Thank the Lord!

[xbeeman412]

Thank the Lord for His protection.

This morning after I woke up to go to the bathroom at 12:30 and went back to bed I smelled an odor of burning rubber. When I turned on the light and looked for the sourse of then smell the location was a wall outlet. There wasent anything plugged in to it that was on, only a cellphone charger and the computer charger neither were being used. The cell charger was so hot the prongs were able to be moved like they were in jello. The first thing I did before going any further was turn off the power to that plug.

Had the Lord not awaken Us to go to the bathroom that receptacle would have caught the house on fire before long. Thanks to the Lord for watching over Us.

It has been a habit of Mine to unplug all devices (not just turned off) when We go out of town. Had We not been home everything in the house would have burned as We are rural and have a electric gate for entry. This habit will be forever followed in the future.

My feelings are that the radio shack cell charger started the meltdown.

As a side note today is Our 22nd aniversery.

[DCP]

Wow

Praise the lord you dodge a bullet

[lightman]

Happy Anniversary! I also unplug everything I can think of when we leave. I had trouble convincing the Wife to not leave the washer, dryer or dish washer running when we are away.
As a precaution, it might be a good idea to change that receptacle or to at least take it out and look at it. Its a simple job with the power off and only cost about $1. Glad you caught it when you did.

[xbeeman412]

The recp will be changed out today. I am a retired electrician and this house is 12 years or more old and have never had a problem of this sourse before.

[GhostHawk]

2 Years ago I saw a light flicker, and the AC quit, stuttered 3 times, trying to start and quitting. I used a short piece of paracord I had handy to get around the cord close to the plug and pull and when I did I could see through a melted hole in outlet that it was still sparking in there.

Fuzebox trip, 2 days later rewired that outlet.

I think it was something about the AC being on Econ, constantly starting and stopping. High draw on the starts. Something shorted out.

I very much dislike power adapters being left plugged into the wall. They are still eating juice even if working correctly, and the other side of the circuit is open.

Plus I prefer they be kept with the device that needs it or you will almost never be able to pair them up again. We have hundreds of those things roaming the halls in our house. They have parties in 5 gallon buckets and shoeboxes.

They NEED to be secured to the device it belongs to, and if the device is not working it should not be plugged in.

Exception to the rule is the one that powers this laptop I'm writing on.

There is a special place in hell for those who just leave those power adapters laying around loose. They run in packs at night I swear.

To GOD be the glory, forever and ever. Thank you Lord, for my house, and his.

[Pine Baron]

Praise God indeed and happy anniversary.

[Bzcraig]

Praise God indeed and happy anniversary.

Amen..

[xbeeman412]

Have put off buying fire extingushers but this morning brought 4, one for the kitchen one for reloading area and one for each truck.

[Goatwhiskers]

Without doubt you were being watched over. People don't realize that those adapters and chargers are using current even when not plugged into the device they are for. If nothing else you can somewhat reduce your power consumption (your bill) by unplugging those things when not in use. GW

[shoot-n-lead]

Praise God indeed and happy anniversary.

Amen...x2

[w5pv]

Amen x3

[Handloader109]

I've had an extinguisher in my shop for a good while used my little one on my lawnmower a couple of years ago when it caught fire after leaking gas. Was able to save it, but that dry powder sure made a mess. I've a large CO2 I got a few years back and have kept in shop since, but moved to basement and my laser. Flare-ups do happen if I'm cutting wood and I w an t to be able to put it out promptly without damage. Recently bought another for the kitchen, little one, but should be good enough!...

[plus1hdcp]

Amen, thanks for sharing and the warning

[Alstep]

Happy Anniversary! Hope there's many more ahead.

Had a similar incident happen a number of years ago. We were going away for a few days and I was going around the house unplugging stuff and making sure all the lights were turned off. Kept smelling a very lite burning electrical smell in the cellar, couldn't find anything. Got in the car and was about to leave, but that smell kept haunting me. Went back down in the cellar, and when I pulled the pull chain ceiling lite, heard that electrical buzzing sound. The electrical box was HOT. The pull chain switch was shorting out, but not drawing enough current to trip the breaker. Would have come home to a smoldering pile of ashes.
Yup, somebody up there was watching over us.

[MaryB]

I convinced friends to unplug all the wall wart supplies when not in use, their electric bill dropped 10%... 3 cell phones, 2 tablets, 3 laptops, 4 cordless tool chargers...

I have all of mine on outlet strips. Hit the switch and they are off.


Without doubt you were being watched over. People don't realize that those adapters and chargers are using current even when not plugged into the device they are for. If nothing else you can somewhat reduce your power consumption (your bill) by unplugging those things when not in use. GW

[lightman]

Thats a good idea with the outlet strip. I have a shelf for my cordless tool chargers and spare batteries in the garage. I'm bad to leave them plugged in. I'm curious, and after while may just clamp an amp meter on one of the chargers to see what it pulls.

[MaryB]

individually... not much, collectively? Can be a lot. People using solar energy call them vampire sources.

[Blackwater]

Wow! As stated, you really dodged a very dangerous bullet! Now, the thing to do is get a GOOD electrician in to find out what caused the problem. Were it me, I'd want the entire receptacle replaced, but that can involve some pretty arduous work at times, depending on whether the folks who built your house left you any "slack" to correct the problem with. It's amazing how much heat electricity can produce! Many homes are burned to the ground because of similar problems. Thank God indeed!

[lightman]

He posted that he's a retired electrician, so he's probably on top of this. That is good advice though! I suggested the same thing in an earlier post. I would almost bet that receptacle was back wired.

[Down South]

I wonder if a GFI would have tripped? I use GFI breakers on some circuits. They can be a pain sometimes if there is a lot of moisture in the air.
All of my 110V circuits in my RV that I stay in while in Houston are GFI protected.
My boat house back in La is completely GFI protected. I had to reset one of the breakers while I was home last week due to moisture had gotten into a receptacle.

[Plate plinker]

Would like a follow up post about the receptacle. Was it faulty or was the charger the issue? Guessing the charger.
and praise be.

[xbeeman412]

The charger was the problem.A new recp fixes it up.

Hope this may save others from the same fate of a meltdown.

God is GOOD!!