Spitzen und Sparken â€“ WARNING check block heater cords.

danoid · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:04 am

So this morning I gave in and decided to reconnect my viscous heater. (10°F outside with a -20° wind chill) Lumpy was plugged in and I could feel the warmth when I opened the hood. The cord was a little in the way so I pushed it a little to the side. Then I heard those sounds that make your blood run cold when dealing with electricity, looked down, and saw that the magic smoke that makes all things electrical run was leaking out of the block heater cord just behind the plug.

The electricity was quickly disconnected and the more I thought about it the luckier I feel. I plug the cord in at night and it is connected to a timer that starts around 4:00 a.m. It is quite possible that the cord could have been in a slightly different orientation, not started this bad behavior until the timer kicked in while I was still in bed, and I could have awoken to a Jeep/attached garage/house S’more.

Moral of the story, please check your block heater cords. They are all of a certain age and if, like me, you use a timer, the spitzen und sparken won’t start when you plug it in, because there is no current at that time.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:10 am

Did it show signs of fatigue before it let the blue smoke out? I never use mine but I may wrap the end from the plug up a few inches just in case.

You were indeed lucky the blue smoke only came out of the cord :BANANA:

danoid · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:15 am

I haven't had a chance to look at it with a good light but I saw the sparks coming out of the cord.

After the engine swap the dealer rerouted the block heater cord between the bumper and front fascia so it was sitting in snow from the bumper. The replacement cord will come out through the top of the grille, where I had it the first time. This keeps it a little more out of the muck.

flman · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:38 am

Mine are both still wrapped in the factory wire ties, and they both have cracking in the insulation, you would think they would have used a better material, unless they want your CRD to self destruct in a couple of years, one way or another?

racertracer · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 11:23 am

I believe there was a previous post on this subject and one of the members stated that to replace the original cord with a new OEM one the cost was under $15.00. That sounded like a safe solution to me.

danoid · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 12:05 pm

I guess that's my next question, Mopar has a block heater cord (only the cord) availalbe, does it fit our heaters? How accessable is the connector?
I'm not looking forward to messing with anything under the hood when it's this cold out. I should have replaced it this summer...

dgeist · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 12:21 pm

flman wrote:

Mine are both still wrapped in the factory wire ties, and they both have cracking in the insulation, you would think they would have used a better material, unless they want your CRD to self destruct in a couple of years, one way or another?

It would probably last at least a little longer if not wrapped up like that. I remember mine was wrapped and tied REALLY close to the block, and the tie-wrap bends were pretty severe. I think one of the dealer prep items on the CRD was to unwrap and route that. Perhaps that's why....

Dan

papaindigo · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 6:41 pm

Ditto on filman and dgeist comments. From the factory the cord is so tightly wound and up against the block that damage to the insulation is almost certain to happen if left in that position. If rerouting was part of dealer prep it did not happen on my original factory new CRD or either of the 2 used ones we got for stoutdog and me. Of the latter 2 one had an obviously damage cord and the other did not. That said the damage was cracking in the outer (secondary) insulation not the actual wire. However, being the worrier I am about all things electric I replaced the cord. Dealer part cost like $20 and not too hard to replace once you figure out where it attaches and are willing to temporarily disconnect the item, wish I could remember what it was, that's in the way at the attachment point.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Mon Dec 13, 2010 7:54 pm

I don't think any of the CRD's came with the cord unwrapped.

dgeist · **Posted:** Tue Dec 21, 2010 9:27 pm

Sir Sam wrote:

I don't think any of the CRD's came with the cord unwrapped.

Mine did... It was un-ziptied and loosely routed over by the battery around to the fuses. Not where I really wanted it, but it wasn't near the block (and that was with about 56 miles on the clock).

Dan

CIMARRON13 · **Posted:** Wed Dec 22, 2010 1:17 am

Mine was still tied next to the block. Stretched it out the other day for the first time and it looks very sketchy. Not that I will ever need to use it but if I wanted to I would replace it first.

danoid · **Posted:** Wed Dec 22, 2010 6:08 am

I learned an interesting thing the other day. Only US models get a block heater.

castnblast · **Joined:** Fri Oct 29, 2010 8:34 pm **Posts:** 18

Make that North American models. Up here in Canada, the block heater is also standard.

Roostre · **Joined:** Sun Oct 24, 2010 3:57 pm **Posts:** 195

This may not be the place for it, but here goes...

We should be plugging these into an outlet with ground fault protection (GFCI). These are less than $15 and may save you or a loved ones life.

There are several tutorials on the net about how to install them. (Search GFCI outlet install)

It only requires one per circuit, so I have two in my garage and this is where I plug in my timer. Best 20 minutes you can spend if you are using cords in an environment that has the potential to be lethal.

Safety nanny out; :goink:

danoid · **Posted:** Thu Dec 23, 2010 7:01 pm

I agree fully. There have been several times that water from melting snow on the hood has leaked into the plug and tripped the GFI. By coincidence, my home alarm is also one the same circuit, so soon after the circuit is cut the alarm starts chirping.

In this instance however, there was no current leaking to ground, just a regular 'ole completed circuit - a 'short' one at that. The GFI did not help.

dgeist · **Posted:** Fri Dec 24, 2010 6:25 pm

danoid wrote:

In this instance however, there was no current leaking to ground, just a regular 'ole completed circuit - a 'short' one at that. The GFI did not help.

But the fact that you HAD a breaker in the first place took care of it

GFCI and also the newer arc-fault are great safety innovations and anyone who has plugs in a garage or outside of your home should have them wired that way anyway (it's been in the north american electrical code for probably 10 years now and is a simple retrofit).

Dan

Spitzen und Sparken â€“ WARNING check block heater cords.

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