Cause of extension cable plug melting?

27col

Yep, a loose connection would be my guess. Plus a severe overload.

Ben84

muckybutt wrote: »

To be honest Ben ive even seen them melted beyond recognition both plugs and the trailling sockets.

If I were to give one bit of advice - never use heating appliances on multi way extensions.

Yes, to be clear they're better quality extensions, but they still shouldn't be overloaded. The ones I've had however worked fine for many years for low wattage items, unlike the cheap ones I've used which simply developed problems from being poorly made after a few months.

thescouselander

TimBuckTeeth wrote: »

The plug has overheated due to a combination of a loose connection and a large current load. From the location of the melting it looks as if fuseholder inside the plug was loose.
You shouldn't run a washing machine or dryer or other heating appliances from an extension lead as although fused at 13A they are cheaply made and can't really cope with that current and are prone to overheating as you have found out.
You should get extra sockets for these appliances added by an electrician.

^^^^^ This.

The extension lead probably wasn't overloaded as such (since the fuse didn't blow) but it was no doubt on the limit and any loose connection or underspecified wiring would have resulted meltdown as pictured. Probably best not to have so many high powered appliances on the same extension.

Fire_Fox

Why don't you have enough sockets for basic appliances in a six year old house?

pjomara

Thanks for all the advice. I never realised that high wattage items shouldn't be placed on an extension lead. There were enough wall sockets but they were in awkward to reach locations. The best setup is presumably dryer on it's own wall socket and washing machine + fridge-freezer on the other.
I noticed that my dishwasher is on an extension cable (on it's own). Is that dangerous?

macman

It's not the extension lead in itself that is dangerous unless it's a cheap and badly made one. It's the total load that matters. What is the extension lead plugged into at the plug end?
As pointed out before, the absolute limit on any one plug with a 13A fuse is 3,000 watts. What wattage does your d/w draw?

BertieUK

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Why don't you have enough sockets for basic appliances in a six year old house?

I think that he must have enough sockets in a fairly new dwelling what he is short of is 'common sense' may he thank the Lord that he sought help on MSE otherwise he plus his home and contents could have been history, so he has made the correct move in the end.:)

BertieUK

pjomara wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice. I never realised that high wattage items shouldn't be placed on an extension lead. There were enough wall sockets but they were in awkward to reach locations. The best setup is presumably dryer on it's own wall socket and washing machine + fridge-freezer on the other.
I noticed that my dishwasher is on an extension cable (on it's own). Is that dangerous?

I advise you to check out the answer to this question on the following link it may enlighten you...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080921212043AABt3WQ

ValHaller

BertieUK wrote: »

I advise you to check out the answer to this question on the following link it may enlighten you...

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080921212043AABt3WQ

While the link is not explicitly misleading, it does require a health warning that it relates to US practice and is NOT strictly relevant to European and UK practice.