Electrical Problem, melted charger!!!?

[dishman]

Some advice.

I plugged in a charger at home (see model below) on a 4 gang which also had a tv, sky box and DVD player connected. Left it to charge while I went upstairs. Not much else was being used in the house apart from the Scalextric upstairs and general household items; home phone, radio alarm clock etc.

Suddenly the breaker went on all the plug sockets in the house. This happens sometimes when I use the tumble dryer, kettle and TV at the same time. So I reset the breaker but it tripped imediatly again, reset again...it tripped, reset again and then it was fine but I could smell somthing. Traced it to my charger which was very hot along with the battery pack!! I then realised the charger had begun to melt in small areas, along the wire as it goes into the adapter! I unplugged it and took it outside to cool. The fuse had also gone in the four gang it seemed....

So do I have an underying electrical fault? Anything I should investigate further?

I have used the charger in my parents property with no issue, charging all night on many occasions. That house has an old manual fuse system.

Breaker Box is a Wylex NHISS10SY (that is the only ref: I could see)
Charger adapter: AC/DC adapter Class 2 Transformer, Output 12v 350mA
Model D41-12-250
As I said, it was plugged into a four gang along with a TV, skybox and DVD player.

Any help is much appreciated!!!

 

[DetlefSchmitz]

Charger is broken. (Occam's razor!)

 

[dishman]

Really?! I only used it the night before at my parents property with no issues. Would it be purely down to the charger? Is it not quite an extreme failure to be down to that on its own?

 

[xr4x4]

I've seen battery's overheat and melt while being charged.

It happens.

What size is the mcb that tripped btw?

 

[mattylad]

Yes the charger is faulty.

Think about it.

The charger got hot, it melted, it went faulty.

The fuse went in the extension - tripping the consumer unit.

The charger is faulty.

What caused the charger to go faulty is another question, it could be that the battery is cream crackered and the charger is of the cheap variety that does not have short circuit protection (shut down) so it continued to try and charge into a short and started to melt - causing the electrical fault in the mains side. It could be a short in the wires that are on the output.

Replace your fuse, (replacing the extension lead may also be a consideration) replace your charger.
Test the charger with the battery - do not leave it alone, if it starts getting hot and not charging correctly then your battery needs replacing too.

Consider yourself lucky, it could have been a fire.

Have a nice weekend

P.S. I would be concerned about this:

This happens sometimes when I use the tumble dryer, kettle and TV at the same time

 

[dishman]

Thanks,

Yes it concerns me too, which is why I thought somthing else contributed towards to the charger failing.

If it is a modern consumer unit and the socket that I plugged the tumble dryer in is not overloaded, how should I investigate this further?

 

[xr4x4]

P.S. I would be concerned about this:

This happens sometimes when I use the tumble dryer, kettle and TV at the same time

Me too..

That was why I asked what size the mcb he reset was..

 

[dishman]

I've seen battery's overheat and melt while being charged.

It happens.

What size is the mcb that tripped btw?

Sorry did not see your reply. How do I tell the size? Looked at the circuit breaker for the sockets but cannot see any specific ratings written on that specific breaker.

Also, just to check if I was overloading the socket I looked at the set up. Although it is borderline It should just be under the 13amps maximum of the four gang extension.

It has a tumble dryer a small lcd tv and a mini (secondary) sky box. I think it is under 13 amps and anyway it has still tripped when these are plugged in but not on (in standby).

The circuit only trips if I use the kettle and maybe a few other things at the same time.

 

[mattylad]

how should I investigate this further?

Talk with the sparkies on here or get one in yourself.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

If it is a modern consumer unit and the socket that I plugged the tumble dryer in is not overloaded, how should I investigate this further?

investigate what?

 

[dishman]

What the cause of the tripping when the tumble dryer is in use. If is a simple case of using too many appliances at the same time then thats fine...just seems a bit odd to me.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

The circuit only trips if I use the kettle and maybe a few other things at the same time.

What the cause of the tripping when the tumble dryer is in use. If is a simple case of using too many appliances at the same time then thats fine...just seems a bit odd to me.

What type of protective device or devices do you have on this circuit and what trips?
Can you use the tumble dryer and toaster without anything else on and no issue?
There are a number devices that can be used: fuse, mcb, rcd/rccb, rcd.

//www.diynot.com/wiki/Electrics:MCB

It could be an overload issue which would suggest that the load/demand is too great for the rating of the protective device.

or it could be an earth leakage fault or build up that would trip a residual current device.

 

[Taylortwocities]

The breaker (MCB) with have something like B6 or C32 etc written on it.
What have you got on what circuit?

 

[winston1]

Kettle 3Kw, tumble dryer 3Kw = 6Kw, approx 26 amps before you add the other things. Maybe both on a 20 amp radial circuit.

Incidentally high power devices like a tumble dryer should not be run on a 4 gang extension.

 

[dishman]

Sorry - did not make clear the kettle is on a different plug.

Yes, running on four gang is not ideal but I think it is not overloaded. On the four gang is 1 small lcd tv, 1 mini sky box and the tumble dryer.

It is only when other things such as the oven and kettle on differing plugs are used that the whole circuit trips. I guess that suggests something is not rated high enough....don't know....

Will take a picture of the breaker box tomorrow.

It may be that the charger just happened to die.....but with it tripping out with other things I thought I should check everything.