Product Overview
The Part That Tells a GE Starter When to Trip
Condition
Condition is New. One broad face shows a serpentine metal ribbon spanning an open window in the body, with a green molded base at one end and a tan plate forming the back. The green base carries H15.7B molded in raised characters, and the tan back plate carries a faint impressed GE monogram, both legible in the photos. Surface tone varies across the piece, with darker mottling and discoloration on the open face and along the frame. Against the ruler the body measures approximately 1-1/4 inches by 7/8 inch, with the green base bringing overall length to roughly 1-1/2 inches. This sells as one heater element, and because we stock more than one, the photographed piece is representative rather than the specific unit that ships.
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Product Overview
The GE H15.7B is a thermal overload heater element, the replaceable current-sensing piece that installs in a General Electric overload relay on a magnetic motor starter. It does not interrupt current on its own. It carries motor current through a low-resistance element and converts that current into heat, and the heat is what drives the relay trip mechanism to open the control circuit when a motor pulls too much for too long. Because the heater sets the trip point, the number has to match both the relay it goes into and the motor it protects, and heaters are not interchangeable between manufacturers or between relay series. The H15.7B designation is molded into the green base of this piece and the GE monogram is impressed into the tan back plate, so the identity is on the part rather than on a label that can fall off. Not confirmed - check H15.7B against the GE heater selection table for your specific overload relay and your motor nameplate full load amps before installing.
Key Features
- Marked H15.7B, molded in raised characters into the green base
- GE monogram impressed into the tan back plate
- Serpentine heater element visible through an open window in the front face
- Back plate carries two round holes and two slotted openings
- Body measures approximately 1-1/4 inches by 7/8 inch against the ruler, roughly 1-1/2 inches overall including the green base
- Condition New, sold as a single heater element
- Heater rating and relay compatibility not confirmed here - verify against the GE heater table before use
Applications
- A plant electrician rebuilding a GE starter bucket where the heaters were removed or mismatched during an earlier repair and the relay itself is still good
- A maintenance shop that swapped in a different motor and now needs the heater number matching the new nameplate amps in an existing GE overload relay
- An MCC refurbisher finishing a three-pole starter where one heater is missing and the other two poles are already correct
- A machine rebuilder keeping a legacy GE-equipped line in service, where only the heater needs restocking and nothing about the starter needs to change
Frequently Asked Questions
Will this heater fit my overload relay?
Not confirmed for your particular relay. Heater elements are keyed to a specific manufacturer and relay series, and a heater that drops into one GE block will not necessarily seat or rate correctly in another. Check the H15.7B number against the heater table for your overload relay before ordering.
What motor amps does H15.7B protect?
The trip current a heater produces depends on the relay it is installed in, so the number by itself does not translate to a motor amp rating. Not confirmed here - look up H15.7B in the GE heater selection table for your relay and match it to the full load amps on the motor nameplate.
Does the heater blow open like a fuse?
No. It is a low-resistance element that carries motor current continuously, and the heat it develops is what trips the relay mechanism and opens the control circuit. The heater is the sensor, not the interrupting device, which is why a tripped overload is reset rather than replaced.
What do the photos show?
The photos cover the open front face from several angles, the end profile, the green base with H15.7B molded into it, and the tan back plate with the GE monogram impressed in, each shot alongside an inch ruler for scale. What is visible in the photos is what we can confirm about this part.
Why buy heater elements here instead of a full box?
Heaters get replaced by the pole, not by the carton. A three-pole starter takes three of the same number, and the spares drawer usually wants one more, not fifty. We stock these individually so you can buy the exact count your relay takes and stop there. Shipping is a flat $8, free once your order passes $28, and orders leave our Idaho warehouse the same or next business day.
A heater element does the least glamorous math in the panel: it turns amps into heat and then waits. Get the number right for your relay and your motor, and this one goes back to standing between a working machine and an expensive rewind.
