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FYI***Block Heater Not Working***

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Well it's been getting in the teens at night and wanted to start using my block heater. Not my luck the heater was working every now and again, so I moved the plug around and discovered a intermittent connection. So I cut the end off and notice moister on the wires and the prongs on the plug had moister around them. I replaced with a temporary plug and it works great.
 
I will always recommend going this route so you don't have to fumble around with the cord. Just cut the end off of the heater cord and mount this where ever you would like. Marinco 150BBI plug. The wigidigit on Geno's is the same plug with a cheesy bent metal bracket.

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Same thing happened to my 99 about 5 years ago. . the cord sets break down.
And Must be replaced when they start becoming a problem.
They can cause a fire , more so when resting your bumper.....
 
If you use a little dielectric grease on the male and female connector you'll save your self some headaches..... the road dirt and film on that connector means high resistance and than heat... which than caused the end to melt as you describe... I put a 6 ft cord on mine and ran it out by the drivers side headlight... . its a bright orange so when you walk out early in the morning you can see it plugged in... .

I also carry a stubby 120 volt test plug so if I'm out for the week where its really cold I can test the plug first to see if its hot, and stays hot when I plug the heater in... .
 
you can have 120vac at the end, but when those cords start to go bad, either end (I too use the dielectric AKA bulb grease), and you get the bad connection from age on either the plug on the cord set or receptacle on the extension cord, it becomes intermittent so no block heater(but the cord light says there's voltage) and disappointment when you come out to start it... or the contact resistance gets high, lower wattage via the heater... but as you mention high heat in the connectors. . and also get the black wire syndrome (copper turns black from oxidation) on the strands, and the crimp to the lugs start to get high resistance (blub grease doesn't save the black wire failure) and more problems.

The only way I found to make 100% sure I have a solid connection is by measuring the current, and yes, if I'm out there, feeling the plug/socket connection.

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now I know I've got the heater working for me.
 
I also would like to mention that I have always used a 10/3 25ft extension cord, it might be over kill but I first used a standard cord I think is was 14/3 50ft and the plug was warm the next morning. Use the shortest cord possible.
 
while the shortest cord possible will let the block heater work at it's highest possible wattage.

the block heaters aren't like a motorized tool, where a long cord causes the motor to over heat, due to the motor wanting a constant power, as the voltage lowers the current increases, causing additional drops on the cord, and the higher current causes over heating.

The block heater is resistive, the lower the voltage, the lower the current... and the less heat you experience being put into the block's coolant. And with the current lowering, it's actually better on the plugs and sockets in the line.
 
Just to clarify and in response to the reply that someone had written but seemingly than deleted... .

Since I received it via email, I'm sure others did.

I did not say to use a under rated cord, or bad cord.
I 100% agree, with you on that part, the cord needs to be properly rated and in fine shape.

In fact, in my other posts, I warn about the fact that just checking voltage wont save one from a fire or detect a bad connection.

I've had a couple over the years nearly melt, so I now monitor voltage and current 100% of the time, to see that the connections are well.

All I said was, that a longer cord (assuming properly rated) on our block heaters will NOT cause and increase in current as if it was an electric motor / tool, causing the tool to burn up from low input voltage and too high of an operating current since it's a constant power / inductive device.

Our block heaters are resistive elements, not inductive.
Once you start lowering the applied voltage to it (via voltage drop over an extension cord), the current drops as well.
So the heater is less effective.
Just ohm's law ...

The inverse of what happens with a motorized electric power tool.
Longer the cord, the lower the applied voltage, the higher the input current, and more heat in the motor... lower the voltage enough, or operate at the point long enough, and the motor over heats. That's what the real danger is with a long extension cord with an electric motorized power tool... both to the tool and cord set... the current sky rockets and exceeds the cords rating, due what you expect normal operating current to be...

Our block heaters do not do that... longer cord, they draw less current, and they generate less heat in the water jacket.

So if we expect the block heater to draw ~6 amps with a full 120Vac applied to it, but have to go to a longer cord, get the heaviest you can, to make the heater as effective as you can. .
But the current isn't going to go past the 6amps. . in fact it will go down with a longer cord.

Again, unlike the heater, the power tool say rated at 10amp, but put a long extension cord on the power tool, and it can go up to 50% higher than that, and as it gets hot, still increase more... and it finally runs away and will go over double. . burning up the cord and motor.
 
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I just went to the local electrical store and bought a socket and a small light that had pigtails on it and wired it together after drilling a hole in the bumper. It's great because no matter how much snow I drive through it won't tear off. It cost about 17. 00 + beer.
 
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