[moorep2]

- I have an old (1970) in-floor 220 volt finned, Taylor company, electric radiant heater. The 1 ft cord between two of the power units to the fins cracked and shorted out the circuit. Cord is only marked HPN. I believe it is 16/2 rated for 220 volts and 2000 or 2400 watts. I say that because that is what the heater specs say. The cord is simply, I believe, 2 hot conductors - there is no bare wire ground or a third lead. The wires in the twin lead are stranded (copper or ?aluminum -they look silver) not solid core. I can easily find heater cord (HPN - for heater parallel neoprene) for small appliances (irons, heaters, etc) but they are rated for 125 volt and max 1865 watts. The heater I have is 220 volt and either 2000 or 2400 watts. I have searched on line and gone to electric supply as well as heating and cooling companies - no luck.

Can I safely use the easily available HPN 125 volt 1865 watt appliance cord or not? Should I just wrap neoprene elec tape around the bare wires that shorted together? Or - what can I use? I'd prefer to replace this old dried and cracked 1 ft cord totally

[Tev]

Any cable labeled HPN should be rated for 300V. It is likely that the maker of these cords rates them lower because the molded plastic plug on the end of them only fits into a 120V outlet. I'm betting if you buy one, the cable itself will say 300V.

As for the wattage, don't worry about it. 2400W at 240V is only 10 amps. A major manufacturer (general cable) lists the 16/2 in their catalog at 15 amps which also happens to match up with the amperage rating of the cords you are looking at. (1865W/125V=14.9A)