Plug gets hot on portable space heater. Using an amp clamp to test. 

Haier 14000

warm is normal, (not Hot) if left on for long period of time. also many heaters use a 18/3 cord, they should use a 16/3 to be safe. An "Expensive" heater should have a 16/3 cord. it is marked on the cord, also HPN or maybe HPJ, most space heaters sold for home are not designed for heating a room for long periods. if used for that, do not use on HI. I use a space heater to keep a remote area warm to prevent pipes from freezing, but never on HI

Most everyone says do not use an ext. cord with a portable elect heater. Do you think it is ok to use an ext cord that is 14g or 12g and not too long, for instance 10 ft or 6 ft, maybe shorter if necessary ? I think it is ridiculous the space heaters normally seem to come with a 16g cord. Do you agree?

Thx for watching.

Mines doing the same. I actually got it off while melting.

Thx for watching.

he tested outlet with a small fan heater and he said it was normal so prolly not the outlet

Thx for watching.

@@billeaglerunner6844 I literally just tried to pull my space heater plug out of a rotary switch, but couldn't. After inspection, I noticed that it was melted. I pulled it out, but broke the blades. Now I am wondering if I should try replacing the plug or just buy a whole new heater and make sure I plug it into the wall, instead of a 4 position rotary switch. Any suggestions ?

what are you referring to....4 position rotary switch? what does that have to do with the outlet in the wall ?

dolphinsc1 A

Rubbish.

@@chocolate_squiggle ok choclate....keep yur heater on high all day....hope you have good fire insurance.....

+1

Never, Ever leave a portable space heater unattended. Same thing with a toaster/toaster oven. I actually unplug my toaster/toaster oven each time I use it.

What about the prongs? Like cord was warm but when pulled out of plug and touched the prongs and that was hot

Well' saddle up those horseys its me' the Duke" and thanks fer noticing me pilgrim yo!

@@djancak This is John way" Am the real deal' arrest this imposter. Yo!

highly likely on his ancestry.com report that YES he is somehow related to the Duke........... almost impossible to talk like that without being kin of the Duke......

Gamer Norcal well they highly recommend for any space heater that you plug them directly into a wall outlet. Some power strips aren’t powerful enough to power a space heater

Replacing the plug might be a good idea. The blades should be clean and shiny. The problem is usually with the outlet itself being worn inside and not making good solid contact with the plug blades. If the outlet is at all sloppy (too loose a fit) then replace that. That lack of good solid contact creates high resistance which causes the heat and melting.

@@DayClanTribe No, the issue was the air conditioner. Too old, inefficient, using more electricity than it should need to. Maybe that is how the plug got messed up to begin with. Somebody else's loose outlet. It was used, and my Dad and I had cleaned it up. I bought a new air conditioner after it dripped on the wall. I wish my Dad was still around to help me take it apart and clean out whatever is blocking the condensate drain to the outside hot side. But even he might have told me to buy a newer one. It shook when it shut off, so maybe it was on its last legs anyway? One thing I did like about it though, was that my Dad rewired it for me, so that when the compressor shut off, the fan shut off also, so during the night when it hardly had to work, it was quiet. I got rid of it now. Have one with digital controls and a remote. Its plug never gets warm. Same outlet. How long until my newer unit needs a good cleaning? Condensate water causes so many problems. Can those window units reasonably be cleaned? Or are they now made too cheaply? It had visible styrofoam separating the inside cold side from the outside hot side. Cheap much? I think the old A/C was rated to use 9 amps, the new one 5 amps. To produce the same 6000 BTUs. The new one has a plug in the drain hole. I think the idea is, the manufacturer wants the condensate water to splash into the condenser coil, to help it to stay cooler, to boost its efficiency. But will that shorten the life of the A/C to not just let the condensate water drip away? But it looks like I will need to replace the socket end. On an extension cord. Found a good 100 foot 12-guage extension cord in the trash. Has to be at least 100 feet. Why in the trash? Inspected it later, found that the socket was burned. Looks like it was pulling loose and internally shorted, or something plugged into it shorted. Rest of the cord appears okay. But I have lighter-gauge extension cords, 14-gauge, so it likely will be a while before I can get around to it. Not like I "need" it right away. Last time I was at the store, they happened to be out of the DIY sockets. Such an extension cord, they are expensive. Well over $40, yet the socket is only a few dollars. The male plug end looked fine, except that somebody had cut off the ground prong. But a lot of tools do not need the ground anyway. I could replace both ends? Should I do a simple socket, or maybe something fancier, like the YT video with the electrical box with 4 female sockets? The first time that I have replaced a socket, was for an old now-obsolete Macintosh computer that had a switched power outlet on its back. Great idea, I can have it switch off all its accessories/peripherals. So I cut off the socket and inside of using the squashed computer standard, put an ordinary socket onto it. Now instead of plugging in the monitor, I could plug in an entire surge suppressor power strip. I did not want to destroy my one good power connector, so I had bought a spare for that purpose. I think that the switched outlets have now largely disappeared, now that just about every monitor now goes to sleep when losing the computer's video signal. BTW, I imagine not to plug any refrigerators or heaters into a switched outlet source, as even stereo amplifiers may warn of a 500 watt limit. What? Too cheap to provide a 15-amp switch to turn off the computer monitor? A CRT monitor that uses not more than an amp or two?

pretty sure thats normal on high...........on low if still very warm maybe issue

Well that’s going to work out fine because animals love you too.

Replace the cord

test in other outlets in house.....same? then prolly issue in the appliance

I think that the off-switch is safer than unplugging. Unplugging too much, especially if you have to wiggle the plug to get it loose, weakens the power outlet connections so that they do become hot.

You're pulling too many amps, Pilgrim. ;-)

I would not recommend using an extension cord with a space heater. Thx for watching.

Bill Eaglerunner, thanks for replying.

if you use an ext cord, it must be HPN rated and the same or a higher gauge. if its longer than 8 feet, it should be a higher wire gauge. remember the smaller the # the larger the wire.

jim gillion, I appreciate that info. As it turned out, the extension cord wasn't the problem, I switched space heaters, and all is well. And just to make sure I did buy an extension with a wider circumference, and threw away the skinny one that I had.

Alvaro Quesada don’t use that extension cord as that’s a fire hazard there so don’t use that cord and either plug it right into the wall or use a thicker cord

@khalil taylor maaaaaan FU

@khalil taylor New plug costs $2 and if he knows what he's doing then why should he buy a new heater? Do you buy a new car every time it needs new brakes? Geezus I'm so sick of this modern throw-away culture. That said if the reason the plug burnt up in the first place is a faulty heater then yes it should probably be discarded.

@khalil taylor He never said the heater was faulty. Plug burning might have been from faulty receptacle.

@@chocolate_squiggle at that point I would stop using that outlet and try a different one and see if the same thing happens. Call a professional to make sure the wiring is good.