Last night I could have ended up homeless. I bought a fairly decent midpriced dblwide mobile home last year and it has needed a lot of repairs for such a new home, (plumbing, etc). I plugged in my electric tea pot in my bedroom to have some tea near my desk. I went out to the kitchen and when I came back, yellow flames were shooting out of the outlet and it was buzzing like a nest of pissed hornets!
It turns out that these mobile homes have the cheapest power outlets I have ever seen combined with in series wiring. After a few years these lose their connection partially which causes heat when something is plugged in.
The type I am talking about only has a place for the wires to poke in. They are basically pinched in and it is a very shitty design that UL allows. On top of that all the rooms in this place are wired in series. This means that the power goes to one outlet, then passes through to the next. If any outlets have a problem in the series, it can cause heat and shorts in the entire series.
What happened in my case is that this outlet had 3 wires poked in each side. (3) black and (3) white so (3) circuits converged there. A tea pot runs on a lot of amps so it made the outlet fail sooner than if a clock or similar was plugged in.
I had to run and shut down the main with no warning and our computers both got shut off abruptly which I hate to do.
When I got back to the room the fire was out but the wire had melted insulation for about 3-4 inches back and there was black soot on the wall. The room was full of electrical smoke and with no power I had no way to clear it. My windows are mostly sealed for the winter.
I had to endure the smoke and repair the outlet before I dared to turn the breakers back on. I have it cleaned up and installed and oversize wall plate to hide the damage.
Today I replaced all the outlets in my room with ones that require screws to hold the wires. I will be changing all of them in the house asap.
If you have these cheap ass outlets, get new ones. They only cost $2-$3 each for name brand and they are easy as can be to change. I did the other (4) in my room today in less than 20 minutes.
It feels good to be running from the devil
Another breath and I'm up another level
It feels good to be up above the clouds
It feels good for the first time in a long time now
Holy Crap, I am glad you are safe AB…damn scary stuff
Damn Cid so glad you are okay man, shit that is scary. Working in maintenance I see this all to often, the outlets you described do not meet code here. I agree with you completely, to change these as soon as possible. So you say the rooms are wired in series, so how many breakers do you have? What are the amps ratings? When you trip a breaker you loose the whole wing not just the room? Is it only the outlets that are in series, not the lights also as that would turn on multiple devices at once? Very interesting Cid, You have me wondering.
You have luck on your side. Glad to hear your ok! I can’t imagine how to fix this , but Swisher sounds like he knows whats up!
Wow. Crazy, man. I’m glad you’re ok and your house didn’t get too damaged. nuts.
"You can't buy happiness… but you can buy weed, which is pretty close."
Wow. Crazy, man. I’m glad you’re ok and your house didn’t get too damaged. nuts.
Agree. Stay safe man.
glad your safe dude.
Glad you are safe and sound…
Sail and grow
Deep inside
The brave align
Green we stay
-Boss Keloid Lung Valley
Brother. Its comforting to know that you and your loved ones are safe once more!!!!!
The storm has passed!!!!!!
So glad that you are ok and that you didn’t lose anything not replaceable! Scary stuff for sure!
I’ve been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could’ve been.
I’ve been wallowing in my own chaotic
And insecure delusions.
I wanna feel the change consume me,
Feel the outside turning in.
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and
Cleansing I’ve endured within
46×2- Tool
Glad u aight good advice stay bud
The trick to being a good stalker is always having weed.
If they catch you stalking just say "wanna smoke some weed?",
If they say "no"… fuck em.
You don’t need that kinda negativity in your life.
Damn Cid so glad you are okay man, shit that is scary. Working in maintenance I see this all to often, the outlets you described do not meet code here. I agree with you completely, to change these as soon as possible. So you say the rooms are wired in series, so how many breakers do you have? What are the amps ratings? When you trip a breaker you loose the whole wing not just the room? Is it only the outlets that are in series, not the lights also as that would turn on multiple devices at once? Very interesting Cid, You have me wondering.
yes Swisha
The power starts at the breaker. (1) breaker per room for the outlets. The wire continues on to each outlet. If one outlet fails, any outlet passed that point in the same circuit fails too.
If one of the outlets in that same circuit shorts out, all others in the same circuit go dead too.
I used to own a prefab home and it was wired the same damn way.
The American way is to build something really well once, then reverse engineer it to see how cheap and weak of a materials you can use to build the same thing for maximum profit.
It feels good to be running from the devil
Another breath and I'm up another level
It feels good to be up above the clouds
It feels good for the first time in a long time now
Damn Cid so glad you are okay man, shit that is scary. Working in maintenance I see this all to often, the outlets you described do not meet code here. I agree with you completely, to change these as soon as possible. So you say the rooms are wired in series, so how many breakers do you have? What are the amps ratings? When you trip a breaker you loose the whole wing not just the room? Is it only the outlets that are in series, not the lights also as that would turn on multiple devices at once? Very interesting Cid, You have me wondering.
yes Swisha
The power starts at the breaker. (1) breaker per room for the outlets. The wire continues on to each outlet. If one outlet fails, any outlet passed that point in the same circuit fails too.
If one of the outlets in that same circuit shorts out, all others in the same circuit go dead too.I used to own a prefab home and it was wired the same damn way.
The American way is to build something really well once, then reverse engineer it to see how cheap and weak of a materials you can use to build the same thing for maximum profit.
My Dad is always telling me how often stuff breaks in his pre fab home. He said lots of the parts used to build with are so junky that he can’t find replacements
Holy shit, this is crazy! Like most others here I’m glad to hear you’re safe cid
"One must be pure to remember. Pure at all levels."