Block Heater Amps
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2011
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From: NC
Block Heater Amps
Well this Friday and Saturday the morning lows were in the high 20's to low 30's, so I finally decided to plug in my block heater.
Well Friday was a "ok" morning, even though after having it plugged up for about a hour it triped a breaker (which ain't much), then after reseting and checking it burnet a GFCI outlet that was wired to my outside recepticle which I was using. Well it was time to head to work that day so everything worked out for the that day.
The Saturday since my outside recepticle wasn't working I went ahead I ran the extension cable into the house so I could plug it up right inside my front door. Well it worked just fine, this time I have a guage that checked amps/watts. I was showing using a 25ft heavy duty extension cord, I was only pulling around 910 to 920 watts and 7.0 to 7.2 amps.
Does that sound correct to people who use there block heaters, or should the amps be higher? The breaker I am using is a 15 amp breaker, and by what I've read that is perfect.
Well Friday was a "ok" morning, even though after having it plugged up for about a hour it triped a breaker (which ain't much), then after reseting and checking it burnet a GFCI outlet that was wired to my outside recepticle which I was using. Well it was time to head to work that day so everything worked out for the that day.
The Saturday since my outside recepticle wasn't working I went ahead I ran the extension cable into the house so I could plug it up right inside my front door. Well it worked just fine, this time I have a guage that checked amps/watts. I was showing using a 25ft heavy duty extension cord, I was only pulling around 910 to 920 watts and 7.0 to 7.2 amps.
Does that sound correct to people who use there block heaters, or should the amps be higher? The breaker I am using is a 15 amp breaker, and by what I've read that is perfect.
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2011
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From: NC
Is there anywhere I can find out for sure, would the service tech at my FMC know? This way I can find out for sure how much re-wiring I would need to do for the higher watts, if any would re-wiring would be needed. I really don't want to burn the electrical wires especially when I get a timer so that it can start up a few hours before I go to work.
Lead Driver
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 8,180
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From: Scio, OR
I've not seen a specification anywhere. However it is going to be way less than 15 amps. 15 amps at 120 volts is 1800 watts. It should be less than 10 amps (1200 watts).
So any outlet, extension cord, timer, etc rated at 15 amps should work.
So any outlet, extension cord, timer, etc rated at 15 amps should work.
Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 19,073
Likes: 243
From: Saratoga Springs,UT
sounds like you live in a newer house built in the last 10 years or so
GFI outlets suck wait till it rains or snows and your thinking your going out to a warm truck only to find its blown a breaker and its ICE Cold
Iv had a ton of problems with the GFIs to but seem to work just fine on a standered circut
GFI outlets suck wait till it rains or snows and your thinking your going out to a warm truck only to find its blown a breaker and its ICE Cold
Iv had a ton of problems with the GFIs to but seem to work just fine on a standered circut
I'm hitting easy street
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,395
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From: Central Oregon
sounds like you live in a newer house built in the last 10 years or so
GFI outlets suck wait till it rains or snows and your thinking your going out to a warm truck only to find its blown a breaker and its ICE Cold
Iv had a ton of problems with the GFIs to but seem to work just fine on a standered circut
GFI outlets suck wait till it rains or snows and your thinking your going out to a warm truck only to find its blown a breaker and its ICE Cold
Iv had a ton of problems with the GFIs to but seem to work just fine on a standered circut
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Hotshot
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 19,073
Likes: 243
From: Saratoga Springs,UT
My inside garage was GFI protected and anymore all outside plugs should be GFI protected to
If its been wired right you only need 1 GFI plug in the circut and all the other outlets down stream are GFI protected as well without the cost of buying actual GFI outlets for each spot
they work great in a bathroom/kitchen especialy for little kids around but in a outside setting they suck
If I would drive in a storm and get the front of the truck iced and slushed being the location of the plug it all drips right down the cord and kicks the GFI off
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Buy a watt stopper for $25.00 @ home depot it will show voltage, current & wattage on a digital display. It will show kw per hour used so you could find out the cost of using your block heater & other electrical equipment.
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