/nay vote for the product and its mfgr

MR. ANONYMOUS WAS -- ALMOST -- ALMOST , CORRECT (but for various spelling mistakes & not enough details)--BUT AMATEURS OR OTHERS COULD MAKE A MISTAKE WITH HIS ANSWER WHICH IS--//////HIS QUOTE: "I rewired my heat dish. I UNPLUGGED THE HEAT DISH. I loosened the three screws on the back and removed them. Then I unclipped the dish at the bottom. The dish should be loose and the bottom section of the dish should be detached from the plastic casing. Look inside the casing at the bottom. There is a red cable attached to the buzzer (it's the silver metallic piece). Detach the red cable from the buzzer. Now look directly behind the buzzer is a black wire that connects to the circuit next the buzzer. Attach the red cable to the female receptor foot the black cable. Plug it in and it should work fine. This will permantly disable the buzzer, SO YOUR HEATDISSH NOW LOINGER HAS A WARNING SYSYTEM. IF YOU TURN YOUR HEATER OVER THE BUZZER DOES NOT GO OFF, THE BUZZER ALSO INDICATES OVERHEATING OF THE UNIT. SO BE CAREFULL. MAKE SURE THE UNIT IS UNPLUGGED WHEN WORKING ON IT. GOOD LUCK AND BE SAFE////// // HERE IS MY EXPERT ADVICE for PRESTO PARABOLIC HEATER ---(AS I ONCE WORKED FOR MR. "FRIGYA" , WHO NEVER ONCE GAVE ME A PENNY FOR EXPERT, VERY DETAILED ADVICE FOR AMATEURS BTW)//////// APRIL 30/2022----MY ADVICE : " UNPLUG IT ! --I rewired my heat dish & it is VERY easy--no cutting needed. I removed ------( counter clockwise)-- the three PHILLIPS screws (on my model) //on the back . Then I unclipped the dish at the bottom FRONT. The dish should be loose and the bottom section of the dish should be detached from the plastic casing. Look inside the casing at the bottom. There is a RED insulated wire attached to the buzzer (it's the round, silver metallic piece). Detach the red cable from the buzzer. Now look DIRECTLY BEHIND the silver buzzer & there are 2 black wires that connect to a small black box (which I didn't have anyone to tell me what it is--except Mr. Anon had already done it) . Use a circuit tester (if you want--BUT HE/ I already determined the FRONT terminal CLOSEST TO the buzzer is the correct Neutral terminal. Attach the red cable to that terminal with existing black wire. Plug it in and it should work fine. This will permantly disable the buzzer, SO YOUR HEAT DISH NOW, NO LONGER HAS A WARNING SYSTEM. IF YOU OVERTURN YOUR HEATER -- THE BUZZER DOES NOT GO OFF--THE BUZZER ALSO INDICATES OVERHEATING OF THE UNIT. SO BE CAREFUL. GOD --(not luck or the force) be with you AND BE SAFE [email protected] IF you want to send me a check/cheque HA HA

I guess got lucky on this one. I've had mine for years and have never had any problem. i never run it when I'm sleeping and i always unplug it when i go to bed or when turning it off. Way back when, the instructions where to always unplug it, when not in use. the only time i get buzzing is when i try to move it from one spot to another, the same sound you get when tilting it over. I have never cleaned the inside. It is dusty on the inside and there are coils there, so i dont want to fool with something that isn't broken. Once you start messing around with something you don't know anything about, you're just asking for problems.

Also, it must be on a flat surface. Sometimes when i move it to the bedroom and put it on top of a milk create, if i don't place it properly, the buzzer will go off. Mine also makes a very small humming sound from time to time. This is a safety feature to remind you that it is plugged in.

Well there is a much simpler solution to this problem. Simply put a box fan behind the heater. The airflow is enough to keep the heat dish from over heating and the alarm going off.

Thanks to both for your suggestions...I, too, have had the problems you both stated. It is a shame that Presto does not offer support for this heater. We are on our second in the past 5 years. They work great while functioning at 100%. We through the first one away because it started buzzing all the time.

Dave

Sorry, no solution, but I have two of these heaters and they both have started to do this. I hope someone knows now to turn this "feature" off!