wall sockets keep failing in utility room

[Bootharoo]

Hi guys.

I'm hoping somebody may be able to shed some light on what is a strange sequence of events. Here is some basic background.

• 9 year old houe
• moved in 2 years ago
• separate utility room has washer, tumble, american fridge freezer, boiler, microwave and main fuse board for house in this room.
• brand new hotpoint tumble dryer when we moved in 2 years ago

Ok so, the tumble was plugged into a 1gang wall socket immediately behind the dryer which sits on its own neat the back door. 3 months ago it stopped working. I pulled the dryer out noticed the socket rocker switch was stuck in the on position and wouldn't toggle back. The socket wasn't outputting power but some of the cables were live as my volt pen was going crazy. I isolated power, removed the face plate, manage to get the switch moving again, power restored, all good, tumble now working.

3 days later, same thing again. I decide I need to replace the face-plate. In the meantime my wife starts plugging the dryer in across the room every time she used it using a 1-gang 2 meter extension lead to a 2-gang socket behind the fridge. (2 toddlers in the house, the dryer gets some hammer!) - I know, i know, this isn't ideal or advisable!!

Anyway, her temporary fix means that I don't pull my finger out all that quick and 4 weeks later, the 1-gang face-plate still hasn't been replaced and my wife is still using the temporary fix. until.....

Same thing happens! only this time the power was coming from a 2gang socket behind the fridge. The LHS socket with the dryer lead plugged in has stopped producing power and the rocker switch is stuck on! however the RHS with the fridge plugged in is absolutely fine and still working!

So, the question is - do I pin the blame on the dryer, or the circuit of sockets in that room, which i guess are spurred off one another. All sockets are original from when the house was built, none have ever been added, replaced or tampered with.

It's driving me crazy but i'm reluctant to start replacing all the face plates if its the dryer which is frying them!

anyone ever come across this?

Joe

 

[telectrix]

suspect builder used the cheapest sockets he could find. best bet is to get an electrician in to check the circuit and replace faceplates with decent quality.

 

[Pete999]

Hi guys.

I'm hoping somebody may be able to shed some light on what is a strange sequence of events. Here is some basic background.

• 9 year old houe
• moved in 2 years ago
• separate utility room has washer, tumble, american fridge freezer, boiler, microwave and main fuse board for house in this room.
• brand new hotpoint tumble dryer when we moved in 2 years ago

Ok so, the tumble was plugged into a 1gang wall socket immediately behind the dryer which sits on its own neat the back door. 3 months ago it stopped working. I pulled the dryer out noticed the socket rocker switch was stuck in the on position and wouldn't toggle back. The socket wasn't outputting power but some of the cables were live as my volt pen was going crazy. I isolated power, removed the face plate, manage to get the switch moving again, power restored, all good, tumble now working.

3 days later, same thing again. I decide I need to replace the face-plate. In the meantime my wife starts plugging the dryer in across the room every time she used it using a 1-gang 2 meter extension lead to a 2-gang socket behind the fridge. (2 toddlers in the house, the dryer gets some hammer!) - I know, i know, this isn't ideal or advisable!!

Anyway, her temporary fix means that I don't pull my finger out all that quick and 4 weeks later, the 1-gang face-plate still hasn't been replaced and my wife is still using the temporary fix. until.....

Same thing happens! only this time the power was coming from a 2gang socket behind the fridge. The LHS socket with the dryer lead plugged in has stopped producing power and the rocker switch is stuck on! however the RHS with the fridge plugged in is absolutely fine and still working!

So, the question is - do I pin the blame on the dryer, or the circuit of sockets in that room, which i guess are spurred off one another. All sockets are original from when the house was built, none have ever been added, replaced or tampered with.

It's driving me crazy but i'm reluctant to start replacing all the face plates if its the dryer which is frying them!

anyone ever come across this?

Joe

Joe, Hi without knocking your DIY fixes, to save anymore failures and trailing leads, you would be doing yourself and your family a big favour, if you were to employ an Electrician to take a look and put things right.
Quick fixes can work sometimes, I would agree with Tel's post, if you need more sockets you could ask the Sparky if it would much of a job to add some extra ones.

 

[Octopus]

It's not unusual for tumble dryer and washing machine sockets to fail

get a local spark to sort it

 

[Wilko]

Hi B and Welcome to the Forum!
After about 10 years service some components can be expected to fail I'm afraid.

 

[GeorgeCooke]

Replace it with an unswitched socket. There is no need for a switch on a socket you can't get to without pulling out the machine. If you have to do that you can pull out the plug if necessary.

 

[Bootharoo]

thanks guys for your feedback. All valid points. I will replace the single socket i think with a decent branded unit and see how that goes, if no luck and it goes again, i'll get the sparky in to test the entire room circuit

 

[Andy78]

9 year old house = new build = cheapest junk available used to maximise profit.
I would recommend a decent brand of socket. I would recommend Hager and Click.

 

[telectrix]

or LAP???

 

[The Ghost]

I should check on Electricalsafetyfirst.org to see if your tumble dryer is recalled. I have attended this kind of problem a few times. Ring final circuit wiring had melted down on one side. If you have such thermal damage on the socket there is a distinct possibility the cables supplying them are also going a similar way. Providing a new single socket may mask the problem for a while but may cause the cables to deteriorate further. I would get it checked out by a competent electrician. Not wishing to scare you needlessly however it is possible. I accuse the tumble dryer personally. They are a major cause of fires and problems such as you describe. I would say don't use it until you have had your circuit checked. If I were to test out your cabling it would take around an hour and would cost you £35.00/£50.00 just to give you a rough pricing to do that. I am in south west and not looking for work in Hull so don't think I am cooking up work.

 

[Richard Burns]

It would be worth inspecting the tumble dryer plug as well; if the pins become contaminated or pitted then it maybe making poor contact, however because it has been the switch on the socket each time I would suspect the quality of the faceplates.

 

[marconi]

An angle of investigation which an employed electrician is well equipped to do is whether the tumble dryer itself is drawing more than its normal design current because the bearings for example of the motor or drum are seizing up or there is something jammed between the rotating drum and its enclosure. Because the heating effect of a current is proportional to the square of the current (not the straight current value) what might seem as small increment increases in current above the design current does cause much more heating effect in the plug, its fuse, the socket and its switch. Such extra heating causes deterioration over time exacerbating the problem and creating a fire risk. Simply swapping the socket for another brand tackles the symptoms but does not detect the cause of your problem.

 

[johnduffell]

Because the heating effect of a current is proportional to the square of the current (not the straight current value)

Minor physics comment as this confused me on first look! Doesn't affect the op but i thought I'd share-
This is not true for the washing machine itselfits the voltage remains the same p=iv but is as the resistance remains the same p=i²r. So in the plug the fixed contact resistance gets the increasing current flowing which in turn causes an increased voltage across, also increasing the power dissipated