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[sheddyian]

I had a lucky escape today, in that I was in when an electrical fault caused a fire.  Had I been out, the house could easily have been burning when I returned.

I've attached pictures of the culprit, a cheap 4 gang socket with a built in plug.  Probably came from Poundland (though they're sold elsewhere).

Earlier I'd smelt a slight burning smell, but imagined it to be someone's bonfire outside, so ignored it.

Later, I was using the computer, when I suddenly noticed flames - the nearby curtain was on fire!

On the floor below the curtain was a 6 gang socket into which was plugged this additional 4 gang socket.

Perhaps stacking them like that was not the wisest of moves, but I can assure you it was very far from overloaded.  If all the equipment plugged into it was switched on at once (which it wasn't), it would have drawn around 700 watts.  The burnt-out 4 gang adaptor had only 2 things plugged in, the computer itself (around 300 watts) and a power supply for an 8 port hub (perhaps 4 watts).

It looks as if the internal wiring was at fault, as the live wire is melted onto the earth bar inside.  Of course, this may have been caused by an unknown fault creating heat, which then melted the insulation, and subsequently blew the upstream fuse. 

At one time I had a few of these cheap adaptors in use, this was the last one and I don't intend to use them anymore.  Am considering taking it to Trading Standards as a matter of safety. 

Ian

[Black Sheep]

Wow, lucky escape indeed, bud !!!

I would certainly take this up with one of the industry standards, or perhaps the HSE We all know these trailing leads are crap, but a neccessary evil in todays world. I'm fortunate to have a purpose built PC room with lots of power outlets.

I say again, you've been very lucky there ....... get to the bottom of who manufactures these pieces of s4ite asap, before somebody isn't quite as fortunate. 

[HPsauce]

Interesting, I have a few of those (the 4-gang type) and have had for some time (years).
They're designed to plug straight into a wall socket, fitted vertically and hanging down, and that's how I use them.
As such they're a neat solution to expanding a 1-gang or 2-gang outlet.

[Black Sheep]

For the princely sum of around £50-100 (dependant on geographical area, I'm guessing), you could probably arrange a 'sparky' to install a couple of extra 2-gang power sockets alongside the exisiting ones ??

What price peace of mind and safety ??

[HPsauce]

I could do it myself, and have done in several places.
These are just "temporary" requirements that have lasted longer than expected.

[roseway]

The problem with multiway adaptors like these is not so much the power, but the fact that they wobble when you plug things in and out. The contacts in 13-amp sockets aren't very flexible, and the repeated flexing leads to poor electrical contact, so that arcs can form. Quite clearly a fire risk. Extension leads with multiway sockets are a better bet in my opinion, even if they are a bit untidy. Personally I wouldn't touch the kind of adaptors shown here with the proverbial bargepole.

[kitz]

Very lucky.

thankyou for posting.  I have one of those .... or rather had one.... Because tomorrow it will be going in the bin.

[burakkucat]

Oh! Very fortunate that you were present. 

I have -- instinctively -- shied away from such devices.

Is there any manufacturer's markings visible on it? (Or were they the first to "self destruct"?) 

[asbokid]

OUCH! Since it was arcing, why didn't that blow the fuse?   There must have been something else wrong with it.  Inadequate, underrated or wrongly routed or trapped cabling or similar.   These cheap appliances are often designed and assembled very poorly with little concern for safety.  The flammability of the plastic is worrying in itself! 

[silversurfer44]

Very, very fortunate you were on hand at the time.
I'm with asbokid on the flammability of the plastic.
What are the remnants of the wires hanging down? There shouldn't be wires inside the unit. This is why daisy chaining trailing sockets are a bad idea.
I have a feeling that this arrangement had the power line in series rather that parallel thereby drawing excess current through the line connection. That may answer why the upline fuse didn't blow.

Thanks for posting the results there, a timely reminder of how these things can happen.
Glad all is well, even if you do need some new curtains.

Why didn't the smoke alarm go off?

[HPsauce]

The problem with multiway adaptors like these is not so much the power, but the fact that they wobble when you plug things in and out.

Funny thing is I had one of these apart a while back and couldn't see any obvious flaws, maybe that one was damaged during manufacture so that shorting was a possibilty?
Mine are NOT used for plugging and replugging stuff regularly anyway, once in place (wall socket not extension) they are untouched, semi-permanent and immobile for some time so I'm relatively content.

Come to think of it, nearly all my multiway adapters (when used) are like that - I typically fix them to a wall.

The only "moveable" sockets I use (and this is reducing due to battery-powered equipment) would be the occasional long single-socket extension lead for a power tool.
(gardening stuff has it's own dedicated RCD-protected supplies and connectors anyway)

[sheddyian]

Thanks for your concern.

Here's one other pic I took that I didn't upload, there are manufacturer markings on it but I've not looked into them yet.  Haven't studied it to see if it's got any BS1362/1363 approval markings on it.

I too was concerned how much the plastic melted, especially compared with the other 6 gang extension, which did a much better job of self-extinguishing.

I haven't yet prised the fuse out of the burnt 4 gang, so don't know for certain what happened there, but it did blow the 13amp fuse further up the chain, probably when the live wire shorted on the earth rail!

I wonder if the live wire proximity to the earth rail had worn/cut into the wire's insulation, and that started arcing to create the heat.

I hadn't noticed any fizzing prior to the flames.  The slight burning smell from earlier could have been a bonfire outside, or could have been this - I'm really not sure.  The smell didn't immediately alert me to electric fault like some smells can!

The socket hasn't had that much use - like most people I imagine, I've fitted it and left it to it's own devices.  I only put it there 2 months or so ago, because I needed one more socket for the little network hub.  Since I fitted it, nothing else has been plugged in or unplugged.

I don't know why the smoke alarm didn't go off, there was a fair bit of smoke.  There isn't an alarm in that room, but there is in the hallway.  The door was ajar, not fully pushed shut. 

Will check the alarm later to see what's going on!

Ian

[silversurfer44]

A look at www.esc.org.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/.../BS_1363_adaptors.pdf might be of interest Ian.
Not as drastic as your encounter but worth a look maybe.

[sheddyian]

Silversurfer : the link you posted doesn't work    The url seems to have abbreviation "..." in it 

(edited to add) I did have a quick google image search for "dangerous 4 gang sockets" and similar phrases, expecting to find lots of examples of my socket in a burnt & melted state, was surprised not to find any, but haven't spent very long looking as yet.

I've had another look at my burnt 4 gang socket.  On the front it does indeed have BS1363 and another BS number that I can't properly read (because of the burnt plastic!)

I decided not to prise the fuse out, as I intend to take it exactly as it is to trading standards or similar, but I put a meter across the earth and live pins (as they are clearly shorted by the melted insulation inside the socket).

There is a circuit between live and neutral, which suggests that the 13amp fuse inside the adaptor didn't blow 

(although it is also possible that the fire has shorted the live and earth connections before the fuse, but this seems less likely to me.)

It did, however, pop the 13amp fuse further up the chain.

Ian

[silversurfer44]

Sorry I should have spotted that or even tried the link.
Anyway if you do a search for bla114wp you should come up with a .pdf that I was trying to link to.
it's to large for an attachment.