Oil-filled radiator damage - dangerous?

[Radiator]

I'm a college student in the US and I bought a small oil-filled radiator three years ago for my dorm room since it gets very cold in the wintertime here - the brand is Costway. It's worked well so far and I manged to take care of it properly too, but I just recently had to move out to a new room and the person who helped me move out was not careful at all with my belongings, dropping the radiator off the cart couple of times. I noticed that one of the elements is slightly bend, but no fissures seem to be in the metal, only the paint layer is cracked. I haven't noticed any oil spills yet but I just plugged it in and the radiator didn't start working until turning it to the second power level. I'm just worried that it might actually have some cracks in the metal somewhere, even where the paint is scratched off, that I cannot see and that it will leak oil eventually. Is a potential oil leak dangerous? I understand it can be a fire hazard, but could the oil inside become volatile and cause harm to human health without realizing it? I don't have much money at this moment and I'm also an international student, so I want to be sure that the radiator is fully damaged/a hazard until I buy a new one. Thank you!

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[Animal]

On Thursday, 22 September 2022 at 22:02:01 UTC+1, Radiator wrote:
> I'm a college student in the US and I bought a small oil-filled radiator three years ago for my dorm room since it gets very cold in the wintertime here - the brand is Costway. It's worked well so far and I manged to take care of it properly too, but I just recently had to move out to a new room and the person who helped me move out was not careful at all with my belongings, dropping the radiator off the cart couple of times. I noticed that one of the elements is slightly bend, but no fissures seem to be in the metal, only the paint layer is cracked. I haven't noticed any oil spills yet but I just plugged it in and the radiator didn't start working until turning it to the second power level. I'm just worried that it might actually have some cracks in the metal somewhere, even where the paint is scratched off, that I cannot see and that it will leak oil eventually.

If it's cracked it'll leak. Is it leaking? Is the metal damage shape that of a crack?

> Is a potential oil leak dangerous?

It's slippery

> I understand it can be a fire hazard,

not really, your house is full of flammables already

> but could the oil inside become volatile

Sure, if you can get it to 500C. I don't think you'll achieve that without noticing.

> and cause harm to human health without realizing it? I don't have much money at this moment and I'm also an international student, so I want to be sure that the radiator is fully damaged/a hazard until I buy a new one. Thank you!

If you wanna be sure it's fully damaged, half an hour with a sledgerhammer should do it.

[Fredxx]

On 22/09/2022 23:20, Animal wrote:
> On Thursday, 22 September 2022 at 22:02:01 UTC+1, Radiator wrote:
>> I'm a college student in the US and I bought a small oil-filled
>> radiator three years ago for my dorm room since it gets very cold
>> in the wintertime here - the brand is Costway. It's worked well so
>> far and I manged to take care of it properly too, but I just
>> recently had to move out to a new room and the person who helped me
>> move out was not careful at all with my belongings, dropping the
>> radiator off the cart couple of times. I noticed that one of the
>> elements is slightly bend, but no fissures seem to be in the metal,
>> only the paint layer is cracked. I haven't noticed any oil spills
>> yet but I just plugged it in and the radiator didn't start working
>> until turning it to the second power level. I'm just worried that
>> it might actually have some cracks in the metal somewhere, even
>> where the paint is scratched off, that I cannot see and that it
>> will leak oil eventually.
>
> If it's cracked it'll leak. Is it leaking? Is the metal damage shape
> that of a crack?

I would be more concerned over not working at power level 1. It could be
from a loose wire.

>> Is a potential oil leak dangerous?
>
> It's slippery
>
>> I understand it can be a fire hazard,
>
> not really, your house is full of flammables already
>
>> but could the oil inside become volatile
>
> Sure, if you can get it to 500C. I don't think you'll achieve that
> without noticing.

Please let me know of an oil that only become volatile at 500C?

>> and cause harm to human health without realizing it? I don't have
>> much money at this moment and I'm also an international student, so
>> I want to be sure that the radiator is fully damaged/a hazard until
>> I buy a new one. Thank you!
>
> If you wanna be sure it's fully damaged, half an hour with a
> sledgerhammer should do it.

You're not being very helpful, are you? Heaven knows why they/you are
(cross)-posting to a uk group.

[F Murtz]

have a look in the control box

[Brian Gaff]

Chuckle. I've never seen one with power levels, which suggests more than one
element. All of mine are just one element and a thermostat. If an element
has died, one needs to make sure it is not shorting to the metal case. In
the UK these things are earthed so if this happens it either takes out the
fuse or the breaker on that circuit. Having seen some US stuff recently, I'm
not even sure if they use fuses in their plugs!

Brian

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[Colin Bignell]

On 23/09/2022 08:25, Brian Gaff wrote:
> Chuckle. I've never seen one with power levels, which suggests more than one
> element.

It is common for higher powered oil filled radiators to have two
elements and three settings.

All of mine are just one element and a thermostat. If an element
> has died, one needs to make sure it is not shorting to the metal case. In
> the UK these things are earthed so if this happens it either takes out the
> fuse or the breaker on that circuit. Having seen some US stuff recently, I'm
> not even sure if they use fuses in their plugs!
>
> Brian
>

--

Colin Bignell

[John Rumm]

On 23/09/2022 08:25, Brian Gaff wrote:

> Having seen some US stuff recently, I'm
> not even sure if they use fuses in their plugs!

They don't, but then they have the whole circuit protected at 15A, so
the circuit fuse/mcb ought to provide fault protection down as far as
the appliance end of it's flex.

--
Cheers,

John.

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[Fredxx]

TBH, as he found it necessary to ask the question I had assumed that
would be above the student's pay grade.

[Animal]

why?

> >> and cause harm to human health without realizing it? I don't have
> >> much money at this moment and I'm also an international student, so
> >> I want to be sure that the radiator is fully damaged/a hazard until
> >> I buy a new one. Thank you!
> >
> > If you wanna be sure it's fully damaged, half an hour with a
> > sledgerhammer should do it.

> You're not being very helpful, are you?

Yes. Making a point with sarcasm works.

> Heaven knows why they/you are
> (cross)-posting to a uk group.

it's homo nerds hub.

If the op's electrical system works properly & is modernish, all should be well. But that may not be the case if it's a non-eebad 1930s system.