Dangerous sparking from double plug socket - even when outlet switched off

[Playback1157]

Hi, firstly I apologise for not knowing ANYTHING. I'm embarrassed by my lack of knowledge. I'm a 22 year old girl living by myself and unfortunately my parents are no longer here to ask these types of things.

I was sitting in my living room tonight when I heard a noise in the kitchen. At first I thought something had fallen but I couldn't see anything. 5 minutes later it happened again. I stood in the kitchen this time and around 5 minutes later another pop sound and this time I saw it was coming from the left side of a double plug socket. Orange sparks came out at the same time as the pop. The pop and sparks lasted only around a second. Probably stupidly I waited and after around 5 minutes the exact same thing again. My kettle was plugged in on the left side where the sparks came out. Nothing was plugged in the other side.

I switched off the electric entirely, waited a while and then removed the plug and switched both sides of the socket to 'Off'. There's a visible burn mark on the left side of the socket.

I then switched the electric back on. Within a few minutes the exact same thing happened again. A pop sound and a lot of orange sparks came out. I took a video and in slow-mo you can literally see the sparks come out of the plug (the three holes where you plug in, sorry I'm sure there's a better term). It was so scary because in slow-mo you could even see them land on the counter top. In real time it happened so quickly that it wasn't visible to the naked eye like that.

Since then I turned the electricity off completely so I'm literally sitting in darkness now and really panicked about how close it seems to have been to a fire as I was just about to go to bed before I heard the first pop and went to investigate.

I'm of course going to call an electrician first thing but I was wondering if anybody had any ideas of what might be wrong and possibly how much it might cost to fix it? As a person on their own (and clearly not knowledgeable at all) I always worry about being silly.

Thanks in advance and best wishes
Ava

 

[jj4091]

Faulty socket or bad connections, can you isolate that circuit at the consumer unit rather than turning everything off at least then you won't have to sit in the dark

 

[mattylad]

How much it costs can depend upon several factors.

You need the socket replacing, a simple task and takes only a few minutes.
However your likely going to pay a minimum charge/callout fee and the cost of the socket (which can be replaced for under a tenner).
Then it depends where in the country you are, if you have parking etc.

Ask how much before they come, if it's going anywhere near £100 then I'd tell them no.
Are you in a rental? if so your landlord should be able to sort this for you.

Have you any friends that are technically capable? (changing a faulty socket is allowed.)

 

[Murdochcat]

If you were on my patch I would charge you £60 including a new socket

 

[FrodoOne]

The Consumer Unit (Fuse Box, Switchboard) should have some indication of the circuits protected by each "Device"

Faulty socket or bad connections, can you isolate that circuit at the consumer unit rather than turning everything off at least then you won't have to sit in the dark

If you can locate the Circuit protecting you Kitchen Socket-Outlet, turn OFF this Circuit Breaker and then turn ON the Main Switch.

Have you any friends that are technically capable? (changing a faulty socket is allowed.)

Or can you do this yourself?


If you do not own the premises, it is the responsibility of the landlord to have the problem corrected AS Soon As Possible
to render you home "Fit for habitation".

 

[CBW]

Sounds like a short circuit/arcing. Live and Neutral or cpc/earth touching/arcing. As above, you can likely isolate the kitchen sockets until you fix the problem.

Don’t apologise for knowing nothing, at least you’re willing to learn. I work in social housing and some mature adults know nothing when it comes to communication about basic things.

 

[blup]

There's a loose wire which means the socket is live even with the switch turned to off. In light of your zero knowledge of electrics, get a trusted friend in who's confident with electrical diy, or better still ask a sparky. If you rent the property it's the landlords responsibility.

 

[Playback1157]

Hi! I really do appreciate so many people being so eager to help. Thank you very much for every single response.

It's myself and my parents old house and I live here alone now so no landlord and nobody I know who's technically minded to do it (least of all me!). I do like trying to do things myself but electricity seems a step beyond what I'm comfortable with right now. I did at least learn to turn off just the kitchen electricity thanks to @FrodoOne, @jj4091 and @CBW

I've called a few different electricians, got one response and he's coming today to fix it and said it will cost around £70 which I'm very happy to pay! I think it helped that I could say 'I think it might be a faulty socket! Maybe a loose wire?' like I knew what I was doing lol so thank you all for that.

