Shit!

"Brickman" (legomaniacman) 03/14/2020 at 14:28 • Filed to: None

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Just before I went to bed last night the lights dimmed and heard a pop/ sizzle nearby. S aw a little soot on the plug in as seen in the pic and my surge protector plug was warm . Unplugged and some sparks came out. Ran to the fuse box and cut the power to the room. My house is only 5 years old and these crappy plug ins are everywhere.

I’ll be replacing the receptacles that I use the most with higher quality ones .

I dont think it was the surge protector that was the problem, I’d get a pop every once in a while when unplugging my rc battery charger. Glad I was home when it happened

CB > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 14:32

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Holy shit, glad you’re safe!

Who installed this garbage and is there any way to hold them accountable?

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 14:33

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Dang. I'd be tempted to replace every single one with a different brand. I wonder if there's some way of reporting a failure like that. It could be a widespread problem.

Remember the Merit from GTA SA? > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 14:33

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Wow... and to think I live in a house that’s even older, with hypothetically worse technology...

facw > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 14:35

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My space heater did this overnight the first time I stayed at my parents’ new home:

IIRC, the electrician thought it was a crappy job wiring the outlet, rather than an issue with the outlet itself. In any event, it got replaced (I think with an arc-fault outlet?) and the other ones in that space all got checked and reconnected if necessary.

MM54 > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 14:36

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Is the breaker properly sized? That’s a 15A outlet so if it’s on a 20A breaker you’re asking for trouble. Either way it’s good that you caught it; if nothing else is amiss I’d be tempted to replace any outlets that match it, especially if you can do it yourself (because it’s cheap unless you’re hiring someone).

Brickman > CB 03/14/2020 at 14:43

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What would be sunshine homes, but of course the warranty expires after 5 years ;)

Nom De Plume > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 14:44

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Home Despot Disreputable Contractor Grade

Try something like this.

Brickman > BaconSandwich is tasty. 03/14/2020 at 14:45

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IDK, but these plugs are light as a feather compared to the ones I purchase. 

Brickman > MM54 03/14/2020 at 14:51

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Yeah it’s a 20a breaker. It feeds my bedroom, closet, and half the living room.

I did have a lightning strike last year that took out the living room TV and router. Wonder if the high voltage weakened the plug.

Yep, I do my own electrical.

Brickman > facw 03/14/2020 at 14:52

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Wow, almost like mine. I got 3 set of wires going to it. Fixed it by adding a junction box to the side and just running one set of wires to the new plug.

jimz > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 14:54

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I don’t even see a manufacturer name on that piece of shit?

I’ve been going through my place slowly replacing the old back-stab wired (which I do not trust) receptacles with “commercial grade” Levitons. They grip any plug really tight and I notice the plug of e.g. my vacuum cleaner doesn’t get as warm as it did with the old one. 

BaconSandwich is tasty. > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 14:56

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All the more reason to replace every one of them. I wonder if they are counterfeit .

RacinBob > facw 03/14/2020 at 14:57

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I’d enjoy a good explanation of the root cause here because it is sure as heck not clear to me.

Explanation one is the terminal was loose, hence high resistance, hence hot which caused problems at plug. You might pull a couple of outlets and instpect them and see if the terminals are loose.

It could be that the outlet is really cheap and not sufficient for the current. (what was plugged into the surge protector?).You might break apart the outlet and see if it gives any clues. If you were running space heaters on it, maybe, but a computer or TV doesn’t draw a lot of current so I doubt it.

If there was no significant load on that outlet, I would wonder if the surge protector MOV (metal oxide varistor protection device) is shorting out? That’s kind of what they do sometimes. If you plug it in with no load and it gets hot, its your surge protector.

Since the plug was hot, it suggests to me that there was either a big load that the plug could not carry, or a light load but a high resistance that over heated the outlet and cascaded to failure.

Funny thing, whatever the cause I don’t think you will find that the outlet was the really the problem.

jimz > BaconSandwich is tasty. 03/14/2020 at 15:02

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maybe just “contractor grade,” which means “the cheapest shit imaginable.”

Brickman > jimz 03/14/2020 at 15:06

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Says Hubbell on the metal part. I never heard of them. I always use Legrand or leviton

facw > RacinBob 03/14/2020 at 15:07

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In this case it was a space heater, so yeah a big load, though one that the plug/wires should have been able to safely handle.

jimz > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 15:21

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Harvey Hubbell must be spinning in his grave if that’s the crap they’re putting his name on today.

