House fire ?

[Dreuxgrad]

Wife said "come up stairs"
Me; "do I need to bring anything?"
Wife "just your nose"
I thought that's strange request
Wife; " come in here and smell"
fourth bedroom has a mass of cardboard boxes from our move,
also with a closed the vent and doors
Me; "I don't need to smell, I can see it" haze
Wife started pulling out boxes and I investigating
this is what I found in the wash room.

Odd that it had not happened while we, or our guest, used that room while visiting last year.
Serendipitous that she walked in to put more boxes away, we were home, and I was able to locate it.
Although there was a telltale sign on the plate.

Opinions on cause?

Arc fault breakers save lives and property =next on the to-do list.

 

[Fishbucket]

I'd bet it was from a loose connection. That causes arcing which causes heat.
What is running on that circuit down stream of that outlet?

 

[Phil S]

Agree it was a loose connection. You can still see it in the second picture where the black wire insulation is under the screw causing a loose connection. The second screw which is burned off was probably worse. The original installer was just sloppy

 

[gmakra]

Hard to tell in the pictures but you may have had a ground fault.
Check your ground at the service entrance then work your way back to the outlet.
Breakers will not trip if there is no ground.

 

[Jeff]

That's insidious and scary!

I would call an electrician to do the diagnostics for how, why, and when.

The receptacle wasn't being used, under no apparent load, and after all of this time it just decided to implode and melt down? :dontknow: Even if it had a loose screw and bad connection from long ago why'd it take so long to act up?

 

[allisnut]

Even if that receptacle wasn't in use, the electricity flows through it to supply down stream receptacles. The poor connections will heat up when the circuit is loaded.

 

[sawman101]

That sent a shiver up my spine! So very glad it didn't result in a house fire for you. God was watching over you apparently!

 

[Jeff]

Even if that receptacle wasn't in use, the electricity flows through it to supply down stream receptacles. The poor connections will heat up when the circuit is loaded.

Yes, understood. Fishbucket raised that point too.

July 17, 2017: Something downstream in the Dreuxgrad household may be causing it but it hasn't happened before in the X months that they've lived in the home. Still unpacking the boxes!

 

[Bill Clemmons]

Ed, glad y'all caught it in time and were able to prevent a house fire. Stay safe, and thanks for sharing that w/ us.

 

[Gofor]

First, I agree with the above assessments, and the idea of an arc-fault breaker.

If it were me, I would also be checking everything down-leg on that circuit to ensure it isn't overloaded. Something may be pulling excessive current (ex: window a/c unit, etc), which would aggravate any weakness in the connections.

Go

 

[chris_goris]

I would agree it was a loose connection too. Thats quite a testament to the fireproof rated materials they use today, it appears something was actuall on fire but it extinguished itself before catching the entire house on fire. Very scary at the same time!

 

[Dreuxgrad]

Phil, I had removed the missing screw in that picture, but totally agree that the root cause
was sloppy workmanship with the insulation being under the screw. Still don't know what caused
it to happen at that time, as the grandson is at his dad's this month and we haven't used that
room in months( Jack & Jill) Since the panel is downstairs and other bathrooms are on the other side of the house
I suspect there isn't much down stream that is being used. Have to do some more investigation.
Thanks, and how was the workshop? Ed

 

[Jim M.]

I too agree with the above assessments posted here of the cause. If this is a new to you home, I would call an electrician to do a complete inspection of the electrical system. Home sellers will do some crazy DIY fixes to get the house on the market.

 

[Michael Mathews]

I see two black wires, but it looks like they are both under one screw. My guess is there was insulation under the screw, or maybe a loose connection due to attempting to put two solid conductors under one screw. You are very lucky Ed!

 

[Charles Lent]

A bad electrical connection will cause the heat and fire, but only when there is considerable current flowing through it. With that circuit turned off at the circuit breaker, what in the house isn't working. There must be a high current user on an outlet that the wiring from the defective outlet is feeding. Make certain that this appliance, whatever it is, is working properly.

When you repair that outlet and properly connect the wires to it, you should also check the rest of the outlets in the house to be certain that the same guy didn't do the same to them. Two wires under one screw is future trouble, so are loose connections. Also make sure the ground terminal is actually connected to ground. I ended up doing this in my house after I bought it and found a few scary wiring practices.
Then replaced the main electric panel and 6 outlets.

Charley

 

[Dreuxgrad]

Thanks to the great folks on this site for they have led me more that once in a productive direction, and so it is
with endeavor.
I have convinced myself that it was in fact a heavy load downstream that lit the fuse.
Tina came the conclusion that she was using a receptacle in the MBA downstairs to deflate several storage bags, working
that poor old Filter Queen, which was bought it in '81.
I checked the path and despite four bathrooms there is but one line/GFCI.
Pulled the lamp wire in the walls feeding the under cabinet lighting this AM. Wonder if the same crew did this mess without a permit too!
Thanks folks, Ed

 

[Dreuxgrad]

Thanks to all you good folks who bent me in the correct direction, You nailed the root cause.
It came to light that the LOML was using a thirty five year old vacuum deflating storage bags
using the receptacle on the only line/GFCI for four bathrooms.
Not to mention the lack of quality workmanship!
Pulled the lamp cord in the wall for the 120 halogens this AM.
Applied for a permit to replace them, do a couple of changes, and start the panel/wiring for the garage/shop.
This afternoon got into checking other connections; so far only one CCW, several loose screws, and of course
some with insulation under them. Why should expect anything different in a tract house!
THANKS for all the advice, Ed "sleeping much better" Mastin

 

[Fishbucket]

Glad it wasn't worse than it was, and now everything will be as good as it should .

 

[DaveD]

Hope you don't really mean you are using lamp cord.
Getting the inspector involved is a double edged sword.
i believe since about 1985 you can't use receptacles as pass thru devices. You have to pigtail the wires together and run one wire to one screw on the eceptacle. Applies to hot, neutral and ground wires. Just one of each to the receptacle.
Hopefully that isn't aluminum wire, used in the early 1970's. The problem you have is common where they used aluminum wire for branch circuits.
Be careful you don't cross the magic 50% threshold with your repairs. I think beyond 50% you have to bring the whole dwelling up to correct code.