Block heater cord

Kerry50 · Mar 4, 2015

Went to the barn this morning to start the 4040 and feed, look what I found. Cord to the block heater.

Grabbed the cord and sparks flew. Thing that bothers me is why didn't the breaker trip when the cord fried.

From the looks of things she flashed pretty good. Called my JD dealer to see if they had a new block heater, nope. Can you believe that, not a block heater for a 4040. I couldn't believe it.

They did however have a new cord. I went and got it and got it on. Will go back later to see if its working.

Think I will have an electrician check out my breakers. Seems to me that it should have throwed it. $20 for a new cord.
Posting this thinking you guys might want to check yours. Might save you from losing equipment and a shed or barn from a fire.

Steve@Advance · Mar 4, 2015

Likely what happened was a case of "high resistance" instead of a short circuit. Once the connection went bad, the cord heated up until it burned the insulation. It takes an over current condition or a direct short to trip the breaker. But... When you touched it, and the sparks flew, if it shorted sufficiently to over amp the circuit, it should have tripped. Depends on how hard the short was.

One thing you might consider is replacing the breaker with a GFIC breaker. A ground fault sensing breaker should be used outdoors or near sinks, sources of water, etc.

Kerry50 · Mar 4, 2015

Steve, the GFIC breaker is good advice. I will definitely do this. Thanks for your reply.

RWK in WI · Mar 4, 2015

A ground fault outlet is often easier to install and easier to reset as you don't have to run all the way back to the breaker box.

Bruce from Can. · Mar 4, 2015

I know very little about electric stuff,but I do
understand that if you run too light a gauge wire
extension cord on a block heater, over time this
kind of failure could occur . I like to run a
number 12 wire extension, and I don't like to
leave block heaters plugged in for longer than 3
hours. If it won't start then,it is not a going
to.

Dick2 · Mar 4, 2015

Wires and insulation break from age and frequent flexing, therefore they ahould be replaced every so often. There might not have been enough amperage draw to trip the breakers - just one quick flash and the damage was done.

wijim · Mar 4, 2015

We don't have ground fault receptacles where we plug block heaters in, just a hint of moisture and it will trip. That causes no starts and headaches.

old · Mar 4, 2015

If you can take the one you have with you to an O'Reilly's auto parts and I bet they can find you one that will fit right in. I have done that on both a Case 580B and a ford 4600.

al71 · Mar 4, 2015

I think what happened is that the connections were bad and heated up destroying the insulation not causing a shorting connection until you wiggled it and then it shorted out and blew it self apart and not tripping the breaker avery common occurence. Al71

buickanddeere · Mar 4, 2015

(quoted from post at 16:30:53 03/04/15)

Grabbed the cord and sparks flew. Thing that bothers me is why didn't the breaker trip when the cord fried.

Think I will have an electrician check out my breakers. Seems to me that it should have thrown it. $20 for a new cord.
Posting this thinking you guys might

I took some new and used single and double pole 120V FPE Stab-Loc breakers to work and tested them. At double the rated current a good breaker will trip at approx 40-45 seconds.
Sad to say out of the 25 or so breakers current tested, only eight passed. A couple tripped too soon but the rest took anywhere from a minute to over two minutes. One did not trip at all.
The worst breakers were from the 1980's and had been used in a church breaker panel. Out of the 42 breakers 15 or so would not internally switch closed after the toggle was swung to the closed position.

rrlund · Mar 4, 2015

Am I surprised that Deeremart didn't have one? No.
I lost one a year ago last fall off my 1365 when I was filling the bunker silo. I had another used one here and put that on,but the calves chewed it off this past spring when I let it set while I was out with a load of manure. I found another one here and put that on,but when I plugged it in a few weeks ago,it didn't work. Guess I'll have to spring for a new cord.

Kerry50 · Mar 4, 2015

This barn was built in the early 70's and no doubt these are the original breakers. Your test results are interesting.

Kerry50 · Mar 4, 2015

Our three local stores just got gobbled up by Larson Group. I think they now own 9 Deere dealerships and Peterbilt dealerships in MO and AR.

Kerry50 · Mar 4, 2015

Bruce, when it's not so frigid cold I plug it into a timer so it comes on about 3 hours before I get to it. It's been so cold lately that I have been leaving it plugged in 24/7. You have a good point with the lighter extension cord. I've got it plugged into a regular 50' cord. I am going to look for a heavier 25' to use.

David G · Mar 4, 2015

You would want an arc flash breaker to prevent the quick shorts. Newer homes have them on bedrooms, might even be required on non GFCI outlets now.

I have had arc fault breakers trip on motor starts, so really do not like them in a shop.

Kerry50 · Mar 4, 2015

Checked it this afternoon, the block was warm so the element was all right. If that element had been bad, and neither of my 2 closest dealers had a element, grrrrrrrrrrrr. I told the parts guy when I called that I could not believe they did not have an element for this tractor. No telling how many applications it would fit.

Mel in SW Iowa · Mar 4, 2015

rrlund, does your 1365 have an Oliver elbow heater or one in the front of the block, accessible from the right side, or both? My 2wd 1365 came to me with both. It did heat up quickly with both, but the one on the front of the motor has a bad plug and wire now on the heater end, so I don't use it any more.

rrlund · Mar 4, 2015

It's in the elbow. I don't know if there's one in the block somewhere too or not.

Wheatfarmer · Mar 4, 2015

I just had a Radiator Hose heater do the same thing. New and had only used it three times. I was in a safe place and let it spark a lot never did trip the breaker. I have also had ones plugged into a GFI and the drop cord out to the truck and it would pop the GFI. Was told that OLD antifreeze would burn them out.

Torwood · Mar 4, 2015

That same kind of thing happened at a farm I work on the side at. They plugged in the utility 4 wheel drive right by the door. A guy drove by seeing smoke. They opened the door and it flashed. Over a million dollars later, most of the machinery was replaced. Real sad one was the brand mew self-propelled discbine with 25 hours on it, that didn't make it out the door. Glad that was the extent of your damage. It was a depressing day sifting through all that.

Bob · Mar 4, 2015

Likely, your breakers are FINE and had no reason to trip because the cord was able to char itself without drawing excessive current beyond the trip rating of the breaker.

You are darned lucky that sparks and hot debris falling didn't light off a fire in burnable debris on the floor!

You got lucky once, now don't press your luck and replace the while unit.

If the plug-in cord got that hot, the pins it connects with at the heater aren't nice and clean and pristine, to make a good contact (without getting hot) with the new cord.

Block heater cord

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