Block heater fire

[fixerupper]

Last night our neighborhood was lit by the glow of another machine shed fire caused by a shorted block heater.

So this a heads up to the rest of us to check up on things. We all know what to look for but sometimes a good one can go all of a sudden.

Best defense is to keep the engine clean in that area so there's no fuel for the fire if there's some sparks happening. This happened to me once but the cord just burned off and fell to the floor. Have a good one. Jim

 

[Anonymous-0]

You are so Right ,, Been there and done THAT ,, LUCKY FOR ME I WAS ON A CLEAN CONCRETE FLOOR ,, Fellow that goes to Our church Lost His School bus because of same condition You describe ,, Best Regards , Jim

 

[aFORDable]

Located in south Graves Co. or just a coincidence?

 

[fixerupper]

NW Iowa

 

[Anonymous-0]

I don't know what to look for, please fill me in.
I plugged mine in last night because of a storm coming through so it would be ready in the AM if I needed it. Around 11 I thought better of it and went downstairs and turned off the breaker to the barn. It's a can type plumbed into the block with short hoses. I wondered how hot it would get if left on and if it would catch fire if a hose blew and it lost its coolant.

 

[fixerupper]

In a block heater or tank heater fire the cause of the fire is almost always caused by the wire going bad and burning. 'Going bad' is kind of a loosely used description.

The power wire going to the heater can have corrosion where it enters the heater, causing it to lose good contact, causing heat in the wire. Eventually the heat builds up enough to start something burning. Another cause is a crack in the insulation on the wire letting moisture and air get to the metal conductors. Over time the good part of the wire that's left gets too thin to carry the electrical load, so it gets hot.

This corrosion can be hidden by the insulation so the wire might look fine on the outside but it's very sick internally. If there's any crack of any kind in the wire, someday it will corrode.

Engine heaters pull a fairly good amount of juice and they are under load constantly, so there is close to a 100 percent chance they will fail at some time.

The tank type heater that's sits beside the engine somewhere and has hoses going to the block might have a safety device that prevents them from overheating if they go dry but I'm not sure about that. Someone else on the board who's much more experienced than me can answer that.

It's always good to use at least a 14 ga. or heavier drop cord running to the heater and it should be in good shape. We have to remember that we usually are'nt close by when this engine heater is working so if the wire fries and lets out a poof of smoke we won't be there to unplug it or kick it out of the way. A neighbor had a small fire from a cord that was damaged from him being too lazy to move it after he unplugged the tractor, so he kept driving over it. Eventually the gord got it's revenge.

Hope this helps. Jim

 

[Bob]

I tend to replace tank heaters or block heaters every now and then, if the cord is anything but perfect, or if there's ANY evidence of even a slight leak, or corrosion.

I've replaced a couple of block heaters over the years that were still working, but so corroded on the coolant side they were ready to fall out of the block

 

[aFORDable]

Same thing happened in my neck of the woods last evening. (W Ky) Luckly, the fire was spotted and the tractor was pulled out of the shed before burning the shed and other tractors and equipment.