modiesel

Ok, so a couple of months ago I installed Geno's wigidigit block heater plug. When I went to wire it up, once I stripped my wires, I was unable to tell the difference in the hot wire and the negative wire. The ground was obvious. The hot wire had no indication, no colored insulation around the wire or anything. Neither did the negative wire. So I just wired it up and hoped for the best. My question is do you think that if it seems to be working correctly, then I am ok? If my hot and negative wires were switched, it would not work, right? I have noticed when I go out in the mornings that the extension cord is a little warm from me having the truck plugged in. Is this bad? For the record I am a structural engineer and know nothing about electrical wiring!

tritont

you'll be fine. It is preferable to have the polarity correct ( meaning your hot and neutral are in the correct location ) but, the block heater is just a element like in your water heater or oven. It will work fine either way.

I'm surprised to hear this though. I have one of my truck. Once I cut off the plug, the wires were colored like they should be. Black, white, green. Black to the gold screw, white to the silver screw and the grd.

modiesel

Thanks for the info! That makes me feel better. My cord is an aftermarket from Ebay, so maybe that is why the wires were not colored.

Foxborough

Dittos on it not being a problem. 120 volts AC means alternating current. The polarity from your house changes polarity 60 times each second. So actually the heating element really does not know or care which wire is hot or not as long as one is hot and the other is neutral. The warm extension chord has me a little concerned. The extension wire may be a little too thin and is restricting the current. I would get a larger wire extension chord. Think of electricity like water thru a hose. the voltage would be the pressure on the hose and the amps would be the speed of the water thru the hose. If you have a really small diameter hose 100' long it would take a long time to fill a 5 gallon bucket. The restriction is causing a loss in voltage (think water pressure) so the heater has less power and the resistance is heating the extension chord.

AH64ID

The block heater draws 6.5 amps, so be sure you have a cord that can handle that...

Any installed pics? I want one of those.

modiesel

I can get you some pics. Due to my bumper configuration, I had to install in a different way. It is not as tight as I would like, but it is clean. When I go to plug my cord in, I have to hold the bumper plug with my other hand. Other than that I love it. Thanks for all the info. I am glad that it is not a concern. I will check inot the extension cord and see how much it is rated for.