Sparks!!

[laketime]

I got a call from a customer today that said she has been shocked twice by a switch in her house and sometimes when she plugs things in she sees sparks flying out of the receptacle :roll:. Any ideas? I haven't looked at it yet supposed to go tomorrow morning.

 

[jeremysterling]

Install some recess cans.

If that doesn't work change all the devices to decora.:roll:

 

[jxofaltrds]

I got a call from a customer today that said she has been shocked twice by a switch in her house and sometimes when she plugs things in she sees sparks flying out of the receptacle :roll:. Any ideas? I haven't looked at it yet supposed to go tomorrow morning.

Static electricity?

 

[ceb58]

Static electricity?

Could be. I have got a zap a few times last week when it was real cold. The plugs sparks could be she is plugging something in under load. Check it out. Give a bill.

 

[laketime]

Could be. I have got a zap a few times last week when it was real cold. The plugs sparks could be she is plugging something in under load. Check it out. Give a bill.

That is what I am going to do. She also did say she had two GFCI receps that she can not get to reset.

 

[Cavie]

Cold dry air + nylon carpet = ZAP!

 

[wireguru]

Cold dry air + nylon carpet = ZAP!

spray said carpet with a mixture of water and unscented downey fabric softener with a spray bottle or hudson sprayer and static = gone for 6-12 months. Works just as well as commercially available antistatic sprays.

 

[LarryFine]

Whole-house humidifier.

 

[GUNNING]

It's worth a service call. 1 hr min

It's worth a service call. 1 hr min

Ive found more then a couple of switches with a hot tied to the green screw. Its worth the look see.

 

[cadpoint]

Turn off the device before they plug it in!

 

[Rick Christopherson]

The power supply for my Toshiba laptop frequently arcs when I plug it in (before I connect to the laptop). Find out what she is plugging in when this happens. As for the light switch, my money is on static.

 

[dbuckley]

 

[brantmacga]

Static electricity?

that would be my guess.

 

[laketime]

The reason the GFCI could no reset was because the breaker was tripped. The breaker was trip because she had 28amps of load plugged into it. The sparks from GFCI were from her resetting it when it was under about 22 amps of load.

 

[Benton]

NOW THAT'S FUNNY! Never take the customers word for it because it is usually 10 times worse or 20 not. Like the guy said, "write them a bill".

 

[petersonra]

I had an outlet on my back porch that had a loose wire and every now and then it would spark when I plugged something in or out.

After I got an especially vigorous flash one time accompanied by black smoke and a CB trip, I finally fixed it.

 

[laketime]

I went back and installed a new dedicated GFCI. The customer then tells me that sometimes when she turns a light switch on or off she can see a spark through the plate. What could cause that?

 

[big john]

I remember one emergency work order from a customer, and I quote:
"The outlets are shooting fire!"

Get over there and discover that this was her way of describing the little spark she saw when she unplugged a 1000W toaster while it was turned on.

I take everything with a huge grain of salt.

-John

 

[sameguy]

How old is the switch? It could just be the contact spark when closing the switch.

 

[laketime]

How old is the switch? It could just be the contact spark when closing the switch.

Probably as old as the house maybe 5-10 years