Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We just moved into a house a few weeks ago. I had my drill charger plugged into a first floor bedroom outlet (non GFCI). We smelled burning plastic last night and I couldn't figure out what it was coming from. Upon further investigation I found the outlet that the drill charger was plugged into was REALLY hot and slightly melting. I killed the electricity to that room which also happens to be the electricity to the family room and entryway which are all next to each other. I unscrewed the outlet and it was charred and melted on the inside (even the wall was still hot right above the outlet, kind of scary). Also one of the wires was pretty much melted including the insulation. Anyways, I unscrewed all the wires to that outlet and capped each individual wire. When I turned back on the breaker, only that room that the outlet was in went back on. The living room power did not go back on, nor the hallway power??
My questions are:
#1) (Obviously) Any idea why that outlet was melting?? ( I believe we only have 100 AMP breaker box, house is from 1950's, all outlets are 3 prong)
#2) Was there too much plugged into all of the rooms? (Living room has a flatscreen with cable, surround sound, playstation 3 and reciever, first floor bedroom has computer, router, printer etc....)
#3) Why did only the power go back on in the extra bedroom and not the living room and hallway? Was it because I removed the melted outlet? Does there need to be an outlet there for all the rooms to have electricity because they are all on the same breaker?
#4) Shouldn't all rooms be on a seperate breaker?
On a side note, we used to get small power surges (lights dimming) when we would turn on any appliances in the kitchen. This morning I did not notice any while I was getting ready. Is that because I removed that outlet?
Sorry for the long thread but I am terrible with electricity and we were freaked out last night because I feel like our house could have burned down if we didn't catch that outlet melting.....(I am calling an electrician but wanted anyones feedback, so I know what I am getting into)
Hi Gunner,
It's time to shop for a licensed electrician to come out and give you some figures for updating and upgrading your system. Things get old, things wear out, things are not done correctly, and things are no longer adequate: you may have a strong hand in most, if not all of those suits . Load analysis and circuit delineation are a major part of updating and upgrading.
when you took out the outlet (receptacle), how many wires were connected to it? were there one or two black wires? one or two white wires? was there a bare copper wire? if the house is from the 50s and has original wiring there is a good chance the "third prong" is doing nothing but giving you a false sense of security. or even worse they have a "bootleg ground" where the ground terminal on the receptacle is spliced with the neutral (white) wire. technically if they are ungrounded, you should replace them all with two-prong outlets.
the most likely reason for other lights, etc. not working is that they were upstream of the receptacle.
each room isn't necessarily on a separate circuit (breaker). sometimes running the wire in such a way to accomplish that task is not practical and doesn't offer a great benefit. i would say it is more important to have lights and receptacles on separate circuits than individual rooms.
as for the actual problem - reversed polarity (hot and neutral wires backwards) is my guess, but i'm no master electrician. a "short circuit" would likely trip the breaker unless it is bad too.
regarding "too much plugged in" - if you overload a circuit, the breaker should trip. but if something is wrong with the wiring or the breaker itself or it isn't rated right, maybe it won't. in general, on good wiring, i don't think that you will burn an outlet from having too much plugged in.
finally - can you confirm the drill charger isn't faulty? have you used it before in similar circumstances with success?
when you took out the outlet (receptacle), how many wires were connected to it? were there one or two black wires? one or two white wires? was there a bare copper wire? if the house is from the 50s and has original wiring there is a good chance the "third prong" is doing nothing but giving you a false sense of security. or even worse they have a "bootleg ground" where the ground terminal on the receptacle is spliced with the neutral (white) wire. technically if they are ungrounded, you should replace them all with two-prong outlets.
the most likely reason for other lights, etc. not working is that they were upstream of the receptacle.
each room isn't necessarily on a separate circuit (breaker). sometimes running the wire in such a way to accomplish that task is not practical and doesn't offer a great benefit. i would say it is more important to have lights and receptacles on separate circuits than individual rooms.
as for the actual problem - reversed polarity (hot and neutral wires backwards) is my guess, but i'm no master electrician. a "short circuit" would likely trip the breaker unless it is bad too.
regarding "too much plugged in" - if you overload a circuit, the breaker should trip. but if something is wrong with the wiring or the breaker itself or it isn't rated right, maybe it won't. in general, on good wiring, i don't think that you will burn an outlet from having too much plugged in.
finally - can you confirm the drill charger isn't faulty? have you used it before in similar circumstances with success?
