CSI: Sparks - Drier plug melted

[westward10]

@westward10
You can see something down the wall but I would expect to see it on the top part of the socket face as well if that was the cause?

To me the plug top and socket face indicate a pooling of liquid between them. It could have dripped to to top of the plug then down the wall. It just doesn't look like a sole electrical failure.

 

[westward10]

I see what you mean - though I think that's just a crack in the wall and the angle of picture makes it appear to line up.... There's a sink to the right of it, but worktop is properly sealed so not sure it's water damage...

Yes I can also see it could be an optical illusion but I still believe that is a liquid ingression issue.

 

[SparkySy]

I do agree that it does look like something has pooled between the plug and socket but I think it is more thermal damage that has caused it than a liquid as @Dartlec says the worktop is well sealed. There doesn't seem to be any residue on the bottom of the socket or flex either as you would expect with spilt liquid.

 

[Dartlec]

I didn't notice any liquid mess while looking at it, though my eyes are probably worse than most. The smell was awful still though!

 

[SparkySy]

I think the stain on the bottom right is from the plug itself as it's been happily melting away.

 

[DPG]

I'd put money on it being down to the plug, and highly likely the fuse contacts within it.

 

[Pete999]

I'd put money on it being down to the plug, and highly likely the fuse contacts within it.

Agree, or a dodgy connection in the socket, more likely to be in the plug though, worth checking both

 

[UNG]

I've never liked moulded plugs on high current appliances as you can't check the quality of the connections inside the plug.
When moulded plugs first hit the market an NHS HTM banned them from NHS premises due to poor quality manufacture, there where a number of reports of stray strands of cable visible in the outer casing

 

[Lucien Nunes]

Looks like a bog standard high resistance fuse clip, not sure why people are trying to make it more complicated. Happens all the time.

I've never liked moulded plugs on high current appliances as you can't check the quality of the connections inside the plug.

But a spot-welded connection is the best and most maintenance-free connection you can get. If properly made it will carry the cable's rated current for the life of the product with no local heat generation. A screw terminal will never make a connection that is as reliable and of such low resistance. Of course if it is a dodgy cordset then all bets are off, not just on the connections, but you can spot most of them from the outside.

Personally I'm much more interested in the integrity of the fuse clips. A plug with good clips trumps one with weak clips, regardless of the method of attachment of the flex.

 

[UNG]

Looks like a bog standard high resistance fuse clip, not sure why people are trying to make it more complicated. Happens all the time.

Which is possibly down to....... a poor spot weld!

But a spot-welded connection is the best and most maintenance-free connection you can get. If properly made it will carry the cable's rated current for the life of the product with no local heat generation. A screw terminal will never make a connection that is as reliable and of such low resistance. Of course if it is a dodgy cordset then all bets are off, not just on the connections, but you can spot most of them from the outside.

As with a lot of things built to a price is it "properly made" there are probably tens if not hundreds of thousands of these cordsets manufactured everyday with a 1 in ??? production batch test rate other than a visual inspection of the outer shell on site what else can you check when it is encased in plastic. This is one plug in many thousands that has failed so the fail rate is likely to be within an acceptable norm although that isn't much comfort for the person whose house suffers fire damage

Personally I'm much more interested in the integrity of the fuse clips. A plug with good clips trumps one with weak clips, regardless of the method of attachment of the flex.

I've seen a good number of failed moulded plugs in the last 30 - 40 years and the fuse clip has clearly not been the only failure point, although with some failures the manufacture quality of the socket may have been a contributing factor