DIYbanter - View Single Post

(PeteCresswell)

Per :
When I was done, about 2 hours later, I turned off and unplugged the heater. To my surprise, the plug was warm, not hot, but definitely warm to the touch. I took a closer look and realized that the prongs of the plug were badly tarnished/corroded. An even closer look showed that the insulation on the power cord itself was badly cracked and fallling off(from overheating maybe) for the first inch or so where it comes out of the plug.

Needless to say, I was thankful that nothing bad had happened. I could have gotten a shock from the power cord before the GFI for the garage circuits kicked out, or even a small fire if the cord had ignited some stray sawhust laying around. I am normally quite safety sensitive, so this was a wake-up call to think about safety a little more than I have apparently been doing lately!!!

I have had similar experiences (plural because I'm a slow learner) with
long narrower-gauge extension cords and heaters.

The only 16-gauge that I have that still has it's tags on it says 1,350
watts max.

I feel more comfortable with 14-gauge and even have a couple of 10-gauge
cords for use with my little generator.
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Pete Cresswell