Thanks for the feedback...When I removed the outlet there were four wires.. I think two white, and two black or green? The green one was the one that was fried and melted the most. I am not certain the charger is not faulty though...I guess that could be the reason as well huh? It did charge the battery pack ok though but doesn't mean it's not a piece of crap. It is a replacement charger.
are you able to still determine which wire was connected to which terminal on the outlet? if so, the black wires should have been connected to the side labeled hot with bronze screws and the white wires to the side labeled neutral with silver screws. if these were backwards that was your problem.
when you said it was four wires not six, you confirmed it is original wiring with no ground. and given that you said it was a modern (three prong) receptacle it was a homeowner replacement and a miswire is reasonably probable. also being four wires and not two confirms that something else (other non working lights) were getting power upstream of the receptacle.
did you have your home inspected when you bought it? a typical inspector will catch reversed polarity so check out the report.
but honestly what seems the most likely to me is a faulty device plug, especially if the plug for the drill charger is a "wall wart" (big box) style that rested right against the face of the receptacle.
oh, and good job turning off the circuit and capping the wires and being generally safe.
are you able to still determine which wire was connected to which terminal on the outlet? if so, the black wires should have been connected to the side labeled hot with bronze screws and the white wires to the side labeled neutral with silver screws. if these were backwards that was your problem.
when you said it was four wires not six, you confirmed it is original wiring with no ground. and given that you said it was a modern (three prong) receptacle it was a homeowner replacement and a miswire is reasonably probable. also being four wires and not two confirms that something else (other non working lights) were getting power upstream of the receptacle.
did you have your home inspected when you bought it? a typical inspector will catch reversed polarity so check out the report.
but honestly what seems the most likely to me is a faulty device plug, especially if the plug for the drill charger is a "wall wart" (big box) style that rested right against the face of the receptacle.
oh, and good job turning off the circuit and capping the wires and being generally safe.
I will check when I get home to see which side the wires were plugged in..It's easy to tell because the side that had the green wire is almost completely melted! We did have our home inspected and honestly he was very good. But of course the outlet that I had the drill charger plugged in was behind a huge wooden daybed thing that the previous owner had in that room so he was not able to check that outlet...go figure. And the charger plug is a Wall Wart black square like you mentioned...Do you think that could have been causing the power surges in the kitchen when we turned on anything? Thanks for the props too on capping the wires...honestly I knew something was really wrong when I unplugged the charger and the outlet was still super hot like 10 minutes later...I knew I had to get that outlet out of there!
the lights dimming in the kitchen just means that the lights are on the same circuit as the receptacles in the kitchen. it is a totally separate circuit (when you flip the breaker to the charred outlet off, the kitchen still works, right? - so is unrelated to the problem at hand.) a similar experience happens to a lot of people when plugging in a vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, etc. it isn't a big deal, just annoying. this exact reason is why it is better to have lights and receptacles on separate circuits. and in 2010 they usually are, but in 1950, they usually were not.
another thought - were the wires screwed onto the outlet terminals or were they kind of stabbed into the back? a loose connection plus a misbehaving wall wart could do this.
the lights dimming in the kitchen just means that the lights are on the same circuit as the receptacles in the kitchen. it is a totally separate circuit (when you flip the breaker to the charred outlet off, the kitchen still works, right? - so is unrelated to the problem at hand.) a similar experience happens to a lot of people when plugging in a vacuum cleaner, hair dryer, etc. it isn't a big deal, just annoying. this exact reason is why it is better to have lights and receptacles on separate circuits. and in 2010 they usually are, but in 1950, they usually were not.
another thought - were the wires screwed onto the outlet terminals or were they kind of stabbed into the back? a loose connection plus a misbehaving wall wart could do this.
Yeah I think the kitchen is on a seperate circuit, but will have to check for sure when I get home..The wires were screwed onto the terminals for sure, I had to unscrew each one...but I was reading that a loose connection could have cause arching as well which might have overheated it ? I didn't know this until I had already unscrewed and removed it so I will never know if it was in fact loose...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
