Well, got some important info. Its gonna make most laugh, but I really had no idea and would never have thought of it, and I'm mechanically inclined. Today, first time we had nice weather in months, I decided to wash my truck. Was darn near finished, and was washing the drivers rear aluminum rim. KABANG!!!! I got fried! and flew back ten feet, blew the breaker on the house and got a nasty burn on my hand. I had the block heater plugged in! No, after checking, the heater is fine. Its the plug. It got wet and conducted threw the bumper were it was hanging. The plug is an industrial outdoor contractors cord, but that didn't matter. It got me good. Never do that again. Be warned!

 

Damn! And Damn!

 

lucky you flew back! from the sounds of it (working with water, wet truck, wet ground, likely damp or wet shoes or feet) you could of got "stuck" and fried to death (you don't make much sound or movement in some situations, and if no ones around your screwed) and there would of been nothing you could of done about it at that point as you die slowly.

technically should have your garage/ outdoor plugs GFCI protected.... while a GFCI is not a over current device they will "trip" when there is a loss of power to ground... now granted you still will get a jolt of the power passing through you to ground BUT!!!! you wont be "stuck" there being constantly electrocuted....

now the other side of the coin is if the block heater is on a GFCI and it trips without your knowledge then well your trucks cold and your pissed off and cold... ultimately care should be taken to protect the cord ends when exposed to moisture.

although this can be a rare event it does happen and people die over simple overlooked things. i read about similar events (electrocution in damp or wet locations often enough in my trade publications. ive been zapped by 120V power many of times wet, dry, GFCI, and no GFCI.... they all hurt, when damp or wet more so.

just my opinion, take it for what its worth.

 

I find this Shocking Just had to.....

Most likely the insulation somewhere in the circuit is compromised. The cord, grounded, and insulated should not allow conduction. Not that you can't complete the circuit to ground, but its highly improbable everything is up to par if you were shocked. And, it may not be the Truck but the home circuit. So check both. One of the problems with Extension Cords is they really upset the circuits frequency. Too large and it may not "trip" the circuit immediately or compromise the feed wiring. Or, too small and it may cause a fire. Loose connections generate excessive heat just as with a 12 Volt System. Extension cords are for "Temporary Short Term Use". I extended a Circuit specifically for my Block Heater when I lived in the North east. The cord I used was only about 3 feet long, if that and weatherproof boxes and receptacles.

 

Well I have gone over the cord on the truck. Its a flat black 3 wire cord, and I can't find a cut or break, bareness, nothing. Tests good with ohm meter too. Also cant find any spot it touches metal. It winds threw to the front bumper but it has a plastic casing around it as well which I had to take off to check. What I did discover is that the 50' cord I use has 3 females on the truck end. When plugged in it hangs facing up, truck side down, and if I run water on the hood it runs down and fills the female plug so you can see its full to the top including the male truck plug. So that is the only spot I can find that could possibly conduct, and it does. If I dump the water out, it stops. So I now pull more cord to the truck and loop it up and stuff it threw the tow hook so it points down and doesn't fill up. Seems to have solved the issue. That said, yes I should get a shorter cord, and one with a single plug that seals better. I had a gfi on there before but it always tripped. Had my electrician look at it and it was because the plug I used was in line with another plug that was already gfi protected, so it was causing the new gfi to trip all the time. Apparently a common mistake when installing gfi. You can't put 2 on the same line. So I took it off knowing it was protected. And that said, the breaker did blow, but it still got me.

 

You have something else wrong. Water cannot conduct enough electricity at household voltage levels to trip a circuit breaker. Is it a GFCI circuit breaker by chance? It's possible your block heater is shorted to the block and still working, but energizing the truck at the same time. To find out, plug it in and connect a volt meter between the truck and a known ground and I don't mean the earth. Bring over another extension cord plugged into a grounded outlet and put your other lead in the grounding hole on that cord and move it around to make sure you have contact. You can also use the neutral slot (the bigger one) but make sure the receptacle and cord are wired properly first.

 

That's interesting. The gfi thing is on the breaker itself. It has the extra green wire off the breaker. Electrician said it was the new type that they use in the boxes instead replacing the single wall units and protecting the whole line. It worked, but he said it should have tripped before I got a shock. Didn't know the heater could work and be grounding inside. I will try your test. I may just replace it since its an easy install.

 

An extra green wire? GFCI's have an extra white/neutral wire on the breaker that connects to the neutral buss in your panel, the neutral on the circuit connects to the breaker. GFCI's monitor the current flow between the hot and the neutral and when they sense an imbalance of more that 5 milliamperes between the two they are supposed to trip.

If it has a green button on the front of the breaker (reset) it sounds to me like it is an AFCI (arc fault circuit interrupter) circuit breaker, which are a completely different animal and will not behave or protect you the same as a GFCI.

 

My Square D GFI breakers have a yellow button on them that trips.

I just want to know if you felt it in your private parts? Glad to hear you survived though with no trip to the hospital or anything.

 

And one other thing. You don't have to have a fault or failure in your cord or heater to have gotten shocked. I have yet to see a plug that is waterproof. That one that the British guy showed could be if it had some O-rings incorporated into it's construction.

 

Lol, nope, no sizzled curlys. And yes, I can make it happen by running water down the hood filling that plug. Dump out water it goes away. So I've pretty much determined I need a new cord, and don't let it fill up. I'm replacing the heater anyway just in case, but it appears fine. But heres the deal. I'm not doing any more testing on this!!! I posted it as a warning that this could occur so be careful. NOW. I so far haven't figured out a way to test it anyway without frying myself! Multimeters, lights everything don't make the connection. So I have for the last time plugged my truck in , and filled the plug and done a run by on the rim and taking a hit. I'm DONE!!! Its the cord.

 

I'm sorry about that. That last test hit me pretty good and the neighbours are starting to wonder why I'm running by my truck and doing the chicken. My body is actually starting to hold a charge! The hair on my arms is standing up and I can't stop giggling. lol. Sorry for the outburst. Testing is over for today, and until I can figure out a way to make it happen without the wet sponge and run by.