Hubbell invented the “twist-lock” plug/receptacle design which became the NEMA “locking” connector standards.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 15:30

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Whoa. I assumed those were the back-stab plugs... but those were screw-terminal terminated?

If you know the builder or the sub-contract electrician?  I’d go have a “little talk” with them.  Because that’s total shyte-- you need those replaced.  Because that’s likely not ‘a fluke’.

wafflesnfalafel > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 15:38

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yikes...

Svend > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 16:00

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Bloody hell. I see U.S. sockets and wonder how safe can they be.

They look scary. 

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 16:03

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It boggles the mind to see some of the way contractors will cut corners. I like to have my stuff built to a higher standard than I’ll ever need. Even if I didn't need a "better" plug, any time I've ever needed to replace them I will get something well above what I need. 

Brickman > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 03/14/2020 at 16:14

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Yep all screwed in and tight. One white wire end was burnt to a crisp.

Sunshine homes made the modular home, im the 2nd owner. It’s a pretty big company that makes trailers and double wides. 

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 16:17

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There was an outlet beside my daughter’s bed and the bed was against the wall. I don’t remember what was plugged in there, but at some point, a penny dropped in between the plug insulator and the outlet, straddling the two prongs of the electrical plug. When I discovered it, the penny had welded itself between the two prongs, but never tripped the breaker. This is precisely  why we have arc-fault breakers.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > jimz 03/14/2020 at 16:18

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I only buy commercial grade, 20A outlets.

Brickman > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/14/2020 at 16:48

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Looks up arc-fault breakers... dang but it is worth it I suppose. 

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 16:55

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Sigh.  Sorry.  That’s bad.  It means they can’t be trusted.  Please be careful.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 17:04

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In a bedroom, no question about it. They take up more space on the panel...

jimz > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 03/14/2020 at 17:12

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IIRC this is why some installations put in the receptacles with the ground pin up.  I don’t know if that’s expressly addressed by code. 

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > jimz 03/14/2020 at 17:13

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My understanding is that the original design was grounding pin up. But it wouldn’t have made a difference in this case because two-pronged plug. Could have, should have been catastrophic.

jimz > Svend 03/14/2020 at 17:14

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this has nothing to do with the receptacle/plug design, it was either a defective or cut-rate (cheap) POS receptacle. that kind of failure is likely to be from high resistance due to a poor contact at high current draw; pretty much any other receptacle in use worldwide would scorch under that condition.  

jimz > Nom De Plume 03/14/2020 at 17:19

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just be sure you’re putting that on a legit 20A circuit, if you put that on a 15A circuit you’re violating code. 

Nom De Plume > jimz 03/14/2020 at 17:40

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He confirmed it is 20A.

Nom De Plume > jimz 03/14/2020 at 17:42

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... and then we box up and sell you the stuff barely within tolerance to function and other seconds.  While the merely cheapest shit possible acts as the next model up.

XJDano > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 18:12

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I heard some buzzing noises as the kids were playing with the rubber duckies in the Bathroom sink. As I walk in the GFCI is buzzing and leaking water. They were squirting water into the outlet, enough for it to be leaking. I had a loud talk about electricity and such that it must have been convincing as my kids haven’t tried it again. As a kid,  I probably would have. 

Thisismydisplayname > Brickman 03/14/2020 at 23:33

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Thanks for posting.  I just went through and replaced all the outlets in our new to us house that was built in 1990.  Looks like it’s time to upgrade breakers too.  I didn’t even know the arc flash breakers were a thing.  I assumed a arc would trip the old style breakers, learned something.  Glad you guys are okay and it wasn’t any more severe.  Thanks again.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Brickman 04/29/2020 at 10:02

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I’ll quit pestering you after this, but would you like a Folding@home team sticker?

Brickman > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/29/2020 at 10:12

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nah, im not a good folding team member. My pc doesnt like the hard work :\

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Brickman 04/29/2020 at 10:24

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I am more interested in getting stickers to people who gave it a shot than I am to people who get millions of points. Seriously. You definitely earned one and I will have plenty and I would really like to mail you one.

Brickman > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo 04/29/2020 at 10:48

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You can email it to me and I can print it out. I dont like to give my address to other than bills :)

gjanise@hotmail.com

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Brickman 04/29/2020 at 12:15

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I’ll do it. I respect the privacy concern. In all of this folding thing, I am the most touched by the folks who tried and maybe only got one work unit. I mean, lots of us aren’t computer heads, right?

I’ll email you the image.