Burned out socket

Poor contact there.

The terminal screw was almost certainly loose leading to high impedance and heat

 

Yes but could have been just a loose fit between the pin and the socket.
This is exactly the problem as described by John Ward;-

 

Was this a cheap "poundland" extension by any chance? They really are the worst quality things.

 

As they are both well and truly knackered it doesn't really matter.

 

Could be either.

A loose screw or connection in the plug top or loose contacts in the socket; either could cause it.

 

+ cheapo sockets?????

 

No, its nothing to do with the quality of the socket, correct reason already given by Bianco. If was socket quality we would all be in trouble. They only burn out due to bodged terminations. I would say loose plug wiring was the cause, not the temination of the socket. Thats why the plug is burnt out.

 

It is possible that the screw in the plug was loose, however looking at the socket I suspect that crack has played a part. In my opinion the crack has allowed the contact pressure between the pin and the socket to drop. This would allow the pin and its connection in the socket to heat up. The heat will weaken the copper in the socket allowing the connection to get progressively worse and hotter. The heat seems to be localised to that area rather than the plug. Had it been a loose connection in the plug I would expect to see more discolouration of the plug itself.

I would be interested to see a photo pf the inside of the plug.

Kind regards

 

John Ward! Nice to see someone else who watches him.

I would like to add, although it can't be blamed on the quality of the socket, I do see more of these issues with lower quality accessories.

Regards the second earth terminal. That is for high integrity earthing.

 

You cannot blame quality of socket. There are millions of lower quality sockets used every day but they don't all burn out. That's the point I am making. The only problem caused of this nature is down to poorly terminated wiring. If the plug was left in permanently and it was the harbour of the loose wire it would heat up and cause the damage to the socket which from the photo appears to have been the case. There is no damage to the rear of the socket only the front which points to definitely the plug causing the heat.

 

The quality of the socket isn't in question as far as I am concerned. It is the damage to the socket. I have seen this before with cracked sockets and the contact pressure drops so the pin isn't held properly.

If you study the photos you can see that the heat appears to have been generated at the point of contact between the pin and the socket, this indicates a poor connection between the two.

Kind regards

 

I view it differently. The heat build up over time caused by the loose termination on the plug pin has caused the socket to crack and eventually loosen which has ultimately increased heat even more and resulted in the failure. It seems the plug has been left plugged in permanently and never been checked. That damage would have caused serious burning smells as well. Can't see how it has gone that far without the user knowing something wasn't right.

 

I agree with UP - IMO, the socket crack has likeyy occurred due to the overheating and not the cause of it. It's neither here nor there though, as both need replacing.

 

You may both be right, but my suspicion is the left fixing screw was overtightened which caused the crack (the crack runs both sides of the screw) leading to the burnout. But as you say Lec, either way they both have to be replaced.

UP I agree about the smell it should have created.

Kind regards

 

how come, it's nearly always the neutral that burns out

 

Do we know what was plugged into the other three sockets?. I know it could not be washing machine, dishwasher and tumble dryer unless only one was used at once.
But you get my point?

 

I agree with Baz - all caused by pin to receptacle arcing/fizzing - seen it before