Help - Sparks flying!

kaza

Have just this sec. rung him again.
Thanks

vaio

plugging things into a live socket will cause sparks particularly something either high current like a hair drier or with a high inrush like a laptop psu.

To be honest I'm struggling to think of a fixed wiring fault that will make an extension lead spark. Surely the answer is to either switch the power or the appliance off before plugging in.

Plugs, sockets and particularly cheap extension leads aren't designed for switching loads by plugging & unplugging, that's why they have (or should have) switches.

kaza

vaio wrote: »

plugging things into a live socket will cause sparks particularly something either high current like a hair drier or with a high inrush like a laptop psu.

To be honest I'm struggling to think of a fixed wiring fault that will make an extension lead spark. Surely the answer is to either switch the power or the appliance off before plugging in.

Plugs, sockets and particularly cheap extension leads aren't designed for switching loads by plugging & unplugging, that's why they have (or should have) switches.

I thought it was strange that it never happened on the fixed sockets I will switch it off first, I just didnt know if it ment there was a problem.
thanks

kaza

vaio wrote: »

plugging things into a live socket will cause sparks particularly something either high current like a hair drier or with a high inrush like a laptop psu.

To be honest I'm struggling to think of a fixed wiring fault that will make an extension lead spark. Surely the answer is to either switch the power or the appliance off before plugging in.

Plugs, sockets and particularly cheap extension leads aren't designed for switching loads by plugging & unplugging, that's why they have (or should have) switches.

I have spoke to the electrician, he is of the same opinion as you, said I shouldnt use a treadmill or hairdryer from an extension, and to switch off at wall first.

Thanks everyone.

vaio

Your electrician is half right (but erred on the side of caution), using a treadmill, hair drier or indeed anything else on an extension lead is fine providing that the lead is correctly rated.

In round terms each 1000W needs 4 amps so a 1500w hair drier needs a lead rated at 6 amps or more.

As I posted previously, switch either the power or the appliance off before you plug/unplug and you’ll get no sparks.

The only other snag you might come across is that extension leads that coil up onto a drum will generally only carry their rated load if they are completely unwound.

Steve_xx

I've thought about this again. You said that it was when you plugged a laptop into the extension that you got the problem.

Laptops have a power pack and the power pack may have capacitors in it. If you don't switch the power off before plugging or unplugging you may cause it to flash quite fiercely, as though a fuse has blown. Some years ago I took my laptop into my place of work and I either plugged it in with the switch on or unplugged it with the switch on, I can't remember which, but it flashed at the plug as though it had fused. It was quite scary and to this day I've never plugged or unplugged a laptop without ensuring that the switch is off before doing so.