PREP Time to replace your power strips? (Probably is…see photo)
- Thread starter coalcracker
- Start date
I just put a gob of outlets when I wired the barndominium.
Quads in several places where a duplex would be typical.
Still didn't put enough....and the shop ain't big enough.
Quads in several places where a duplex would be typical.
Still didn't put enough....and the shop ain't big enough.
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
Renovation (plumbing, electric, HVAC) was done in 2007. The “event” did kick the breaker in the upstairs sub panel.
Replace that breaker, it'll only trip again now that it's blown.
Planned obsolescence.
bw
Fringe Ranger
From the UL safety notice, assembled in some third-world country like South Carolina.
coalcracker
Veteran Member
Amen to that!
Sounds like a prudent move. Also going to scrap the lamp, alarm clock, and cell phone charger that were plugged into it. No need to tempt fate, right? They may actually be ok, but I’m just not feeling “electrically comfortable” at the moment, you know?
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
That's not what I was told by our electrician, then again it was the CA unit that fried when the city did a brown out and didn't tell us they were going to do a brown out. I would have shut the CA off for the day had I known it was going to happen. Oh well, now if I want a new CA unit I'll have to install a new furnace as well.
coalcracker
Veteran Member
What are your thoughts about the inexpensive stuff I had plugged into it? I think they still work, but, man, I didn’t like the thought after pulling them from that strip. Paranoid?
Typically, what I see that damages breakers is loose connections at the lugs.
The hot spot is an A/C breaker with loose lugs. It would trip at random. Once they have run hot awhile, they don't act right.
You can see where the wires are hot too. Sometimes you have to strip back a few inches to get clean copper. The slow cooking degrades the insulation and boogers up the copper.
The hot spot is an A/C breaker with loose lugs. It would trip at random. Once they have run hot awhile, they don't act right.
You can see where the wires are hot too. Sometimes you have to strip back a few inches to get clean copper. The slow cooking degrades the insulation and boogers up the copper.
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Don’t try to contradict Millie. He has skilz that you will never achieve.
If the blades on the plugs are burned, clean the hell out of them with a wire brush. See if they will get shiny again.
Iffin' there is still skuzz on them, bad juju. Skuzz makes resistance...resistance makes heat...heat makes problems.
I have wondered this many times
In addition to that he learned to read over two years ago.
It opened up a whole new world for him
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
I was just going by what the heating and cooling electric guy said... and that was to replace the breaker once we had the new unit installed, which never happened. I was home when the brown out happened, and to say I was unhappy would be an understatement. Lost the CA unit, a computer, and a cordless phone, all on separate breakers.
Blacknarwhal
Let's Go Brandon!
Blacknarwhal
Let's Go Brandon!
Likely a bad crimp or some kind of internal connection.
Resistance-heat-meltdown.
Countrymouse
Country exile in the city
coalcracker
Veteran Member
No known mice. No cats. Plenty of dogs, but no cord-chew suspects.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Here is the side view. Seems to be the hot spot.
My next suggestion too.
Open it up and see where the melty spots are.
WAG, I'd be looking close at the terminals on the rocker switch or whatever surge device is in it.
The pic we commented on upthread clearly shows an electrical staple (the rounded kind that were used over old time phone wires) *through* the cord at the base. If I were an insurance adjuster, lacking a dsmned good excuse (and his considered judgment that, yes, they DO seem that dumb... I'm going yo be thinking arson.
Summerthyme
Summerthyme
ShadowMan
Designated Grumpy Old Fart
I just remember that one of the professors at the university I attended after I retired from the navy had a power serge come through the power lines from a NEAR STRIKE of lighting and it COOKED his computer.....like totally melted it down, yet didn't for some reason damage anything else in the house.
We had a near strike during a massive thunder storm when I was living in Colorado and it took out my stereo receiver, the TV and the surge protector for both and nothing else in the house. Electricity is a weird thing. Didn't trip any breakers just fried those components and the surge protector. Oh and it scared the shitte out of us!! BIG BANG!!
We had a near strike during a massive thunder storm when I was living in Colorado and it took out my stereo receiver, the TV and the surge protector for both and nothing else in the house. Electricity is a weird thing. Didn't trip any breakers just fried those components and the surge protector. Oh and it scared the shitte out of us!! BIG BANG!!
WFK
Senior Something
What you might find in most of them are multilayer varistors. They may look like ceramic capacitors.
And are transient suppressors by classification.
www.tdk-electronics.tdk.com
They will clip a spike and are limited in energy that they can absorb before failing catastrophically,
in which case the preceding fuse should blow.
And are transient suppressors by classification.
Compact and robust overvoltage protection
Tech Library: Reliable protection against overvoltage is essential. Using a new ceramic material, TDK has developed a high-surge series of multilayer varistors that combine compact dimensions with excellent protection properties.
www.tdk-electronics.tdk.com
in which case the preceding fuse should blow.
What you might find in most of them are multilayer varistors. They may look like ceramic capacitors.
And are transient suppressors by classification.
They will clip a spike and are limited in energy that they can absorb before failing catastrophically,Compact and robust overvoltage protection
Tech Library: Reliable protection against overvoltage is essential. Using a new ceramic material, TDK has developed a high-surge series of multilayer varistors that combine compact dimensions with excellent protection properties.
in which case the preceding fuse should blow.
