Half of double plug socket faulty?

Discussion in 'Electricians' Talk' started by Alice123, May 12, 2021.

  1. Alice123

    Alice123 New Member

    My dishwasher stopped working a few weeks ago. It was completely dead, no lights went on etc.

    I tried another item (a table lamp I think), in the same socket, and it worked fine.

    It was plugged in to a double socket. A washing machine was on the other side of the socket, and I haven't had any problems with that.

    I tried the dishwasher again a few days later and it was working perfectly.

    Since then it's worked for a day or two at a time, then stopped working and repeated this pattern over and over, to the point that I had decided to buy a new dishwasher. When it was working it was fine, apart from a couple of times when it hadn't completely drained.

    On Sunday it randomly started working on its own, without anyone touching it. However, it wouldn't let me change the programme or switch it off.

    Yesterday I plugged it in to the other side of the socket, and it is working as normal - allows me to switch it on and off, change the programme etc.

    Is it possible that it's the socket that's the problem, even though one side of it is working perfectly well, rather than the dishwasher having something wrong with it, and if that's the case would replacing the socket solve the problem?

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
     
  2. AnotherTopJob

    AnotherTopJob Screwfix Select

    It sounds like you may have overloaded/overheated the socket, as they're not designed for two high demand appliances simultaneously.
    Short term you could replace the socket for a branded replacement and avoid operating both appliances together, but a permanent solution would be to replace the double with 2 single sockets.
     
    Alice123 likes this.
  3. Alice123

    Alice123 New Member

    Thanks for your reply. I don't normally run the washing machine and dishwasher at the same time, although I may have in the past.

    They're both fully integrated appliances and the double socket was put in when the kitchen was refitted and the appliances were installed.

    I'm puzzled about why the socket would work sometimes and not others, or with some appliances and not others. Also how the dishwasher sometimes works but malfunctions and why it turned on spontaneously.

    I had ordered a new dishwasher. Do you think it would be advisable to cancel and get an electrician in instead?

    Thanks again.
     
  4. spirits are real 2016

    spirits are real 2016 Screwfix Select

    Yes i would get a electrician in to check out the connections before a new dishwasher you could clean up with the difference..what area are you in..
     
    Alice123 likes this.
  5. Alice123

    Alice123 New Member

    I'm on Merseyside.

    Don't think it's directly relevant, but the socket is under the sink, which I know is sometimes frowned on. Walls are fully tiled though and wouldn't be keen to move the socket, for that reason.
     
  6. AnotherTopJob

    AnotherTopJob Screwfix Select

    If it works on a different socket, then it proves the dishwasher is not at fault.
     
    Alice123 likes this.
  7. spirits are real 2016

    spirits are real 2016 Screwfix Select

    It sounds like a faulty socket..
     
    Alice123 likes this.
  8. Dan Greenslade

    Dan Greenslade Active Member

    Get the electrician in to have a look, if its a case of putting two single sockets in it shouldn't cost too much depending on the sparkies rates etc. Probably be there 1/2 hours tops
     
    Alice123 likes this.
  9. terrymac

    terrymac Screwfix Select

    A faulty socket wouldn't cause your dishwasher to start up on its accord,and not allow you to switch it off / change programme. You have a faulty dishwasher. You may well have a dodgy socket ,but that will not cause the above mentioned.
    Plug your washing machine into the dodgy socket ,and see if it works.
     
    Alice123 likes this.
  10. AnotherTopJob

    AnotherTopJob Screwfix Select

    Symptoms of a poor/intermittent connection?
     
    Alice123 likes this.
  11. Alice123

    Alice123 New Member

    I'm a bit worried to put the washing machine on that socket, in case it causes problems with that too!
     
  12. terrymac

    terrymac Screwfix Select

    [QUOTE="Alice123, post: 19

    On Sunday it randomly started working on its own, without anyone touching it. However, it wouldn't let me change the programme or switch it off.

    How does a socket that is, or isn't ,passing voltage result in the above ?
     
  13. AnotherTopJob

    AnotherTopJob Screwfix Select

    When a socket gets hot, it can cause
    When electronic programs/cycles are interrupted by an intermittent power fault, it's quite likely.
     
  14. terrymac

    terrymac Screwfix Select

    Totally agree that power interruption can cause electronics to go out of sync ,but unless I have completely misunderstood Alice's post ,the machine randomly started working on its own without anyone touching it. Maybe it was already manually switched on earlier and it had stopped mid cycle. Is that a possibility Alice ?
     
  15. Alice123

    Alice123 New Member

    On that particular occasion it hadn't been working at all for a good few days. I'd tried it once or twice every day without success. I possibly had pressed the start button earlier in the day, but it would probably have been hours earlier.
     
  16. terrymac

    terrymac Screwfix Select

    Thanks. If you had switched the appliance on ,it didn't respond ,and you didn't switch off the appliances on/ off button ,then effectively it is still " on" ,if the socket at some point then energises the appliance, it would start up ( seemingly of its own accord). With this now clarified ,the appliance is probably ok ,and the socket is the culprit .
     
    Alice123 likes this.
  17. Alice123

    Alice123 New Member

    Thank you. Would this also explain why it sometimes works, sometimes doesn't etc?

    I've got a new dishwasher on order from Curry's, but it's not due to be delivered until 22nd, so I can still cancel.

    I'm inclined to give it a few days to see how it goes. If I got a new one and the same problem was happening, which seems extremely likely, that would be a lot of money down the drain, and potentially an appliance going to waste that might, hopefully, still have years left in it.
     
  18. terrymac

    terrymac Screwfix Select

    Plug the dishwasher into the other side of the socket. If it works fine ,cancel the new dishwasher

    Edit.. just reread all the earlier posts, I missed the one where you said you did this already ,and it works fine on the other side of the socket !!
    If the dishwasher works fine on that socket ,why did you order a new one ? Am I missing something here ??
     
    Last edited: May 12, 2021
  19. Alice123

    Alice123 New Member

    No.you're not missing anything. When it first started playing up I plugged something else into the socket it had been in - a lamp or something else I think. Because that worked perfectly I assumed the fault lay with the dishwasher rather than the socket, especially as the washing machine that used the other socket was working perfectly.

    I had assumed -, wrongly it now seems - that if a double socket was faulty then both sides would be affected, and if a socket was faulty then it wouldn't work at all, rather than intermittently or erratically.

    I'm very grateful for the advice on here, which may have saved me a lot of money.
     
  20. spirits are real 2016

    spirits are real 2016 Screwfix Select

    A double socket has a buzz bar inside and socket pins riveted on it at each point one of these points could be damaged and not making proper contact and when in use they get hot expand and break contact causing the socket not to work properly.. when they cool down they make contact and work again..
     
    Alice123 likes this.

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