Yes, the better the connection, the less heat. Connections with higher amperage will develop this sooner than others. The terminal block, size of the connector and local cooling can affect the life of the connection. You definitely should replace the wire or cut it back enough to where it is shiny and not corroded. The more corrosion, the more heat causing more corrosion and heat …… you get the idea. An overheated connection can overheat other things like relays etc…. (See below) we keep an eye out for bad connections and fix them before they affect an adjacent pert.
Hi @John Flores, welcome to the forum!
This happens when the wires get old, and those wires are old. They are white when they're new. Old wires can burn out a brand new relay very quickly.
1. Get a new terminal strip.
2. Assuming the feeder wires are connected to the elements with the standard Skutt crimp connectors: Cut off all the slip-on terminal connectors on the ends of the feeder wires that connect to the terminal strip, and put new connectors on them. No sense using corroded connectors on a new terminal strip. Replace the feeder wires next time you replace the elements. If the feeder wires are connected to the elements with removable connectors, then replace the feeder wires now. In the future, replace the slip-on terminals any time they show signs of overheating.
3. Replace the relay.
4. Get a new wiring harness (for inside the control box). It has all the wires going into and out of the relays and all the red control wires. I don't usually replace the control wires unless they really need it, but yours are looking fairly corroded so I'd replace them. Be really careful removing the wires from the transformer. Those connections are really delicate.
John Flores reacted to Bill Kielb in Melted Relay
