You can buy several feet of SJ wire 14-3 and repair it yourself. the wire that came from Ford is 16-3 - a very light wire indeed. I fixed mine yesterday for $5.00 and I bought 6' of wire. I have a GFI where the extension is plugged in. Be careful electric and water can be a dangerous combination.

 

Hey Doc, were you able to take apart the plug where the cord goes into the block heater or did you just have to splice the wires? I know you said you were able to solder onto it, but I'm not clear on where you had to make the repair. I've never messed with mine, but I am curious for future reference. I guess I could just get off mu butt and go check the one on the parts motor in the shop, but it is 22 degrees outside and I don't feel like getting cold and greasy tonight.

 

you can buy just the cord

Ford 7.3 6.0 6.4 L Powerstroke Diesel Block Heater Cord on eBay!

 

I cut the original cord about 18" from where it plugs into the block. That part is orange. I did separate the wires to find the green ground wire. From there I cut all of the original Ford wires but staggered the joints. From there I soldered each connection after I used linesman's pliers to make a mechanical joint. After everything was soldered and taped I enclosed back into the orange plastic sheathing. It was then all wrapped in plastic electrical tape. There was some of the plastic wire loom left ant I placed the wire in it. The Ford wire was #16 AWG. That is really light wire to carry 900 watts of current. The original plug was burnt right where the molded section meets the wire. I don't know if there are timers that have the grounding pigtail. I guess I will have to look. By the way did you get any lake effect snow last night?

 

Nope, no snow here. We are South far enough that we don't get a lot of LE snow. We are in Wayne County (Wooster) so we usually see a lot less snow than the Cleveland area does. We only get the stuff that comes in as a system. Not that I would mind a little more snow. I actually like the stuff, but then again, I might feel differently if we got lake effect every night.

Sounds like you did it up right with your repair. Anybody know what gauge the replacement cords are? The timer I have is a three prong plug and accepts three prong cords. It works really well for the block heater. I think it is rated for 10A or something. It comes on 3 hours before I leave and if you leave the blend setting on the defroster, it will actually defrost about a quarter of the windshield without the truck even being started.

 

I guess that the ford replacement will be #16 as well. The one that I took off was the original one when the truck was built. My new cable is HD #14. I took some photos this afternoon of the new plug and cable along with the connection to the block.

 

Take a look at my recent post. I have the pictures showing the new cord, splice, burnt plug, and my PSD. My son showed me how to post the photos. Kids for you.

 

Yessir! I see your pictures up there now. Looks like you got it. The only thing I would be concerned about around here would be road salt and junk getting inside the splice. Heat shrink tubing would probably have been my choice over tape. Either that or some 3M electrical tape paint and then tape over top of that. Seems kinda stupid but after spending 11 years as an electrician, I hate to use electrical tape for this kind of thing.

Also, FWIW, a 16 AWG extension cord is rated to handle 13 amps of load, so the 16 GA wire in that old cord was, technically sufficient for the 1000W (9A) load of the block heater. Bigger is better in general when it comes to conductors though.

 

I had a special bung plug made which would allow me to use only 1 hole in a metal barrel to make a biodiesel processor . I got a 16 gal metal tank that I hope to make my biodiesel in. I will use an electric water heating element as a source of heat for the WVO. If you want a photo of this simple plug I'll send it to you.

 

Sure, PM them to me. I have toyed with the prospect of brewing my own Bio, but around here all the places have contracts with places that buy their grease. It's just not as promising a proposition when you have to outbid someone to buy the WVO. But PM me the pics anyway, I'm always stewing on ideas...

 

Where are the pics?

 

The pictures are located in my thread Block heater cord by Furniture Foctor. It is located between Hustler and IDM Failure and ran my dam truck out of fuel. There should be 4 photos.

 

I cant find them Could you post the link here for me please?

 

To Roentgeep,
Send me a PM and I will attach the files for you.
Doc

 

thanks for the tips guys that what i had figured just splice a piece of SO cord and put a plug on it but didnt know if therre was any common probloems with the heater. thanks again doc!