Sparks outlet: main causes and solutions

If the house sparks when connecting or disconnecting household appliances, urgent measures must be taken to eliminate the malfunction. In practice, this problem becomes a common cause of fires. Let's figure out what caused the sparking of the electrical contact in the plug and, depending on the cause, choose the best repair method.

Causes of sparks in the outlet

As already noted in several previous publications on our site, such manifestations are characteristic of poor contact. Therefore, the reasons must be sought, directly, in the plug. List all the options:

1. Inconsistency of standards of the main elements of the contact connector, that is, sockets and plugs.
2. Connection of several paved electrical appliances through an extension cord or tee, which leads to overload by electric current.
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3. Connector wear due to various reasons.
4. Loosening of contact clamps.
5. Poor-quality wiring products, in this case sockets.

Let us consider in detail each of these options.

Inadequate plug and socket standard

Just note that this is one of the most common causes of a malfunction. The fact is that the old-style sockets produced during the Soviet Union, designed for electrodes Ø 4.0 mm. Shuko plugs with thicker electrodes Ø 4.80 mm are installed on modern household appliances.

It would seem that the difference in the diameters of the electrodes of the plug design is less than a millimeter, but this leads to the fact that when trying plug the Shucko plug into a Soviet-style socket, you can damage the housing of the latter or stretch the contact sponges. As a result, if you try to connect devices with an old plug to this outlet due to poor contact, sparking will be observed. A similar effect will be observed if the Soviet plug is included in a modern outlet.

Over current

Like any electrical connector, power outlet It has its own characteristics that determine the valid connection parameters. Simply put, if an allowable current of 16.0 A is indicated on the installation electrical device, then it is allowed to include electrical appliances with a total power of not more than 3.50 kW. How to calculate the allowable power by the rated current will be discussed separately.

Those who do not want to bother with calculations can use the table below.

Table 1. Correspondence of the rated current of the outlet to its power.

Rated Current Parameters (A)	TDP (W)
6,0	1300,0
10,0	2200,0
16,0	3500,0
32,0	7000,0

If the permissible load is exceeded, then the contacts of the sockets of the outlet will start to heat up, This leads to the fact that the conductors, connected at the connection points, they begin to gradually burn, increasing the contact resistance, causing it to heat even more and sparking. That is why the multiple inclusion of electrical appliances through a tee or splitter is not recommended. If this becomes necessary, it is better to install double sockets.

How to calculate the power of the outlet?

To do this, use Ohm's law for an alternating current circuit. In our case, the formula will have the following form: P = I * U * cos φ, where:

• P is the required permissible load power;
• I - permissible value of the rated current (indicated on the outlet or in the technical documentation for it);
• U is the voltage of the electric network, in everyday life - 220.0 V;
• cos φ is the value of the power factor, if it is not indicated on the electrical device connected to the outlet, then we take the value of 0.95.

We give an example of calculation. Suppose we have a 16 A socket, which means that the permissible load power on it will be 3344.0 W (16 x 220 x 0.95). As you can see, the calculated value is slightly less than the value in Table 1. That is why it is not recommended to load the outlet to the maximum. There is another reason to avoid maximum loads, it will be discussed later.

Worn out plug sockets

Contact clamps are the weakest link in the design of the plug. Sooner or later, they weaken and cannot fix the plug electrodes with sufficient force. As a result, the reliability of electrical contact is reduced, which leads to sparks and damage to the outlet (if you do not take measures in time).

It is believed that such a malfunction is typical only for outlets that have been in operation for a long time. This is not entirely true, the fact is that the plug connectors are not designed for frequent on / off electrical appliances. To do this, the latter has switches. If you turn on electrical appliances several times a day, then its resource will be reduced, and it will serve much less than the period specified by the manufacturer.

Loosened screw clamps

The reliability of the plug connector is of no small importance to the state of the contact clamps. Over time, they can weaken and the junction of the wires begin to heat up. What this can lead to has already been said above.

This problem is especially characteristic of old wiring, the installation of which was carried out by cable with aluminum conductors. This metal is characterized by characteristic fluidity. As a result, the pressure of the contact pad produced on it over time leads to the fact that aluminum begins to “float”, causing a weakening of the electrical contact in the screw terminal. A similar "fluidity" is observed in copper conductive cores, only in them this process takes much longer.

Low quality selling outlets

High competition in the market of electrical goods forces manufacturers to take various steps to attract the attention of consumers to their products. Companies producing well-known branded products have taken the path of improving quality, developing designs with additional functions (as an example, you can use sockets with an electronic timer) and modernization of production to reduce costs products.

Others have chosen a simpler way, consisting in lowering the cost due to quality. Not everyone sins this, but many Chinese noname manufacturers. And finally, there is a frank counterfeit in the form of low-quality fakes of famous brands. Such products, in fact, are time bombs that can, in the literal sense, cause serious damage to your home.

In the photo above, for example, the original Legrand outlet (a) and outright fake (b) are shown. We recommend readers to find differences on their own.

How to eliminate sparking in the outlet?

Having dealt with the causes, we will move on to ways to eliminate each of them. Let's start in the same order:

1. The mismatch of the plugs and sockets is solved elementarily. It is necessary to bring them to a single type. We recommend that you choose modern standards, otherwise on each newly acquired electrical appliance you will need to change the plugs. That is, we replace the Soviet outlets with the European standard. In addition, if the house has vintage electrical equipment, we replace it with old plugs.
2. To eliminate the overload of the outlet, you can go in several ways:

• Replace the wiring device with a more powerful one. For example, if the sockets are rated at 10.0 A, then replace them with products at 16.0 A.
• If one outlet is not enough, install the outlet unit. It will be much more reliable than using a tee. If for some reason there are difficulties with the installation of the outlet block, use a double outlet installed on one seat.

  

• A worn out connector can be attempted to be repaired if the case is not severely started. To do this, remove the outlet (after disconnecting the line from which it is powered), clean it, and then bend the contact plates using platypuses (thin pliers). If the socket cannot be repaired, we will replace it.

Remember that frequent plugging reduces the life of the plug.

• If there is loosening of the clamps, tighten the contacts (having previously turned off the power). For copper wiring, it is recommended to repeat this procedure every 5-10 years, aluminum wires not once every two years. If possible, replace the wiring by installing copper.
• Do not purchase low quality goods. Savings in this case are somewhat inappropriate. It is not too difficult to distinguish counterfeit from the original, first of all, it is a suspiciously low price and lack of product certificates. Such goods are also distinguished by the low quality of the plastic body, lack of packaging, incomplete packaging.

Possible consequences

For those who are delaying the repair of a sparkling outlet, we recommend that you carefully read this section, and then proceed with immediate repair.

Without eliminating the causes of sparking, the homemaster puts himself and everyone who lives with him at risk. A problematic plug may cause a fire in your home. Sometimes a faint spark is enough for a flame to engulf the home.

Plastic of high-quality products is not subject to burning, but this does not mean that it will not melt and if you try to pull out the plug, you can be exposed to the harmful effects of electric current.

Do not blindly hope for a response circuit breakers, especially if they were installed 5-10 years ago and after that were not checked. Connecting a high power device or extension cord with equipment connected to it may cause a fire in the wiring due to overload, and the AB will turn out to be faulty. In practice, such cases are not uncommon, it is especially surprising when the plug is inserted into the sparkling connector, since it is located very conveniently.

To fix the outlet or replace it, it will take no more than 10-20 minutes, a maximum of twice as much in the absence of skills. But with a reliable electrical contact, the danger will no longer threaten your home.

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