Block heater trips breaker

[marchanna]

You wouldn稚 be able to tell.

 

[My Gym]

A small short is like a little bit pregnant. It is either a short or not. A short may not carry enough current due to line resistance to trip a breaker. There can be a short to neutral that that may or may not trip a breaker and the GFI will not trip. A ground fault(current going through other than neutral) will trip a GFI if it is just a few millamps. You can still be killed by a GFI circuit if the path through your body is hot to neutral.

As stated by others, a breaker trips on current overload on the hot wire. A GFI trips on a difference in the current on the hot wire and the neutral wire.

 

[Oldpath05]

I have my block heater on a 50 ft regular power cord coiled up for other use when needed, the cord is plugged into a remote outlet which is plugged into a regular outlet under a lean to added on my shop, it is 75' away in a direct line of sight from inside of house, never tripped the breaker.
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I'd say there is something wrong with his block heater, I didn't know they went bad. I usually have mine on for two hrs when temp is down around 0 like right now and when I have it on I can hear a slight sizzling/bubbling sound from inside the motor.

 

[marchanna]

Yup, they can go bad just like any other heating element. They are an electrical resistance wire packed in silica inside a metal tube. They usually fail when the outer metal tube deteriorates from overheating or when the resistance wire migrated to the side and shorts against the outter tube (aka sheath). But they can also fail if the brazing cracks or a number of other ways.

I致e never had one fail, but I have had a hot plate element fail, and these are exactly the same technology except the hot plate is bigger and has a potentiometer dial on it to control temp.

 

[JMarchant]

So I bought a new heater - the same kind that was on the tractor - hopefully this one lasts. Any good tips on how to make sure I have no air in the lines before plugging it in?

 

[marchanna]

Does it thread in? If it does, get the new one ready with Teflon tape, loosen off the old one and switch them as fast as you can. You can probably get away with losing less than half a quart of coolant. Then you should only need to top of the radiator. Not the cleanest method but it痴 quick and easy. If you have a pressurized/sealed cooling system you shouldn稚 need to 澱urp it to the air pockets out.

 

[4get gto]

So I bought a new heater - the same kind that was on the tractor - hopefully this one lasts. Any good tips on how to make sure I have no air in the lines before plugging it in?

I normally fill up radiator and let it run 10-15 minutes with the cap off. Air works itself out.

 

[JMarchant]

I normally fill up radiator and let it run 10-15 minutes with the cap off. Air works itself out.

Thanks - there are no threads so I'll just slip on the hoses quickly and then run for 10-15 minutes as suggested

 

[Ford850]

Thanks - there are no threads so I'll just slip on the hoses quickly and then run for 10-15 minutes as suggested

Slip on the hose quickly? Is this a block heater or an inline radiator hose heater? If it's on a hose, is it upper or lower? I'm just wondering if it is on an upper hose and exposed to air if the coolant is low.

 

[JMarchant]

It's an inline radiator hose heater (I should be more careful with my descriptions!). On the tractor the two ports are about 7-8 inches apart (one above the other). The coolant level has been fine so I doubt the heater had air in it.