GBC Arctic Titan 640T laminator ground wire arcing

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So I have a GBC Arctic Titan 640T laminator, the one with the heated top roller. It's probably close to 10 years old (maybe older) but still in perfect condition and it functions absolutely fine. However, today I turned it on and turned the heat up to 110 and waited for it to warm up. As I was waiting I started to hear a weird sizzle/crackle noise and sure enough, it was coming from the right side of the laminator. I could see a small spark periodically through the venting on the side cover. I removed the side cover to find what I believe is a ground wire a bit burnt on the ring end that attaches to the heating element. Anyone know what might have caused this? Anyone know where I can find a parts list for this machine? Anyone know if I can just order the single 4" wire from GBC (or anywhere)? Can I just make a new wire? I'm fine with cutting, stripping, crimping wire and connectors, but it seems like it might be some kind of heat-resistant wire, so I'm hesitant to just replace it with standard wire. Looks like I can get hi-temp wire and terminals on Amazon, so I could make a new wire. Just looking to see if anyone has experienced this or has any input on the situation before I spend any money. Thanks!

 

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Now that I look at it/think about it, there's plenty of wire there and it's in perfect condition so I think I can just cut off the ring terminal and replace it, rather than make an entirely new wire. Still curious why this might be happening. Does it just get carbon build-up up over time and the crud starts preventing a proper connection, and thus starts arcing? I'm not an electronics expert, by any means, but this would make sense to me. The last thing I need is for that terminal to weld itself onto the stud, and I definitely don't need a fire. I only turn the laminator on when I need it, so not worried about it starting a fire when I'm not here.

 

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GBC said just to snip off the ring terminal and replace it, which is pretty much what I was planning to do anyhow. I also added another nut so the ring terminal is sandwiched in between two nuts. All better now!

 

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Huzzah! I think it's just a galvanic corrosion between the steel nut, brass bolt, or possibly aluminum terminal ring. You'll probably get another 10 years out of your repair. Glad they were able to help you as opposed to tell you to get a tech!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_corrosion

I think what was happening is the nut was slowly loosening over time and creating a very small gap between it and the ring terminal. The gap was causing the arcing. I tightened it up yesterday and that seemed to stop the sparking, but I replaced the ring terminal today just to be sure, and added the second nut to ensure the ring stays in contact with metal at all times.