Socket failure??

[zaarin_2003]

Hi,

One of our power sockets seems to have spontaneously stopped working.

Our tumble dryer was old and already had a fault. We already believed it was on its way out, when we lost power throughout the house during a drying cycle. Sure enough, the switch that tripped on the RCD was the one that controlled the downstairs plug sockets, including the one the dryer was plugged into. We managed to isolate which was at fault by turning them all off, resetting the RCD and then turning them on one by one until the RCD tripped again. It was the socket with the faulty dryer plugged into it (henceforth called socket A). It is controlled with a switch and 13A fuse.

Flicking the socket’s switch to on tripped the RCD, until we unplugged the faulty dryer, then we could flick the dryer’s socket A’s switch to on without issue. We then bought a new dryer rather than have the old one repaired. Sadly, and surprisingly, the new dryer still didn’t work in the aforementioned socket A and needed to be plugged into a different one, meaning socket A was still not working.

I replaced the fuse for socket A but that still didn’t help.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Matt

 

[EFLImpudence]

Is this different socket on the same circuit?

 

[RF Lighting]

Probably burnt the socket out as tumbley dryers tend to do. Replace the socket front.

 

[EFLImpudence]

No.2 is very poorly worded and barely makes sense.

 

[RandomGrinch]

No.2 is very poorly worded and barely makes sense.

Only No.2???

 

[oldbutnotdead]

An electrical socket could stop working suddenly for any number of reasons; here are a few to keep in mind:
1. Tripped Circuit Breaker: Carefully inspect your electrical panel for any tripped circuit breakers that might have tripped due to overload or short circuit conditions, cutting power from any affected sockets. If they occur, reset them immediately so you can see if sockets begin functioning again.
Faulty Outlet or Wiring: When an outlet appears faulty or has an electrical wiring issue, power may no longer flow as intended to it. Over time, outlets may wear out or become damaged and stop providing power; loose connections within an outlet itself or its electrical connections could also contribute to this problem.

2. Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters or Arc Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCIs or AFCIs), devices designed to detect faults or dangerous conditions and trip when they detect faults, should trip and cut off power in your socket when installed. If it has one installed unexpectedly and it has tripped unexpectedly, reset them as soon as possible and continue as instructed above.

3. Overloaded Circuit: If the socket in question is part of a circuit that connects multiple devices, an overload may have taken place. When an overload happens, circuits typically shut down to protect against overheating and potential fire hazards; to see if that solves your issue try unplugging items and redistributing your load; you might get results!

4. Alternate Electrical Faults: Your wiring system could contain other issues affecting power to sockets, such as short circuiting or ground faulting, which require professional intervention to diagnose and rectify. In these instances, it would be advisable to consult an electrician so as to help identify and address this problem as quickly as possible.

GFCIs are not common in the UK. Can't see the flag in your profile very well- Costa Rica? Liberia? New Zealand?

 

[RandomGrinch]

Can't see the flag in your profile very well- Costa Rica? Liberia? New Zealand?

Australia

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Australia

Fair enough and makes sense

 

[EFLImpudence]

GFCIs are not common in the UK.

Interesting point.

Is there none in the UK because we call them something else?

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Interesting point.

Is there none in the UK because we call them something else?

TBH I'm not sure what EXACTLY a GFCI does. I've always assumed it's an RCBO equivalent but never really needed to know.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Yes, it is an RCD.

 

[flameport]

GFCIs are not common in the UK.

Not common in Australia either - they are RCDs there, just as they are in the UK.

 

[plugwash]

Yeah, while his profile claims to be from Australia, his post feels like a copy/paste of American advice, taking no account of either how things are done in the UK, or the specific information given by the OP.

 

[RandomGrinch]

Yeah, while his profile claims to be from Australia, his post feels like a copy/paste of American advice, taking no account of either how things are done in the UK, or the specific information given by the OP.

...I'm not saying that this is the case with this post... But, this seems a fairly common modus operandi.
A new poster may resurrect an old thread, their post could make little sense, be irrelevant to the original post, or repeat the previous posts in the thread, in order to appear legitimate.
Their second post will include the spam links!

 

[ericmark]

Back to the original question.

It was the socket with the faulty dryer plugged into it (henceforth called socket A). It is controlled with a switch and 13A fuse.

That leads me to believe it was working again when old dryer removed?

Sadly, and surprisingly, the new dryer still didn’t work in the aforementioned socket A and needed to be plugged into a different one, meaning socket A was still not working.

But this seems to say it not working.

I would assume you have found a fused connection unit (FCU) with a fuse in it, and have tested the fuse?

A tumble dryer is a heavy load, so it can cause any thing with a poor connection to burn out, and the new heat pump tumble dryers are very dependent on voltage, when the refrigeration motor starts it needs to get to speed before the pressure rises too much, as with any refrigeration unit unless powered by an inverter, but to find the fault may need some test equipment.

The live is split into line and neutral, and you need both for anything to work, and either going to earth can cause a RCD to trip, a fuse is only in the line, so a blown fuse to socket can still cause the RCD to trip with some thing faulty plugged in, but when some thing good plugged in there is no power.

We tend to put tumble dryers in the kitchen, and when a kitchen is refurbished it is not unknown for kitchen fitters to extend supplies using the fused spur method, I remember well with my dads house finding he had two FCU in series which did throw me as changed one fuse and tested, then found another FCU.

I tend to use first sight, then if can see nothing wrong then non contact meter and if that does not find the fault then I plug in the leads and hunt further, everyone hopes they will find an obvious fault, but it you can't then you need to test.

In the main in the UK we use the ring final, and this will have at least two cables (not wires likely 6 wires counting cables) if there is a spur from the socket then three cables, and if end of a spur one cable, with a radial system you can still have two cables, but testing between lines, neutrals, and earths will show open circuit, where with a ring closed circuit.

A ring final is normally from a 32 amp MCB/RCBO where a radial can also be 32 amp, but uses thicker cable, but more likely 16 or 20 amp.

To find the fault you need to know what your working with, I would think you have some of these, helps if we know what you have, may even be one of these but I hope not, the ELCB-v has not been used for years, but for anyone to help we need to know more, and using non British names does not help.

Pictures are good, also what have you got to test with? And the question must be does anything work in that socket? Some thing with low load like a table light for example.

However from 6th March to now one hopes the fault has been cured, but USA names do not help, they seem to have an odd way of talking about things, took me some time to work out a pull push bar was the track rod with a car.