Why is the outlet hot? 5+1 reasons

Is the socket getting hot? Perhaps this is the simplest malfunction that an electrician may encounter in his work. At the same time, to a person far from Ohm's Law, this abnormal operation of the outlet may seem something unrealistically complicated ...

Of course, it is better to entrust this work to a specialist: it will be done quickly and efficiently, at the same time a person will earn a piece of bread and butter :)

But, knowing the mentality of "our man", who is used to solving everything on his own, I decided to write a small manual to eliminate such a breakdown. From my experience, I remembered 5 possible reasons for the heating of the outlet and one reason for the occurrence of a short circuit (that's why the title of the article says "5 + 1 reasons")

So, let's not pull the cat for a causal place - let's start identifying the cause. And at the end of the article, everything I wrote about, I will demonstrate in a video.

First reason. Fork defective.

The first reason for the heating of the outlet may not be a malfunction of the outlet itself, but ... a malfunction of the plug. The fact is that if the contact deteriorated inside the plug and it began to heat up, the heat will be transferred to the socket body and its contacts. Visually, it may seem that it is the socket that is heating up, although the reason is in the plug.

The solution here is simple! Insert the plug into another outlet (preferably in another room) that has not had any problems so far. Turn on the appliance powered by this plug.

Wait 5-10 minutes. Remove the plug from the socket and feel the pins of the plug. If they are hot, then the reason is in the plug, if they are cold, in the outlet.

In addition, power some powerful device from the first (suspicious) outlet. For example a heater. Wait 5 minutes and feel the plug contacts. Heating will indicate a faulty outlet, because. the default fork is OK.

The second reason. Load.

Before parsing the outlet, it is worth "estimating" what kind of load you connect to this outlet.

The manufacturer claims that the socket (in my case) will normally work at a load current of up to 16 Amperes, i.e. about 3 kW.

Accordingly, if your device has a power greater than this value, it would be logical to assume that the socket is heated precisely for this banal reason. In addition, if you plug a carrier into an outlet, and several devices are “stumbled” into it, with a total power of more than 3 kW, the effect will be the same.

Conclusion: spread the devices over several outlets, and if it is one powerful device, install an outlet that can “hold” more current.

How to check the absence of voltage.

I ask you not to skip this section! There is one caveat that only electricians know about.

Before you start repairing the outlet, of course, you need to turn it off (with the appropriate circuit breaker in the shield). After that, use a voltage indicator to check the absence of voltage.

Surely, many people know how to use it: with your thumb, touch the metal contact on the top of the indicator, and with the working surface (spatula) to the current-carrying part of the socket. If the light is on, then you have touched the surface on which there is a dangerous potential (phase), if it is off, then there is no voltage and you can touch it with your hands.

But!!!

Before using the indicator, you need to make sure that it is OK! It is very important! Suddenly, yesterday, he fell on the concrete floor and something in it deteriorated. And you, not knowing this, check the absence of voltage, the honey will not light up, you will think that you can touch it with your hands and then ... BAM! Well, if everything goes well...

Therefore, first test the indicator on the outlet that is known to be turned on. Make sure that by touching the phase contact, the light is on confidently. And only then check the disconnected outlet for the absence of dangerous voltage.

Third reason. nearby outlet.

The reason for the heating of the outlet may be ... a neighboring outlet.

It happens that several outlets are connected by a "loop". The wires from the junction box went into the first outlet, other wires came out of it and powered the second outlet, from the second - the third, etc.

By connecting an electrical appliance to the last outlet in this chain, current will flow through the contacts of all outlets in the chain.

And if at least one screw is poorly clamped, heat will immediately begin to be released on it. Subsequently, the contact under this screw may completely disappear. Accordingly, all other outlets will stop working. You will look for a fault in outlet #3, and the problem will be in outlet #1.

This figure with a diagram clearly demonstrates such a development of events. For example, you turned on the iron in socket No. 2, and socket No. 1 will be heated, because. screws marked with red and blue arrows are loose.

fourth and fifth reasons. Contacts.

These two reasons are the most common.

Check whether the screws marked with the number 1 are well clamped. By the way, the contact will be better if the wire to be connected is led under the ring-shaped screw (as in the photo).

Pay attention to how compressed the pins are, marked with the number 2. If the pins of your socket do not provide for the presence of a spring (3), the “cheeks” of the pins (2) may loosely clamp the pins of the plug. As a temporary measure, these same cheeks can be pressed against each other. But soon, they will open up again and ... "our song is good, start over."

Therefore, find the time and money to replace the socket with a socket with springs.

Fifth reason. Rarely, but it happens.

I once had a case:

The client knocked out the circuit breaker. But at the same time, not a single device was connected to any outlet.

After a long "dancing with a tambourine", I saw that one of the sockets has obvious signs of burning. And only when I dismantled the socket, the machine stopped knocking out.

And the reason turned out to be this: there was such a strong deposit around the contacts of the socket (the places of deposit in the photo below are indicated in yellow) that the surface became conductive. Looks like the carbon has come out of the plastic.

I measured the resistance between the contacts ... It turned out - only 10 ohms !!! When this outlet was connected to the network, a clearly visible spark jumped over the soot ... In short, the soot became a jumper.

So, if the body of your outlet has begun to burn - change it without hesitation and quickly!

Video version of this article: