It happened when I connected the heater strip through an extension cord that
might have had a short circuit in the plug. Trust me, you don't want to have
a short circuit in any of the outputs even for the shortest amount of time
if that was really the cause.

Here is more detailed protocol of the current state of the controller
(hoping that an electronic wiz out there can help me out):
1. Replaced the 555 timer and the MOSFET (did not have the exact one but it
should be ok spec wise)
2. Turned on power without load (no heater strip) - everything looks fine,
circuit draws 100mA
3. Connected 11" heater strip (measuring 6.2 ohm) - circuit draws a little
over 2A (pretty much what I'd expect with 12V at 6 ohm), everything looks
(and smells) ok
4. After 4 secs (I read somewhere that this is exactly the cycle time of the
Kendrick) current drops to 300-400 mA (I guess that means that the timer
flips and makes the MOSFET block) and 555 starts cooking (literally!).
I'd really appreciate any idea on what else could have blown that is causing
this now. The only components I did not check are L1, VR1 (?), and J4 (?).
Thanks
Dirk

"HAVRILIAK" wrote in message
...
y Kendrick dew heater controller (model 4) blew up yesterday.

Sorry to hear that but how did it happen. I for one would like to avoid
that
condition