need help identifying unknown heating unit

[ryan_975]

Ok,  haven't been here in a while. But I'm back with a new problem.  My dad's house has an electric central heating system that's pretty old.  It seems the heating elements have gone bad. We have no idea what the model or brand of heater it is since the name plate is gone, and the data plate is worn to the point where we can't read any of it. Needless to say we can't get replacement elements without that information, so if someone can help me identify this sucker I'd be grateful.

The unit a light brown cube mounted in an updraft orientation. It's  around 18"x18"x18" give or take an inch or two. There are two horizontal doors splitting the unit into two halves. The upper halve has al the wiring in the front and a panel where three heating elements mount in the back. The bottom half has the blower motor. The motor has blower wheels mounted on both sides of it.  Also it's a 220v unit. 

The heating coils are mounted into a long rectangular plate about 3" tall and 15" long. Ther's a screw on each end of the plate to mount them in the unit. The elements are stacked vertically.

Looking into the unit's electrical portion there's a shelf dividing the two halves where the doors meet. It's got the thermostat wiring block on the left, a transformer  immediately to the right.  Then there's three small block looking things which I believe are timers of some sort. Then on the far right there are two terminal blocks where most of the wiring in the unit runs too.  One's marked L1, the other's marked L2. Each block has a thick power cable bolted to it, one black, one red. Obviously these are the 220v feeds. Then there's a white cable (neutral) bolted to the chassis.

It's getting pretty cold at night now and his heater isn't getting hot,  just barely warm. He said it took ten hours to raise the temp from 50 degrees to 55 degrees. Any help keeping an old man warm this winter will be greatly appreciated.  I'll try to get some pictures of it hosted sometime this next week. Thanks in advance.

[ryan_975]

Oh yeah,  the unit is at least 20 years old.

[AccApp]

The Johnstone by me has a universal 220v electric heater element restring kit. It works for me every time and it even includes a thermal limit. Got to be some store nearby where you could take the old element and have the counter person match it up.

[ryan_975]

Ok thanks,  I'll check it out. 

Of course it may be time to just get a new heating system. This things has never worked quite right since we bought the house 6 years ago. Any suggestions for a brand to go with if he were to go that route?

[AccApp]

No, suggestion on brand, they are all pretty much the same. You need to get someone who knows what is going on and your true needs as far as airflow and capacity go, NATE certification is a good start.

[ryan_975]

Thanks again.  We'd definately go with someone who knew what they were doing.  Just there's about 15 companies around here and each one specializes in a certain brand such as Trane, Carrier, etc.