A Better Block Heater Connector (?)

[rbattelle]

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.

 

[rbattelle]

Here's the receptacle after assembly... notice the RTV.

 

[rbattelle]

Receptacle installed in the air dam.

 

[rbattelle]

A wider view of the installed receptacle...

 

[rbattelle]

The assembled plug (with dust cap)...

 

[rbattelle]

Finally, the entire thing plugged in...

 

[Shovelhead]

Looks real good.



Whatever you do, make REAL sure you unplug before driving away or you could find your house following you down the road.

 

[Tony T.]

BH Connector

Good idea Ryan, and a nice job too, but there's one draw back your going to have to find other means of getting your hair permed now. :-laf

 

[rbattelle]

Originally posted by Shovelhead

Looks real good.



Whatever you do, maake REAL sure you unplug before driving away or you could find your house following you down the road.

Good point.

 

[Ted Constantine]

where did you pick up the parts?

Ted

 

[rbattelle]

Originally posted by Ted Constantine

where did you pick up the parts?

Ted

www.newark.com



I have no afiliation with them, I just use them because they carry everything electrical in the universe.



Got the extension cord from Lowes.

 

[wlowe]

Nice job.

Here is similar setup from the guys over at Northwest Bombers. I think this one uses a standard 110 V male plug from Kenworth.



http://www.nwbombers.com/cgi-bin/forum/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=14;t=5639

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

Originally posted by Shovelhead

Looks real good.



Whatever you do, make REAL sure you unplug before driving away or you could find your house following you down the road.

Dude what a great commercial



See some guy with his A. M Coffee hop in his CTD Fire it up and start off going down the road. As he gets a mile or so down the road he sees a Lineman go flyin' past him hanging onto a power cable headed for your house. The camera cuts to the rearview with a transformer , lineman , pair of sneakers wrapped around the wire etc headed straight for your house. The camera quickly cuts back to the driver pulling over with coffee in hand , looking down the road he sees the damage trail left behind him then the camera zooms down the carnage (From front bumper to the extension cord , outlet and box , 50 feet of 12/2 romex cable , the breaker panel and a wad of branch circuits , the feeder etc)



Then the camera quickly cuts thru the house exiting thru the gaping hole where the meter can once was with the lineman (Bill) is layin in the front yard caughing. With the CTD driver walking up in the background



[Bill]: "Kev , ya gotta unplug that thing ya know"

[Kevin]: "Yeah but Ya never really gotta plug theese things in"

(Kevin Dusting off Bill)

[Kevin]: Oh and see ya at Lil' billy's game later O. K"

[Bill]: I dunno Kev Looks Like I have Overtime to deal with now"





[Jingle] Der neh ner neh ner neh ner [/jingle]

 

[KWentling]

Am I seeing this right? Excuse me if I'm missing something here. It looks like you have the female connector on the truck, That means you could have energized exposed pins on the extension cord, provided it was plugged in at the power source. (I don't imagine Amphenol makes a box mount male connector, those are rare) If so, it sure wouldn't meet code. I suppose the GFI might save you or someone else that didn't know what you had and made contact with the "hot" pin. The safer set up would be the covered male plug like on big trucks as wlowe mentions. That wouldn't be as weather resistant as the Amphenol connectors, but would be a whole lot safer.



Kim

 

[rbattelle]

Originally posted by KWentling

Am I seeing this right? Excuse me if I'm missing something here. It looks like you have the female connector on the truck, That means you could have energized exposed pins on the extension cord, provided it was plugged in at the power source. (I don't imagine Amphenol makes a box mount male connector, those are rare) If so, it sure wouldn't meet code. I suppose the GFI might save you or someone else that didn't know what you had and made contact with the "hot" pin. The safer set up would be the covered male plug like on big trucks as wlowe mentions. That wouldn't be as weather resistant as the Amphenol connectors, but would be a whole lot safer.



Kim

Hmmm... I hadn't thought of that. You can get a male box plug, just swap the "P" and "S" in the receptacle and plug.



Boy, that is a safety issue. Once the dust cap is installed on the plug, there's no chance of anyone getting hurt. With the dust cap removed, I suppose if you were ignorant enough to touch the terminals you'd get a nasty shock. At least the pins are recessed a bit in the connector. I can see it now, some moron will see the cord laying on the ground, pick it up, remove the dust cap, and stick a finger in there and electrocute himself. And the sad part is I'd probably be held responsible.

 

[stg2500]

Check out my readers rig section. I also installed one of the covered plugs that are found on Peterbilt's. I put it on the rivers side of the bumper so that you will always notice the cord when you get into the truck.

 

[datablitz]

i once thought of getting some quick disconnects, as found on some jumpboxes, and similar to some golf cart connectors, and rig one to the truck and rig the other to the wall where i park, the connectors have handles to pull to disconnect them, so if i tied some rope to the cord, i could just drive away and they would unplug themselfs... .





damn..... that really makes me sound lazy... oh well

 

[skillsaw]

Good idea data - I'm sick of repairing my GFCI & my siding!!

 

[Newf Limo]

There was a thread on here awhile back that addressed this issue with another idea. There is a type of plug that is used on Emergency vehicles. It plugs in and when you start the vehicle, it senses the 12VDC current and, basically, spits the plug out.

 

[Newf Limo]

http://www.kussmaul.com/