I see a lot of burnt out sockets in student house kitchens, normally the kettle socket. I know we have had this before, but I come with pictures
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student house
student house
That's why you see lots of burnt-out sockets.
To be fair, I only find burnt-out sockets after serious abuse or a loose connection in plug or socket.
Indeed. Certainly in this case, I don't see how one can possibly blame the users/students. I don't really think one can blame the landlord, either - even if (s)he has specified cheap accessories, they are still meant to be fit for purpose and compliant with BS 1363. Whether one can blame the manufacturer is also far from certain. The design, per se, is presumably 'fit for purpose' and passes all the tests required by BS 1363, so the questions are whether (a) their manufacturing/QC/QA processes are such that some units are leaving their factory which are not 'fit for purpose' OR (b) the requirements of BS 1363 (particularly in relation to long-term performance) are inadequate.So why lay the blame on the poor students - they have only used appliances with a maximum of 13A appliance and fuse fitted. This socket should be rated and able to handle that. It is the skinflint landlord; fitting rubbish sockets; or the manufacturer of crappy sockets that is to blame (MB in this case). Surely that is right? Students may use the kettle for all of their pot noodle meals, but the electricity supply should be able to deliver the power without burning out - right?
I understand that, but it's extremely difficult to see what sort of 'abuse' could result in the sort of problem we see here (overheating just of the switch contacts) - I suposse that 'playing with' the switch (repetedly switching it on/off, on load, for whatever reason!) is about the only thing which might just about do it!All I'm saying is that when I come across this problem, it is mainly due to abuse, but then I visit an awful lot of tenanted and student properties.
I don't think that the part of the pin which is shrouded would be part of the 'contact area', even if there were no shrouding - I think it's the size of the 'receptacle' within the socket (which does not even make contact with all of the metal part of the pin) which is the contact-area-limiting factor.I wondered if we are back to the problem caused by the shrouding of the pins that is giving insufficient surface area
Not at all. As I said, I find it hard to see any rational way in which one could blame either the students or the landlords (and perhaps not even the manufacturers, if the accessories leaving their factory are, indeed, fully compliant with BS 1363) for this sort of problem.I go into about dozens of student houses during the summer and as has been said above, this problem or similar happens a lot, so it is tempting to say the users are abusing the installation. Landlords are always asking me to state that, so they can make deductions from deposits. But I happen to think that as long as they don't swap the fuse in the their multi-adaptor plug for a nail; they are innocent of any blame. Do you think I am being unfair on the landlords
True, but I would think it unlikely that even that would result in the pattern of damage we're being shown in this case - which looks like the result of poor contact between switch contacts, whether due to muck, inadequate pressure between contacts or surface abnormalities of the contacts.Not all adaptors have fuses. So, it's easy to plug a kettle and toaster (and more) into one socket.
Why do you say that?True, but I would think it unlikely that even that would result in the pattern of damage we're being shown in this case - which looks like the result of poor contact between switch contacts, whether due to muck, inadequate pressure between contacts or surface abnormalities of the contacts.Not all adaptors have fuses. So, it's easy to plug a kettle and toaster (and more) into one socket.
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