I think what we're dealing with is an unprotected power strip. But you're right if it is a protected surge protector they do need to be replaced periodically. More surges they defend against they will degrade.
one4freedom
Senior Member
I think I would get a UPS for the computer, if I were you. The CA would require something more serious ie expensive.
toxic avenger
Senior Member
As some of you may know, I’m a 28 year firefighter, fire inspector and code officer.
Power strips are common causes of fires due to several factors: overloading, poor quality, and wear. It is for that reason there are regulations and codes limiting their use.
Common with power strips is overheating. Overloading power strips with more current than they are designed is a major cause that is easily preventable. Loose connections, caused by normal handling or poor quality, cause arcing and resistance. Poor quality materials are a common cause of failure, as well. The prevalence of cheap alloys and poorly plated metals (affectionately referred to as Chineseium) is a growing concern. Poor metal quality enhances corrosion, especially in the presence of moisture. Poor metal quality also leads to premature wear on contacts. The springy contacts on poor alloys lose their spring a lot sooner than quality alloy. There may be enough contact to power a light, but you aren’t aware of the arcing or resistance inside the connection. A passing truck can cause sufficient vibration to overheat a worn connection.
In the course of my work, I seek alternatives to power strips, such as wiring additional outlets. When power strips are used, I inspect them very well for signs of wear, corrosion, or indicators of imminent failure. In reality, that is not a solution for every situation.
Mrs. Toxic loves decorating the house year round, which entails temporary electrical runs all over our home, inside and out. I check all power strips before use, and periodically while in use. Anything questionable gets the plugs cut off and tossed.
The previous comments regarding replacing power strips is not to be discounted, in my opinion. As we all know, quality control is not what it was even a few years ago. Replacing a regularly used power strip every few years eliminates two common causes of power strip failures: wear and corrosion. And I can never stress enough: have operating smoke and CO detectors and a quality ABC fire extinguisher!
Power strips are common causes of fires due to several factors: overloading, poor quality, and wear. It is for that reason there are regulations and codes limiting their use.
Common with power strips is overheating. Overloading power strips with more current than they are designed is a major cause that is easily preventable. Loose connections, caused by normal handling or poor quality, cause arcing and resistance. Poor quality materials are a common cause of failure, as well. The prevalence of cheap alloys and poorly plated metals (affectionately referred to as Chineseium) is a growing concern. Poor metal quality enhances corrosion, especially in the presence of moisture. Poor metal quality also leads to premature wear on contacts. The springy contacts on poor alloys lose their spring a lot sooner than quality alloy. There may be enough contact to power a light, but you aren’t aware of the arcing or resistance inside the connection. A passing truck can cause sufficient vibration to overheat a worn connection.
In the course of my work, I seek alternatives to power strips, such as wiring additional outlets. When power strips are used, I inspect them very well for signs of wear, corrosion, or indicators of imminent failure. In reality, that is not a solution for every situation.
Mrs. Toxic loves decorating the house year round, which entails temporary electrical runs all over our home, inside and out. I check all power strips before use, and periodically while in use. Anything questionable gets the plugs cut off and tossed.
The previous comments regarding replacing power strips is not to be discounted, in my opinion. As we all know, quality control is not what it was even a few years ago. Replacing a regularly used power strip every few years eliminates two common causes of power strip failures: wear and corrosion. And I can never stress enough: have operating smoke and CO detectors and a quality ABC fire extinguisher!
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
All of my computers have a battery back up and have always had them.What the city did was unforgivable. They knew better and said **** the little people. They ended up getting theirs asses sued and handed to them. Fail to follow protocol and suffer bitch.
One of the houses that was affected houses mentally ill teens, that suddenly went up in flames thanks to the city’s idiocy.
one4freedom
Senior Member
What brand of UPS? Some I think aren't made to handle brown outs. A lot of them you have to be careful which outlet you plug your sensitive equipment into as only some outlets are for battery backup and the others are surge protection only, which doesn't protect against brownouts. Lots of them have only half the outlets served by the UPS portion of the unit. I remember one time back in the old days, when I still worked in computer maintenance, I had to do a service call to fix a server that went down due to it being plugged into the wrong outlet on the UPS. So sorry to hear of your troubles, unfortunately with the push for renewable energy only, this kind of thing will happen more often.
I have a 40 Kilowatt-hour system, feeding a pair of 4KW inverters (more then a UPS, a wind and solar system) but it has issues sometimes. Like today I spent most of my time trying to repair a no longer supported wind generator. Sorry if this is thread drift, since I guess this is supposed to be about outlet strips.
Ku Commando
Inactive
...and all those pictures available on the interwebz.
Gots youtuub...am genius.
.......fully qualified as an IKEA ASSEMBLER
coalcracker
Veteran Member
Marie
Veteran Member
I had the same thing happen years ago. I also noticed the cord which I assumed may have been the original initiator of the whole deal.
A couple days ago we lost the lights in the new shop. Finally found it yesterday. When Dh was putting the rest of the screws in the steel panels on the outside he hit one of the wires.
A couple days ago we lost the lights in the new shop. Finally found it yesterday. When Dh was putting the rest of the screws in the steel panels on the outside he hit one of the wires.
toxic avenger
Senior Member
And to you and your family, as well CC! Glad you dodged the bullet on this and were able to use it as a learning experience to perhaps one day save someone elseThanks, brother. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Occasionally, I'll take a look at everything with thermal.
Potential problems jump out at you IF the circuits are under load.
Potential problems jump out at you IF the circuits are under load.
Griz3752
Retired, practising Curmudgeon
get a UI rating, make it here & I bet you could sell all you could make
packyderms_wife
Neither here nor there.
okay I couldn't resist!
