Oil column heater hot near plug

shrugies on 10/06/2017 - 19:51

Hi everyone,

Our oil column heater was plugged into a power board, which had multiple other plugs connected to it. The first 20cm from the cord feels VERY warm (I can hold onto it) and the rest of the cord is just only slightly warm.

I tried plugging the oil heater directly into the outlet and the same problem persists.

Does anyone know if this is a cause for concern and what I can do about it? The only appliances plugged in to the power board from the outlet is the TV, consoles and phone chargers. They don't have this issue.

Any help is appreciated ! Thanks!

Electrical & Electronics

Comments

  • onetrickpony on 10/06/2017 - 20:20
    +2

    Not sure if its the case, but never ever, run an oil heater through a power board. The heater on its own on high, will max out the power rating of the board. Always run it directly from a power point. The lead will get warm in normal use, but always run the heater straight to the point, you can melt the power board, never trust the cute little overload button on the side.

    • PJC on 10/06/2017 - 20:50

      That surprises me. I've run my Sunair oil column heater on a power board for 16 years and the cable is not even slightly warm.

    • Diji1 on 10/06/2017 - 22:50

      That rather depends on the input energy of the heater rather than being a hard and fast rule. For devices that may constantly draw energy over a long period it's prudent to stay within 80% of the maximum rating.

      • afoveht on 11/06/2017 - 00:11

        Power, not energy.

  • scrimshaw on 10/06/2017 - 20:21
    +6

    The cable isn't of the correct gauge and possibly is too thin / small hence more internal resistance, therefore more heat produced. OR, the cord has frayed (i.e some of the wires have worn out on the inside) and there is now more electrical resistance.

    the 3rd explanation is that one of the pins on the power lead is getting hot due to a loose wire or connection, which increases resistance. Since copper is a good conductor of heat, the heat is being transferred from the end of the power cord to roughly 20cm down the cable.

    That's my relatively un-educated guess, I'm not a sparky. But if it's too hot to touch, this is a fire hazard and you should probably not use it anymore. Get it tested by a sparky ASAP or chuck it out.

    Also space heaters / oil fin heaters warn you not to use it with extension power boards or leads.

  • Stewardo on 11/06/2017 - 08:23
    -1

    This is why the fire department tells you not to piggyback powerboards and double adapters.

    2400w heater 240v @ 10amps = capacity

    • John Kimble on 11/06/2017 - 08:43

      OP says same issue when not piggy backing, so nothing to do with the cord being warm. Although still not advisable.

  • Stewardo on 11/06/2017 - 22:32

    Cheap Chinese heater
    Plugged into cheap powerboard
    Both items barely make code if at all
    The cheap gauge cord gets hot and soft plugged into powerboard with five other things plugged into it, this further breaks down substandard insulation on cord. Next day plugs into wall directly still gets hot.

    https://www.platinumelectricians.com.au/blog/avoiding-overlo…

    http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1014846

    • John Kimble on 12/06/2017 - 07:24

      Oh ok, fair enough!

  • ozzie freddo on 11/06/2017 - 23:09
    +1

    Scrimshaw's points are valid possibilities and, based on my experience, I would suspect a poor connection within the plug and that the resistance of this poor connection is causing localised heating that reduces with the distance away from the fault. You can check on this by unplugging the heater after it has been operating for a while and checking the temperature on the 3 pins, and the faulty one should be hotter than the other 2 (be careful not to burn yourself).
    Further degeneration is potentially a fire starter, so I would discontinue use, particularly if unattended.
    Replacement of the plug by a skilled person should fix it…and don't use high powered devices such as this through a power board or extension cord.

  • shrugies on 12/06/2017 - 12:48

    Thanks for the help everyone :) I'll be wary not to overload the power boards and we've stopped using the heater for now. I'll do some more testing when I'm free and see if it's the poor connection. I'll try with other power outlets in the house as well. And yeah, we've always been at home and awake when using this heater- always been as cautious with these as with candles! Thanks again for the help! I'll put up an update after I test

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