Outlet strips shorting out?

[mtfallsmikey]

Had a trouble call yesterday, a person was unplugging an outlet strip from a receptacle mounted into modular furniture, and it arced, tripped the breaker on the circuit serving 3 cubicles, there have been other outlet strips that have gone bad in the building, but this one had apparently shorted, have not tested it yet, they all came from an office supply box store,no built-in surge suppessor, CB, etc.Is this common?

 

[petersonra]

Maybe you got a bad batch of them. Anything can fail. Might have been damaged.

Considering how many bazillion of these things are out there, if there was a mass failure of them, it would probably be on the news.

 

[mgookin]

Had a trouble call yesterday, a person was unplugging an outlet strip from a receptacle mounted into modular furniture, and it arced, tripped the breaker on the circuit serving 3 cubicles, there have been other outlet strips that have gone bad in the building, but this one had apparently shorted, have not tested it yet, they all came from an office supply box store,no built-in surge suppessor, CB, etc.Is this common?

If it has no CB then it's an extension cord and is not allowed.

 

[K8MHZ]

If it has no CB then it's an extension cord and is not allowed.

Extension cords are not allowed?

I don't care for the use of them, but I didn't know they were not allowed to be used.

 

[Oldbull]

Cords not allowed?

Cords not allowed?

The cords mat not be allowed in some places but I don't think that it is a good practice to allow their use anywhere in an office setting.
Try to make things as safe as possible, use only UL approved power strips with surge protectors and circuit breakers in them. Those cheap junky ones they sell at the Office box store will possibably cause a fire. Then who will they blame for allowing them to be used. You said you already had a few go bad. Those things are easily overloaded and do catch on fire. Replace them as soon as possible. Save yourself the headake of having to explain why the place burned down.
Stand your ground, don?t let them cry to you that theycost too much. Ask them which is more expensive the cord or the office or worstyet someone?s life.
Our real job is to make things as safe as possible forthose who have no more knowledge about what we do or happens when they turn theswitch on.

 

[petersonra]

The cords mat not be allowed in some places but I don't think that it is a good practice to allow their use anywhere in an office setting.
Try to make things as safe as possible, use only UL approved power strips with surge protectors and circuit breakers in them. Those cheap junky ones they sell at the Office box store will possibably cause a fire. Then who will they blame for allowing them to be used. You said you already had a few go bad. Those things are easily overloaded and do catch on fire. Replace them as soon as possible. Save yourself the headake of having to explain why the place burned down.
Stand your ground, don?t let them cry to you that theycost too much. Ask them which is more expensive the cord or the office or worstyet someone?s life.
Our real job is to make things as safe as possible forthose who have no more knowledge about what we do or happens when they turn theswitch on.

where is any of this in the electrical code?

UL does not "approve" anything.

there is nothing inherently unsafe about using a power strip that does not have built in surge suppressors or circuit breakers.

there is nothing inherently unsafe about extension cords in general either, although the way they are used sometimes creates a hazard.

one of the reasons that people do not listen when we talk about electrical safety is because of nonsense like this. you cry wolf enough and people turn a deaf ear.

 

[mgookin]

Easy there folks. It's either the life safety code or fire prevention code which prohibits extension cords to be used as permanent wiring. Extension cords are allowed for 90 days for temporary wiring for things such as holiday decorations. I'll dig it up and post it. It's the number one thing that commecial occupancies fail on annual inspections.

Look at this search result: https://www.google.com/#q=are+extension+cords+allowed+in+commercial+occupancies?

 

[jtinge]

where is any of this in the electrical code?

UL does not "approve" anything.

there is nothing inherently unsafe about using a power strip that does not have built in surge suppressors or circuit breakers.

there is nothing inherently unsafe about extension cords in general either, although the way they are used sometimes creates a hazard.

one of the reasons that people do not listen when we talk about electrical safety is because of nonsense like this. you cry wolf enough and people turn a deaf ear.

I concur wholeheartedly.

Powerstrips are UL listed as Remote Power Taps under UL 1363. They may or may not have over-current protection. See UL definition below:

3.3 RELOCATABLE POWER TAP (RPT) ? A RPT consists of one attachment plug cap and a single
length of flexible cord terminated in an enclosure in which receptacles may be mounted. Up to six
lengths of flexible cord, not exceeding 1-1/2 feet in length, may exit the enclosure with each length
terminating in a separate, single cord connector. A RPT may also be provided with suitable
supplementary overcurrent protection, switches, and indicator lights singly or in any combination. A RPT
containing three or more receptacles may also employ a transient voltage surge suppressor (TVSS)
and/or an electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter. A RPT may also employ a storage compartment to
store hand-held electronic devices and charging equipment such as a cell phone, cell phone charger,
and the like, when these devices are not in use.

The most common guidance that I have seen regarding power strip usage is typical found in university or large company electrical safety plans. Often they are more restrictive than permitted by UL without explaining the rationale.

 

[junkhound]

without explaining the rationale

The aerospace company I worked for changed company policy to prohibit outlet strips other than METAL with CB about 20 years ago.

Reason was a sudden rash of small fires and melted down plastic box outlet strips.

 

[JoeTroubleShoot]

Maybe it tripped the breaker because like most people's power strips, it was maxed out and then some. Pulling it out of a wall with even a small amount of things on and plugged in will trip the breaker sometimes. You're drawing an arc for a short period of time which is drawing extra load.

Either that or you could have a neutral problem. Power strips are usually the first thing that catch on fire when a neutral is lost. From what I have seen, transformers for cell phone charges and the like are what catch on fire and there's usually one or more of them on a power strip. So really it's not the power strip, but the type of things plugged into it that melt the whole set-up. I've seen it at least ten times, if not more where this same situation occurred from a broken neutral.