Socket caught on fire - urgent help/advice needed from tenant

[Robin Leitch]

Hi all

I have come on here in hope for some advice if possible. Yesterday my wife was at home with my three children when she smelt a strong burning coming from the kitchen, when investigating she noticed the tumble dryer plug (which is plugged in the wall socket) had caught fire, as it transpires and thankfully, she pulled the plug out in time. As the smoke seemed to still be coming from the socket the fire brigade where called out in fear of it being a fire within the wall. The fireman said it was only a few more seconds away from fully igniting.

Subsequently he seemed pretty outraged with our landlord over other aspects of the property seeming to lack fire safety regulations, and asked for his telephone number to make direct contact. Later in the evening our landlord arrived and let it slip that the wiring had been installed over 13 years ago and had not been touched or checked since. He promised to return today with an electrician to replace the socket and make sure it was all safe to continue to use.

Whilst i was at work he attended the property with friend who apparently did the original wiring, his friend suggested that it was a fuse issue and the sockets and wires where absolutely perfect still? When my wife asked for that to be written down and for paperwork to show these findings he refused to leave her anything and simple said the plug is proof enough to claim from the tumble dryer company for compensation of a new tumble dryer (as ours is no longer working) I have added some pics for you in hope that it may be able to suggest this is a tumble dryer and plug issue and not electrical. as I am slightly worried, firstly that we have had a proper check carried (it could have been anybody for all we know) checking our electrics and secondly to ask if it is a legal requirement to leave paperwork with tenants to confirm the work as been carried out by a qualified electrician? also on a side note, yesterday the fireman arranged to book in a free fire safety inspection and offered us free smoke alarms as ours are not working, they had arranged to do this on Friday however my landlord has advised us today he has cancelled this appointment and will fit the alarms himself? Thanks in advance for any help and advice.

 

[westward10]

If the socket was cracked before this incident that could have been the cause but I have to say if it was a moulded plug on the tumble drier it shows all the signs of the fuse overheating.

 

[Robin Leitch]

Thank you, the socket has been cracked for a few years however it is a moulded plug also....

 

[KEV 1 N]

It's as if the fuse in the plug has been slack in its holder, causing it to get hot.
What make was the tumble dryer?

 

[Octopus]

Rather oddly there is no requirement for landlords to undertake mandatory electrical safety checks in the uk other than Scotland.

Decent and responsible landlords do.

13 year old wiring should not be a problem. I tested a 55 year old house yesterday and on the whole the electrics were OK.

If your landlord does get the installation tested, it should take a few hours to do it properly.

Certificates for like for like accessory changes are not required.

 

[westward10]

If you still have the plug you will probably see the fuse across the middle of it to match the worst burn damage on the socket.

 

[DJ Ovengloves]

13 years isn’t particularly old for wiring either.

It looks to me as if the heat has been applied at the front of the socket - I.e from the plug itself.

 

[The Ghost]

There are a number of tumble dryers that have been recalled because of safety issues, perhaps you could check on electicalsafetyfirst.org to see if your tumble dryer is one of these. They are problematic it would seem generally.
You should have the electrical installation checked every five years in the case of rented property or it is recommended to do so.

Rather oddly there is no requirement for landlords to undertake mandatory electrical safety checks in the uk

So you should have a copy of those Electrical Installation Certificates?
It is unusual for a socket to be so damaged in one incident. Was the socket showing signs of burning before the event?

 

[Robin Leitch]

Thanks everyone, before it went we were only ever able to use one of the sockets which was the left hand one as the other socket didnt work at all, it was a white knight tumble dryer and i will of course be looking to take this up further with them as like i say the fireman said it was a very very close call. Should i have been left some sort of blue slip?

 

[static zap]

If you still have the plug you will probably see the fuse across the middle of it to match the worst burn damage on the socket.

You can see the rectangular outline of the "RED" fuse holder -in smoke!

 

[MJPD29]

i don't know about in england but in northern ireland it is legal requirement to have an EICR carried out and a certificate produced before any property can be rented so whenever you moved in there should be a certificate from then. i only know the because i test rented homes a lot of the time

 

[Robin Leitch]

yes there where signs prior which i had discussed with my landlord and he was aware the socket needed to be looked at but advised it was still safe to use

 

[westward10]

I am surprised you had ignition within the socket. You would have required quite a temperature for the plastics to break down and release gas containing molecules and even then they would require a means of ignition which I doubt the fuse would have provided. This could have been a combination of a poor quality plug and lose arcing conductors within the socket.

 

[westward10]

yes there where signs prior which i had discussed with my landlord and he was aware the socket needed to be looked at but advised it was still safe to use

That cracked socket was never safe for continued use.

 

[Des 56]

Has the tumble dryer plug been getting warm previous to the incident
Ditto the socket outlet
Did the TD plug have clean copper pins or were they discoloured through previous warming which is usual in such cases
The crack could cause the connection between the plug and socket to be less tight than usual

 

[Robin Leitch]

Wow thank you all for so much advice it is extremely appreciated!

 

[Robin Leitch]

from what i can gather, it had been getting warm hence why my landlord had been made aware of the socket, yesterday my wife smelt almost a fishy burning smell and then bright blue flash which caused her to pull the plug out

 

[bigspark17]

Sounds like an appliance fault.. out of interest was there an rcd protecting the socket outlet? Pic of the consumer unit would be good to see

 

[KEV 1 N]

I've seen this often with cheap quality sockets and tumble dryers but usually the burning is around the plug pin holes.....I've not seen one where shape of the fuse holder is burnt onto the socket.
I think it's been a defective moulded plug in this instance.

 

[westward10]

Sounds like an appliance fault.. out of interest was there an rcd protecting the socket outlet? Pic of the consumer unit would be good to see

It's probably shrouded in smoke.