Housefires and how to avoid them

Destination

Destination

Destination

Soldato
Joined
31 May 2009
Posts
21,457
So the washing machine just tripped half the house, on examination I was confronted with an electrical smell of burning, moved machine out had a look at the plug

gSVY6we.jpg
xDsRnAm.jpg

So my question is, do I need a chap to look at the machine, or do i need an electrician to come check the plugs?
What's the most likely cause of this fire on the terminal?
 
That looks like you missed somehting really nasty happening.

I'd get an electrician in to check the mains, but my guess is possibly something got in the plug/socket and was causing a bad contact which then led to arcing/overheating, or something similar as the plug doesn't look like it's overheated further along and the damage seems to be just at that pin.
At the minimum you're looking at a replacement socket and possibly replacing a stretch of cabling as well.

I had something not quite so bad happen many years ago with one of our sockets, I caught it before it got anything like that bad and it IIRC it turned out the contact between the plug and socket was arcing due to what appeared to be corrosion on the plug (causing increased resistance and heating).
 
Last edited:
Damn! Good you caught it. Guessing if it tripped the house then wire insulation either in the plug or in the socket has melted causing a short? Good job it did really so you checked it!

A little while ago I actually found something similar, wires in the a double socket under the sink with dishwasher&washing machine plugged in had obviously been getting very hot, which I found when I investigated a buzzing sound, and on having a look at the double socket could see it had cracked. Got an electrician to check the house after that, replaced one of the breakers with a lower current one as apparently it was too high for the wiring / design on that circuit, and put a new socket in. I think the actual problem was just that the socket had been really rubbish so the actual metal contact part of the socket had been heating up, and insulation on the wires inside was visibly damaged nearby, but wonder if that could partly have been a corrosion / contact issue too (given its location under the sink).
e: actually thinking about it I think there was a problem with the dishwasher that either caused or contributed to the problem too, as I think it was the dishwasher tripping the breaker a couple of times that made me investigate the buzzing. Replaced it after getting the new socket as it was at least 10+ years old and probably knackered, and wanted a new quieter one anyway.
 
Last edited:
the shadow said:
Indesit ?
Click to expand...
Bosch.
Had it maybe 9 years, had the brushes replaced maybe 18 months ago, else it's been rock solid.
It's on a fused spur, with the isolator switch above the cabinet.
Honestly, given the smell, if the damn electric had not tripped, we might well have had full blown housefire.
Lead wasn't under strain etc, but as people have stated the cable run from the fuse above down to the socket I wouldn't trust at all now.

I'll get a spark in.
Is there any chance the machine itself might be okay after this with a new plug, if the problem is isolated to the plug itself?
Or should I get ordering a new machine?
 
Destination said:
Bosch.
Had it maybe 9 years, had the brushes replaced maybe 18 months ago, else it's been rock solid.
It's on a fused spur, with the isolator switch above the cabinet.
Honestly, given the smell, if the damn electric had not tripped, we might well have had full blown housefire.
Lead wasn't under strain etc, but as people have stated the cable run from the fuse above down to the socket I wouldn't trust at all now.

I'll get a spark in.
Is there any chance the machine itself might be okay after this with a new plug, if the problem is isolated to the plug itself?
Or should I get ordering a new machine?
Click to expand...

Something created the issue. Either too much draw at one moment in time. The wrong fuse in the plug, or some bad wiring in the socket - or something else that isn't obvious to me.

They'll be able to tell if there's and issue with your wiring, and do all the relevant voltage drop/resistance tests. Do you suffer from damp? If there's damp in/around the socket that could also cause issues.

Definitely get a certified electrician in to give you some impartial advice.
 
What fuse was inside? I'm betting the wrong fuse was in there.
 
Last edited:
If it's a fault with the socket/plug then the machine will probably be ok with a new plug, as if it was the actual appliance I would have expected the RCD to have tripped much earlier, or the fuse to have gone before it got that bad.
 
9 years old means the washing machine is probably no longer under warranty. I would get an electrician to check the machine as well as the plug as per post #2 on here.

Certainly dodged a bullet!
 
Had similar to this. Well. Same effect.
Our electric shower had been wired up basically illegally (from before bought house) . Probably one of those mates did it.

There was a wire into a cooker switch and a wire from cooker switch to shower. Cooker switched tucked away in cupboard (ie inaccessible in an emergency)

Same thing. Burnt out connections in the box (not as bad as didn't show through)
Consumer unit didn't trip quick enough.

Turns out the CU was incorrectly set up (not sensitive enough) to and the cooker switch was a death trap and the wiring was damaged.
The wiring between shower and isolator switch was the route cause. But whole system was a death trap

Eneded up relocating wiring to a proper pull cord
Replacing the CU with a modern one with sensitive RCDs


But the shower itself was fine.
No problems since. The electrician had never seen anything like it. And he's been a electrician all his life!
 
Last edited:
That's scary looking ! Any signs of damp around there or something like mice chewing on the cable behind the socket ? Definitely want a sparky for the socket.

I'd be tempted to check the machine is ok (or at least comes on) by plugging into another socket after replacing that plug, but not running a load until you're feeling brave or prepared to stand over it.
 
Destination said:
plug is marked as 13amp, it has a 13 amp fuse within it, which is now nicely fused into the plastic
and the isolator fuse on the socket above the work top has a 13 amp fuse in it as well
Click to expand...

I'm more concerned as to why it burnt up the neutral pin, not the live pin.

Is the socket wired correctly even?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom