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Lately, we've noticed a smell when we use our microwave. It was 5 years old, so we decided to get a new one, but we realized the smell was still there.
Then we realized that when the microwave was working, the smell and a little smoke would be coming from the socket itself. That particular socket shares the refrigerator, so could it be somehow overloaded?
We don't use the microwave too much, so when we want to heat something up, we just move the microwave over to the kitchen counter, and when we use it over there, there is no burning smell.
Can you suggest what the problem could be and/or what I should do to fix the smell? I don't want the house to burn down either!
Drop what you are doing. What are you doing reading this? I said drop what you are doing RIGHT NOW.
Go and unplug everything from that outlet, and turn it off at the circuit breaker, or pull the fuse.
NOW. Don't sit here reading. Do it RIGHT NOW.
When you have done this, toddle out to the local hardware store, buy yourself a new outlet, come back home, and change the outlet. This is not a difficult job; all you need is a straight blade screwdriver.
Do you want to have a fire??? Why are you still sitting in front of the computer???? DO IT NOW.
thanks for the sense of urgency!
ok, i've turned off the breaker and taken off the face plate and pulled out the two outlets to see what's going on.
I don't know much about electrical (now's as good a time as any I suppose), but basically there are two two bangers side by side, if that makes sense. The refrigerator was plugged into the 1st outlet and the microwave to the second.
Inside, there is a set of 3 wires (black, white and uncovered) coming down from one of the knock-outs. They are connected to one of the outlets. Then another set of 3 wires are connected from the first outlet to the second outlet. Then the second outlet has more wires coming from it and going out from a different knock out.
The white wire between the two outlets is burned for about 2 inches from the second outlet inward.
So, I guess my question is, "How do I know that just switching one - or both of the outlets is enough?" Obviously, I'll have to fix at least one wire, but is the problem with the wiring? or the outlet? or both outlets and the wiring? Why didn't the circuit breaker trip?
Am I overloading that particular set of outlets?
The outlets will cost you less than $0.50 each. Replace them both and the wire between them that has burned. That will solve your problem.
When you install the new outlets just make sure you wire them the exact same way. Note that the prongs on the plugs that go into the outlets are different sizes so that they only go in one way; note therefore that the outlet slots are different sizes. Make sure you connect the black wire to the same side of the outlet (based on the slots) as it presently is.
Nothing to it. Just be observant and careful.
As for what was happening, you had a contact failure someplace in one of the outlets that was getting hot. This was heating everything up and this is what happened to the wire. It didn't trip the circuit breaker because there was insufficient current involved to trip the breaker. Probably but not certainly the breaker would have been tripped when the thing failed totally and started a fire. Probably but not certainly this would have stopped the fire.
More than likely, your outlets have that "quick wire" feature, which lets you just shove a bare wire into a hole on the outlet and a clamp/spring mechanism internally will hold the wire. Your circuit has a fridge and a microwave on it, meaning it is indeed running close to max load, and in my experience those quick wire mechanisms don't hold up well on outlets that are generally running close to max. On those occasions where I have had to change an outlet, the quick wire mechanism was almost always implicated.
About the Author: Jim Locker is a technical guy who has done a lot of real estate investing and landlording. The experiences he writes about and advice he gives are either first hand, or in answer to specific questions posed by others. He is commonly known as jiml8 around the internet.
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