Just has this happen to a four plug bank and electric fan was only thing running. The plug was smoking and the fan was still running. Should I take the wall socket off?

by blimeyitsme

26 comments

  1. Turn your sockets off at the fuse board and call an electrician.

  3. Yeah, bin the power gang you were using, replace that socket (I’d recommend getting one from Toolstation or Screwfix not Amazon, eBay or temu) and get a sparky to check the wiring 

  4. There will be a loose connection in the socket or plug. If everything is fused properly in the house, no damage will have been caused to anything else.

  5. Looks like an arc fault. The neutral pin was making poor contact in the socket and causing an electrical arc. This then heats up the plug and can cause a fire.

  7. Not an electrician, but why does a fan need a 13a fuse or was that the extension?

  8. Knock the power off at the fuse box and have a look. Sockets are easy to replace so I wouldn’t hire an electrician because of the cost.

    If you’re knowledgeable with things like changing a plug you’ll be ok. If you can’t change a plug then seek help with this.

    Edit: the most probable cause is an old damaged socket damaged through usage which now (obviously) needs replacing.

  9. There’s been a poor connection either between the neutral pin and the socket which has heated the pin up so hot that it’s melted everything on either side, or between the neutral wire and the pin in the plug. Looking at your photo of the plug, I’d say it’s inside the plug. This is the sort of fault that can potentially start a house fire, so you’re actually pretty lucky.

    Obviously both the socket and the plug need to be replaced. However, it’s unlikely that there’s any other issue here.

    If you’re comfortable with electrics, then replacing the socket is easy to DIY. If you’re not, then it’s literally a 5-10 min job for an electrician so will basically be whatever they charge to come out.

    Tonight, I would switch off the circuit this is on at the fusebox. There *probably* isn’t an issue leaving it live (I suspect the fault was inside the plug and you’re only seeing external scorching on the faceplate of the socket), but equally there could be: you don’t know how much of a mess that socket is behind the faceplace and you’ll sleep better knowing it’s safe.

    Just to add, this is a fault with the plug (*possibly socket*) so 100% no need to bin the fan. If it was a problem with the fan shorting out, the fuse would have blown long before the plug got this hot. You could safely cut off the plug, fit a new one, and keep the 4-way adapter if you so wish – but I’m guessing you’d rather replace it! Given the plug is faulty, I’m not sure I’d trust the quality of the rest of it.

    TL;DR: This will be cheap to fix and likely isn’t going to be dangerous to leave. But play it safe and turn off the circuit.

  10. If you have to come to reddit to ask this question, it is probably not something you should be tackling yourself. Please don’t hurt yourself!

  11. It’s likely melted the wiring part way in.
    Worth expert advise.

  13. Double socket looks old, there’s a good chance that the plug pin was not making a good connection in the socket causing the arcing, wiring at the back is possibly fine, might be a little heat damage but socket will need replacing so you’ll be able to check the wiring then.

  14. Looks like it was a loose neutral wire in the plug. What sort of consumer unit have you got – I assume it’s not got an RCD on it? If it has I would have expected an RCD to trip before getting to that stage. They’re not designed for arch fault issues but they will trip if there’s a big imbalance which there clearly is because neutral is gone and it’s exposed the earth.

    As others have said get an electrician round to replace the socket and advise, I suspect the socket cables will be ok but best to check. Also to help prevent this maybe look at getting quotes for an 18th edition board – your current consumer unit is likely not an issue in regards to legality/regulation wise, but having RCDs on the circuits, which all 18th edition boards now have to have, will help prevent this sort of thing happening in future.

  15. This is heat damage, most likely caused by the neutral wire not making good contact with the pin.

    Socket will need replacing because the plastic casing is damaged and has likely caused damage to the safety gates that are operated by the earth pin.

    Your house’s mains wiring has a higher current capacity than your sockets and plugs, though the conduction of heat through the wiring *may* have damaged the insulation. I wouldn’t be too concerned about that bit.

    Your house’s fuse box won’t have tripped because this isn’t a current problem rather than a heat problem. 13A of sustained load (think 3-pin electric car charger recharging a vehicle from empty over 36-ish hours) will do similar amounts of damage, but won’t trip a fuse.

  16. It’s gone high resistance, replace the socket safely, with a new plug. It’s a thing with old sockets and plugs.

  17. I had something like this. A ‘professional’ didn’t wire and tighten the wires properly to the wall socket. My smart plug melted and burned to shit.

    Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s the same case of Arcy McArc Pants. Be it in the plug or in the socket.

  21. This is the sort of thing that I prevented recently. Kitchen socket was arching inside the socket even with nothing connected. Annoyingly all the bedrooms and kitchen sockets are connected on the same ring and the only thing I could do was shut off the breaker for all the sockets for one night. It happened Sunday night off all days. Luckily living room was separate so I could run the fridge off an extension cord. I definitely need to get my electrics redone to isolate something like this in future.

  24. When you say fan
    Was it a electric heater fan usually 1500 watts
    Or just a normal 20w desk fan

  25. What brand was the socket smoking? Could be a clue. I’ve seen lots if detective shows.

  26. As an electrician with 100 years experience: yeah it shouldnt do that

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