Block heater
 

Hi everybody. I have an issue with block heater of my car. I purchased a used civic 2005 which come with block heater. Some days ago i bought an extension cord which come with a little light on its socket. When i plugged my block heater on first day Every thing worked good. Car engine heated pretty fast when i start the car.
But from next day i started facing a strange issue. Whenever i plug my block heater. And come next morning to check it, extension cord's light is turned off. Then i remove block heater plug light again started glowing. And my car engine remain cold as there is no block heater. This happen everyday.
i checked that extension cord in my house. Its working properly.
moreover i asked a guy to check my block heater. He checked it with some plug and said that its working fine. I dont know what is the issue.
Lastly i am not sure if its right section to post this. If its not please move my thread to appropriate section.

Re: Block heater
 

Extension cord with a light?

Try a normal heavy duty 12 ga. extension cord without GFCI, and use an extension cord as short as possible

Re: Block heater
 

I plugged only early morning, an hour before leaving. Is the heater auto-off after some time?

Re: Block heater
 

thanks bro for reply. Actually i bought extension cable made for block heater. Its 16 guage, 2m cable. I seen cars with same looking extension cable but dont know about guage. Idk it may be cable or what.

Re: Block heater
 

If the light is not on, there's no power...right? Maybe your outlet is bad or wiring is faulty
Try plugging your extension cord into a different outlet.

Re: Block heater
 

bro light is on when i plug the heater but after some time it get turned off. I checked in two outlets. Moreover i tried cable at my home and there it working fine.

Re: Block heater
 

No light = Lost power to the cord from the outlet. Correct?
What happens if you wiggle the extension cord in the outlet?
Check wiring connected into the back of the outlet?

When you plug just the extension cord into other outlets I assume you don't have the (maybe 10+) amp load of the block heater connected to it

Re: Block heater
 

Light only turn on when i remove the block heater plug from extension and if i replug the heater, light remain on for some time. I will test extension on more load.

Re: Block heater
 

How warm is the cord end when you notice a problem? Some plugs get hot enough to allow a gap(which makes it hotter until it fails to conduct). A tell tale will be a slightly burned texture to the contacts or the plastic around them.

Re: Block heater
 

cable is not hot. On the other hand it is cold as surrounding is at -15 to -20°c. Cable look like new no burn sign. There are three socket on extension to plug heater. I tried eveyone. I hope its not the block heater.

Re: Block heater
 

Sadly if it is a failed or soft-failed element in the heater it won't fail until fully hot and come back when cold.

Re: Block heater
 

But the light in the extension cord would still be illuminated if that were the case.

Re: Block heater
 

The same failure can happen anywhere in the system tbh. If you have a hair dryer to plug into it or a heat gun you may be able to stimulate the response if it is the cord.

Re: Block heater
 

You may be on the verge of having an electrical fire somewhere inside of your walls!

Just to circle back, the wire that goes from your breaker panel and energizes up to 10 or so (code limits escape me) outlets may have a partially failed connection and or kink/partial break / rat chewed up section that would allow low current flow through with no issues.

Now that same failed spot, when heavy current load is going through it will start to heat up rapidly and as it does, voltage losses occur.

Those little neon glow ends usually need about 85v to light up, so it’s possible after the failed spot is hot enough the neon indicator won’t have enough voltage to illuminate, and as soon as you take the load off, the failed spot starts to cool and more voltage flows through.

Shut off that breaker for that outlet, and then test your extension cord to the block heater again on any other outlet in your house that still has power even if you need to double extension cord it.

if the neon end stays fully lit, leave that breaker turned off until you have a electrician come out and find the issue.

Re: Block heater
 

thanks and yeah good idea i will test my extension wire on hair dryer.

Re: Block heater
 

yeah this makes sense. I have to check on other outlet. So many possibilities lol. Have to check each one by one. But this one seems serious.

Re: Block heater
 

I wouldn't use a hair dryer on that extension cord for very long. 16 gauge wire is only rated for ~10-13 amps, a hair dryer would most likely be pulling around 15.