rbattelle
TDR MEMBER
Well I finally got tired of shocking myself and my GFCI tripping when plugging in my block heater in the rain/snow. So I built what I believe is a better connector for it. I used a Mil-spec Amphenol environmentally-sealed plug and receptacle, which I mated with a quality extension cord (made by a company called Yellow Jacket). I cut the extension cord (a 50' 12ga. model), leaving 6 ft at the receptacle-end. Then I soldered that into the Amphenol receptacle, shrink-wrapping and sealing with RTV. I ended up with a 6-ft length of cord with a normal 3-prong extension cord receptacle on one end, and the Amphenol box connector on the other.
The other end of the cord (the remaining 44 ft) got the plug connector. This gave me 44 ft extension cord with the Amphenol plug on one end and a standard electrical plug on the other.
I bought dust caps for both Amphenol connectors, so they can be sealed water-tight when not in use. I've attached some pics. The part numbers I used for the connectors are:
MS3106F-16-10P (circular straight plug)
MS3102R-16-10S (circular box-mount receptacle)
9760-16 (receptacle cap)
9760-16P (plug cap)
I made no modifications to the existing block heater cord: I just plugged the new cable assembly into it, so if I'm away from home and don't have my special connector, I can still use any standard 3-prong extension cord. The nice thing is the Yellow Jacket receptacle has a light in it that is visible through my grille, so with one quick look I can verify that the heater is getting current.
I made a simple template and used a hole-saw to make the hole for the Amphenol connector in my plastic air dam under the bumper.
The other end of the cord (the remaining 44 ft) got the plug connector. This gave me 44 ft extension cord with the Amphenol plug on one end and a standard electrical plug on the other.
I bought dust caps for both Amphenol connectors, so they can be sealed water-tight when not in use. I've attached some pics. The part numbers I used for the connectors are:
MS3106F-16-10P (circular straight plug)
MS3102R-16-10S (circular box-mount receptacle)
9760-16 (receptacle cap)
9760-16P (plug cap)
I made no modifications to the existing block heater cord: I just plugged the new cable assembly into it, so if I'm away from home and don't have my special connector, I can still use any standard 3-prong extension cord. The nice thing is the Yellow Jacket receptacle has a light in it that is visible through my grille, so with one quick look I can verify that the heater is getting current.
I made a simple template and used a hole-saw to make the hole for the Amphenol connector in my plastic air dam under the bumper.