Electricians? Anyone? Electrical Question!!

[Oddyse]

If its stopped buzzing I would be confident in saying the plug was at fault, maybe it wasn't in properly? OR. . . Squishy could just be going crazy and the buzzing was in her head!

I wouldn't worry too much though. Only 17% of house fires are cause by faulty outlets, where as 39% are caused by the faulty plug! And saying as the plug is now removed, you have removed the biggest hazzard! If you have someone you know who could take a look at it I would ask them. A sparky would charge you loads and I GUARANTEE they will not find anything! I would try one thing though, to put your mind at rest and cure my curiosity, just plug the plug into a different outlet, see if it buzz's!

 

[SourRoses]

Thanks Oddyse!

See... after I removed the cord from the outlet in question... the cord was attached to my computer here, so I moved it to a new outlet. No buzzing, no more of those little power interuptions I'd been having, where my fan slows down for a mintue.

A bit more about this cord in question.... it is actually an extension cord, all of 6 months old. It has a three way socket on the end of this fairly new extension cord, and plugged into that, was my computer cord (also very new, still black and shiny), my small fan, and a rarely used recharging cord for my Kindle (Ereader). The last is probably not anthing to think about.. as I said, I don't have to use it often, and then only for short periods.

I have this extension cord with everything plugged back into another socket... since this morning... and all seems to be going well.

 

[unionwirewoman]

Quote:

 

[unionwirewoman]

It is very possible that the outlet/receplacle may need to be replaced . But if your cord shows no marks on it , then that contradicts what I've said . Usually when outlets "go bad" the cords show wear on the prongs ( ie...black marks , pocking etc ) . Not really sure what to tell you , unless you have a loose wire going to the reseptacle itself...that might make sense . Just turn off all your breakers if they're not labeled , then replace the receptacle/tighten up the old terminations . Wish I was there to help you ! I could fix it in a minute !

 

[Oddyse]

Thats good news. Just to put your mind at rest, electricity strikes fear into people who dont usually have to deal with it, BUT, its not as dangerous as some people believe. Especially in your house! You would have to put your tongue inside the outlet in order for anything really bad to happen. Even if it shorted inside the outlet and was leaking voltage elsewhere, if it was high enough to hurt you at all the breaker would flip itself! Domestic electrics are designed to be super super safe! The power interuptions you mentioned, these would be linked to the buzzing I would say! The buzzing sound would be caused by an increase in resistance somewhere, an increase in resistance would cause a decrease in power! I would suggest a new extension lead to be honest! OR, make sure NO main power leads (one from the outlet to the extension and the extension itself) are curled in anyway! Resistance causes heat and its that high resistance/heat that causes the fire! But by the sounds of it, it all sounds ok now. Just keep a close eye on it for a while, and have an extinguisher to hand just in case! And as I said before, if anything was happening bad enough to hurt anyone then the breaker would trip. Do you know if america uses 120volts or 240 volts main domestic supply? Just a question for myself really. As im an English lad you see!