I have a question about my girlfriend's truck. She has a 95 3/4ton 4wd auto. She says she has been having trouble with the block heater. When she tried to plug it in at night, she says that it throws the breaker to whatever receptacle it is plugged in to. Even when she tries it at another house, same thing. Have any of you guys ever had a problem with these heaters shorting out. It sounds like that is what it is doing b/c she says it throws the breaker almost immediately.

She is using a 12 gage extension cord, so it is not a problem. Not sure if it would ever be an issue anyhow though.

Just wondering if anybody else has seen the same thing.

Thanks,

Adam

 

The heater element won't short. They will open when they fail. The short comes from the plug or the cord itself, like if it got crushed. Buy a new cord from Cummins (~$10). That should solve your problem.

One more thing, try a different extension cord. Those can develope the same problem and short out.

 

Under normal conditions the heater pulls only 750 watts, 7-8 amps max, well below any 15 - 20 household circut using 110v. After reading jrs post try using an a continuity meter to see if you can find the short in the cord. It might be very simple to fix or (like jrs suggests) just replace the cord. Your girl friend will think you are a hero and we get nothing!