Almost Had An Electrical Fire Just Now

[Quantum1]

So today I did some routine cleaning behind our washer and dryer. Everything was fine, got it cleaned and restarted the machines. Several minutes later there was a burning plastic smell coming from the laundry room. I go to inspect, initially I don't see anything. No signs of burning plastic nor any areas of concern. So then I proceed to turn the dryer back on and see if I see anything suspicious. Suddenly I notice that the outlet(30amps btw) for our dryer is smoking. Oh Shit! I turn off the dryer and rush down to our breaker panel and trip the main breaker, killing all power to the house(not the most graceful way to kill my PC, and Server that has Plex running and FreeNAS in a VM). But there is no power now, and there won't be a fire. unless of course one has already begun. I return to the laundry room to inspect further. The smoking has stopped and there is no sent of fire. Pheeew. 

 

Upon further inspection, the cord from the socket to our dryer is very hot near the plug. Okay, maybe there was a short circuit, that somehow didn't trip the breaker. Anyways I wait for the plug to cool down and then remove it from the socket. Oh, my, pcmr! The prongs on the plug are rusted and charred with carbon and melted plastic, the outlet is no better. Looks like there might have been some arcing occurring on the prongs.

 

 

 

So with that major catastrophe avoided, I will now have an electrician come out and replace the socket, as well as inspect it, replace the plug on the dryer's cord, and check the fuses to make sure they are in working order.  

 

TL;DR : Some kind or arcing/short circuit on our 30A dryer circuit almost caused a fire.

 

Edit: changed "out" in the tl;dr to "our".

 

Edited July 18, 2016 by Quantum1

[Donut417]

Thats kinda fucked up. Not going to lie. Glad that you made it out safe. 

[Okjoek]

How old is the original wiring in the wall and how old is the dryer?

[Quantum1]

1 minute ago, Okjoek said:

How old is the original wiring in the wall and how old is the dryer?

The dryer is less than five years old. The Wiring for the 30A circuit could be as old as the house, circa 1960.

[Mug]

If I went to a motorway underpass, I'd expecy their plugs and sockets to look like that

 

[Mug]

why are you getting an electrician to do it

 

yturn off the eceltricity and do it yoursekf

[Mug]

looks like a damp problem also

that's the only thing that you dhuld get soryed out

[Quantum1]

1 minute ago, Mug said:

why are you getting an electrician to do it

 

yturn off the eceltricity and do it yoursekf

Because I'm not an electrician, nor do I have the knowledge to replace it myself. And the fact that it is a 30amp circuit, that was shorting and not tripping the breaker, I want to have a professional take a look at it and fix the issue.

[Mug]

1 minute ago, Quantum1 said:

Because I'm not an electrician, nor do I have the knowledge to replace it myself. And the fact that it is a 30amp circuit, that was shorting and not tripping the breaker, I want to have a professional take a look at it and fix the issue.

yeah  man up mate. Go to your fuse box, turn off it all and it's all off. simple. just buy a socket from B&Q and its sorted

[dragoon20005]

good thing you were around to catch the short before anything big happens

 

it could have been the whole house on fire!

[Donut417]

4 minutes ago, Mug said:

yeah  man up mate. Go to your fuse box, turn off it all and it's all off. simple. just buy a socket from B&Q and its sorted

May not be that simple of a repair. Old houses used old wiring. Hell the house I live in has Aluminum  and Copper wiring. The former is no longer allowed under code. The breaker could be bad also, so you have to replace the breaker, the wiring and the socket. It might be a bigger job. Electrical and Gas you 2 things you dont fuck with if you dont know what you are doing. Its always better to let a pro look at it and know its done right. Better off with a pro then having the house burn down with all your shit and have to fight with the insurance company. 

[Okjoek]

15 minutes ago, Quantum1 said:

Because I'm not an electrician, nor do I have the knowledge to replace it myself. And the fact that it is a 30amp circuit, that was shorting and not tripping the breaker, I want to have a professional take a look at it and fix the issue.

I would agree with that idea. Unless electrician is your trade then I see no reason to risk a botched operation. That wiring could be from before my Dad was born.

[Mug]

5 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

May not be that simple of a repair. Old houses used old wiring. Hell the house I live in has Aluminum  and Copper wiring. The former is no longer allowed under code. The breaker could be bad also, so you have to replace the breaker, the wiring and the socket. It might be a bigger job. Electrical and Gas you 2 things you dont fuck with if you dont know what you are doing. Its always better to let a pro look at it and know its done right. Better off with a pro then having the house burn down with all your shit and have to fight with the insurance company. 

old wiring is the s\me as new wiring

• twist
• crimp
• screw
• screw
• done

oh wait, hasn't changed in 40 fucking years

banter

[Donut417]

7 minutes ago, Mug said:

old wiring is the s\me as new wiring

• twist
• crimp
• screw
• screw
• done

oh wait, hasn't changed in 40 fucking years

banter

What about running the new wired. Or do you expect the OP to have it running across the floor. What about replacing the breaker if its bad, they do go bad. Here in the US we have 220v coming in, and its splits to 120v for each leg. You can fucking die really quick if your not careful. 

 

The OP said they are not knowledgeable to do this job. So they will call in a pro. Sure it will cost, but I rather pay out the ass and know its done right then having an issue down the road or risk a fire. 

[Mug]

1 minute ago, Donut417 said:

What about running the new wired. Or do you expect the OP to have it running across the floor. What about replacing the breaker if its bad, they do go bad. Here in the US we have 220v coming in, and its splits to 120v for each leg. You can fucking die really quick if your not careful. 

 

The OP said they are not knowledgeable to do this job. So they will call in a pro. Sure it will cost, but I rather pay out the ass and know its done right then having an issue down the road or risk a fire. 

wow that's unsafe. 230v ftw.

 

re-wiring a socket though, a baby could do it.

[Mug]

quanum's house is on fire

his electrics are terrified

[Okjoek]

12 minutes ago, Mug said:

 

Just "get someone whose job it is to do that job!"

[Mug]

1 minute ago, Okjoek said:

Just "get someone whose job it is to do that job!"

Come back when it's someone not recording on thier phone

[Okjoek]

1 minute ago, Mug said:

Come back when it's someone not recording on thier phone

I couldn't find a better recording which is kind of weird I will admit. It gets the point across though.

[Mug]

1 minute ago, Okjoek said:

I couldn't find a better recording which is kind of weird I will admit. It gets the point across though.

legit too drunk to understand, why does port have to be so nice?