appliances burning up (the plugs)

[Mike_in_SD]

Hi guys .. the plugs on my appliances keep burning up.

A friend said something about something possibly being crossed at the mains box (fuse box)

just bought this house, its a rental

any ideas

thanks mike

[Joseph Meehan]

Could you describe a little more for us.

Describe how it looks; how often it happens; same outlet; same appliance; do fuses blow; how old is the house; are the plugs original equipment or replacements?

[Jeff Wisnia]

I'd guess your wall recepticals are old and far from virginal. the female contacts are probably loose and aren't making good tight low resistance electrical connections with the male plug blades on your appliance cords, causing heating when current passes through that resistance.

Replacing the recepticals with GOOD quality ones using screwed connection to the house wiring should make the problem go away.

HTH,

Jeff

[oklaman]

I'd guess your wall recepticals are old and far from virginal. the female contacts are probably loose and aren't making good tight low resistance electrical connections with the male plug blades on your appliance cords, causing heating when current passes through that resistance.

Replacing the recepticals with GOOD quality ones using screwed connection to the house wiring should make the problem go away.

HTH,

Jeff

[hallerb]

Replce all receptables and plugs with high quality new ones/

poor connection of worn c0ntacts causes heating of plugs/

use circuit tester 6 bucks to confirm receptables are wired right both before you begin and after your finished.

are your receptables 3 prong?

[Mike_in_SD]

[e-mail] ( [e-mail]) wrote in :

wow .. lot of help .. thanks.

yea .. they are three prong, dont know if the sockets are grounded but .. the plug I saw was a crispy critter. then the renters called and said that their rice cooker burnt up on a different socket.

the wiring is pretty old. the mains box uses these old breakers that cost me 30 bucks a piece at hd.

mike

[Jeff Wisnia]

You told us it was the PLUGS that fried. Was it the plug on the rice cooker that burnt up or the cooker itself?

If it was the cooker, you may have more than one electrical problem in that house.

A poor (loose) neutral connection from the incoming line at the breaker panel panel can increase the voltage on one side of neutral when it's decreased on the other by loads being connected. That's often indicated by some lights dimming noticably when other electrical loads elsewhere in the house are switched on.

You may need professional help to locate that kind of problem.

Jeff

[mgkelson]

I would replace the sockets. Make sure you don't get any of those with the spring-type, wire connectors. Then plug in an appliance (like a

1200W space heater for example) with a good plug and see if it gets hot.

[Mark Lloyd]

It actually seemed funny to see that word used appropriately. TOO MANY usenet posters write "loose" when they mean "lose".

Yes, I have had problems with loose contacts in outlets. I even used one where you couldn't get a plug to fit unless you squeeze the prongs together while inserting it.

There should be some where you can insert the wires in holes in the back, and tighten screws around them. I have used switches and GFCIs with those. You get the ease of the holes combined with the security of screws.

BTW, I just watched a neighbor wiring a wall (to put a closet in a big room). He used 14/2 Romex instead of 12/2 because the 12/2 was too big for the backstab holes. When I installed receptacles, I used the screws.

[hallerb]

BTW, I just watched a neighbor wiring a wall (to put a closet in a

I dont believe any 15 amp receptables accept more than 14 gauge wires unless you wrap them around screws.... ran into that when upgrading my batrhroom the GFCIs made for a tight fit i ended up going with 20 amp receptables, the only 20 amp ones in the house.

my memorey of that some 10 years ago was a big hassle

[Mark Lloyd]

The older ones would.

I stopped using the backstab connections, after reading this group.

That neighbor I mentioned before has 4 Romex cables to connect to a receptacle. He connected 2 to the backstab holes and the other 2 to the screws. I suppose I would have used pigtails.

[Stormin Mormon]

Have your friend fix it, he seems to know what's wrong.