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I have a bionair heater in the room and had it for the 2nd winter now with no problems, for the last month or 2 things changed. I started smelling something burning when I noticed it was the plug to the heater, the heaters plug and one of the outlets burned and melted a little so I hooked it up to a heavy duty extention cord to reach another outlet and pluged the heater into a strip outlet, Now what happens is when I put the heater on high it keeps triping the outlet and shutting off. Anyone know what the problem may be?

>>I have a bionair heater in the room and had it for the 2nd winter now with no problems, for the last month or 2 things changed. I started smelling something burning when I noticed it was the plug to the heater, the heaters plug and one of the outlets burned and melted a little so I hooked it up to a heavy duty extention cord to reach another outlet and pluged the heater into a strip outlet, Now what happens is when I put the heater on high it keeps triping the outlet and shutting off. Anyone know what the problem may be?

Yup, your drawing to many amps on teh circuit. On high your heater probably uses between 1500 and 2000 watts depending on heater. For most circuits thats pretty much the max that can be used safely. Throwing out voltage drop most home power cicuits (groups of outlets) can only handle around 1800 watts of power max.

lug the heater into its own outlet on its a different circuit that doesn't have anything else on it. Also get rid of the power strip and extension cord, your just asking for trouble.

Cheers
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6 Red Bearded Dragon's
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0.1 Child

so is there any reason why it was running for so long with no problems and only just begun to do this?

If things were melting, then there was a problem, and you almost burned down your house. But, it is likely that something else got plugged into that same circuit elsewhere in the house. The circuit is not necessarily "that room" only, more than likely 2 or 3 rooms share that same fuse.

A Jeremy said, the circuit that the extension cord is plugged into is most likely overloaded, drawing too many amps, tripping the breaker or blowing the fuse. And caution should be used in using any extension cords for high wattage devices like heaters. What's marked as "Heavy Duty" today usually isn't heavy duty enough, the wire size usually being too small to carry the load.

I just recently had a 10ft "Heavy Duty" cord burn in half, practically exploding, sending sparks and ashes aprox. 6ft in all directions. It was 18 awg stranded wire, which should have been able to carry the load, especially over only 10ft in length. Fortunately it was in my reptile room which has a painted concrete floor with nothing flammable around. This happened after about 2, maybe 3, weeks of use.

As for what caused the intial melting, it was most likely due to arcing between the contacts of the outlet & heater plug. Over time the insulated material surrounding the blades of a plug tends to break down from the heat caused by the flow of electricity. Once this material breaks down, gets weak, the metal contact blades begin to flex as they heat and cool, in unison with the on/off of the heater. When the blades flex, move, it creates an arc between the blades and the metal contacts of the outlet. This increases over time and results in melting.

Always make sure a plug fits securely in an outlet and isn't loose. No matter what the appliance or device is. I always spread my plug blades out as far as they'll go and still fit into the outlet. The grounding part of a three-prong plug aids in stabilizing the connection, but they don't put them on most portable heaters.

For my reptile room or outdoor use I make my own extension cords out of 12 or 14 gauge solid wire. The cord that exploded on me was picked up at a flea market as a temporary quick fix at the spur of the moment. Rest assured it won't happen again. The thing is, I even thought about what was going to happen while thinking about buying it but I blew it off. I knew better but didn't do better.

Have a good one!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

Thanks Mike.......I wonder why I stopped posting in the forum...

I am more than willing to help someone with electric questions, despite the fact that it may be illeagal in doing so. However I'm not going to waste my breath yelling at deaf ears on the forum, to the person that has real questions send me a PM...

Lastly anyone that buys a product based on the fact it says "heavy duty" is ignorant, as if "fat free" is really free of fat.

I myself run only 12 awg extension cords for perm. operation anything over 24hrs can be considered a perm. fixture. My house is also wired with 12 awg minimum wire, and dedicated outlets are run off 10 awg. In fact only the "light only" sources in my enclosures have less than 12 awg wiring, I use 14 awg for light only ops, not enough draw to nessecitate 12 awg. All my heaters and MVB use 12 awg. With electricity its better to go bigger in most cases than to go under.

Remember the weakest path for any electrical circuit will be either the "fuse" or the "breaker". Anything else and your asking for disaster...

Cheers
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6 Red Bearded Dragon's
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0.1 Child

> > > "...as if "fat free" is really free of fat."

It ain't??? Hahaha!

One other clue for me not buy that cord that blew up on me was "Made in China". Another thing I blew off like an ignoramus. What I suspect happened was that the stranded wire wasn't twisted good & tight when it was made and some of the strands seperated, causing it to arc and practically explode. There's a reason they say not to form hard bends or creases in stranded wire, although that cord wasn't bent or creased. It just wasn't wrapped tight, like the person that bought it (me). Hahaha!!!

Hang in there, Jeremy!
Mike
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

It appears to have a short. Get rid of it unless you want to pay the expense of having someone repair it (someone you trust). I would not attempt to fix it yourself. The potential for that thing to burn your home down when you aren't around just isn't worth the risk.

Bart