 

[CBW]

he's coming today to fix it and said it will cost around £70 which I'm very happy to pay!

Yep, seems reasonable imo.

 

[Playback1157]

The electrician has been and apparently it was a bigger job than expected.

He showed me the 'earth' wire in the socket that was sparking and said it was completely exposed and it had burnt the red wire beside it. He then had to go out to the shed right outside the kitchen and fix the wiring in there (it was a white box in the shed. He said the wiring started in there and he had to fix the wiring from there to the socket and then install a new socket).

He stayed for around an hour and ended up charging £190. Hopefully that's OK?

I'm now a bit worried about possibly all the wires being badly maintained like that. It's an old terraced house. He told me that it's a possiblilty the whole house may need to be rewired but would cost around £4,000 - which I don't have, but of course if it's dangerous I'd have to find a way.

 

[jurassic sparkk]

The electrician has been and apparently it was a bigger job than expected.

He showed me the 'earth' wire in the socket that was sparking and said it was completely exposed and it had burnt the red wire beside it. He then had to go out to the shed right outside the kitchen and fix the wiring in there (it was a white box in the shed. He said the wiring started in there and he had to fix the wiring from there to the socket and then install a new socket).

As mentioned above, it was shorting out.

He stayed for around an hour and ended up charging £190. Hopefully that's OK?

Seems reasonable.

I'm now a bit worried about possibly all the wires being badly maintained like that. It's an old terraced house. He told me that it's a possiblilty the whole house may need to be rewired but would cost around £4,000 - which I don't have, but of course if it's dangerous I'd have to find a way.

If you want a piece of mind, it would be great to get an EICR done. This will tell you what is unsafe and what needs upgrading. An EICR is not expensive.

As the fault you had did not trip any circuit breakers I would strongly advise you to get an EICR done.

 

[CBW]

We don’t know the exact work carried out, so £190 for his time and your safety seems ok.

Unfortunately, welcome to the world of home owning.

As advised, an EICR (Electrical Installation Condition Report) might be beneficial, but the electrician you’ve had today has already stated a rewire might be needed - is that to generate work or honesty - again not something we can answer on a forum unfortunately. We can still advise should you have any further questions.

Maybe get a 2nd opinion?

 

[jj4091]

Can you post pictures of your consumer unit /fuse box and whatever is in the shed that you mention, it might give a little better idea of what you might need to get done. Also how long had your parents had the house and had there ever been any electrical work done that you can remember.

 

[FrodoOne]

The electrician has been and apparently it was a bigger job than expected.

He showed me the 'earth' wire in the socket that was sparking and said it was completely exposed and it had burnt the red wire beside it. He then had to go out to the shed right outside the kitchen and fix the wiring in there (it was a white box in the shed. He said the wiring started in there and he had to fix the wiring from there to the socket and then install a new socket).

He stayed for around an hour and ended up charging £190. Hopefully that's OK?

I'm now a bit worried about possibly all the wires being badly maintained like that. It's an old terraced house. He told me that it's a possiblilty the whole house may need to be rewired but would cost around £4,000 - which I don't have, but of course if it's dangerous I'd have to find a way.

Since you describe having a Red wire, the wiring was installed prior to 2006, when the UK "harmonized" the colors of the wiring with those of with Europe - for good or ill.
It appears that the bare Earth wire was NOT "sleeved" (with Green/Yellow" plastic tubing), as is REQUIRED in the UK.

If the insulation on the wires is "plastic" (NOT rubber) there are probably no other problems - EXCEPT the "worry" that there may be other bare "un-sleeved" Earth conductors at other Socket-Outlets.
This should be checked and corrected as necessary. However, it is NOT an urgent problem.

If you have a "technological friend", this can be checked and corrected quite easily - for just a few "pence" - or a Pound or two, at the most !

 

[EFLImpudence]

It appears that the bare Earth wire was NOT "sleeved" (with Green/Yellow" plastic tubing), as is REQUIRED in the UK.

Is that actually the case?