T
T.M.Haja Sahib
Guest
Any fault to ground, if continued,would eventually become a short circuit and trip the branch circuit breaker.It is not known if the branch circuit breaker was in the tripped condition initially.
Dryer fire
- Thread starter PaTerminator
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PaTerminator
Member
- Location
- Lehigh Valley PA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
It appeared to have started on the inside. (rear of dryer)
Maybe not in time before the fire started.
PaTerminator
Member
- Location
- Lehigh Valley PA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
It is unknown if circuit breaker tripped, as fire dept probably turned off all breakers as per S.O.P.
is the duct to the outside aluminum & going through a stucco wall?
PaTerminator
Member
- Location
- Lehigh Valley PA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
No, it was flex and going through a studded wall.
T
T.M.Haja Sahib
Guest
If the branch circuit breaker was not in the tripped condition initially,and if the breaker were bad,the wire insulation would have melted.If the branch circuit breaker was not in the tripped condition initially and the breaker is good,non-electrical factors might be the cause of the accident..........
PaTerminator
Member
- Location
- Lehigh Valley PA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
The dryer cord was turned into 3 strings of copper... nothing more. It appears it was damaged from the extreme heat in the vicinity. I am, however, speculating, as I am not educated in forensics in this field.
Why would the breaker be initially in a tripped position?
If one of the elements comes loose and touches to the ground it will heat up to a point that it may catch the surrounding on fire. Now the question is did the short cause the fire or the fire caus the short?
i assume it was plastic flex and no stucco.
PaTerminator
Member
- Location
- Lehigh Valley PA
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor
Yes, plastic flex and through sill plate of vinyl sided wall.
T
T.M.Haja Sahib
Guest
A true unchecked short would melt the wire insulation throughout the branch circuit length and not localized........
T
T.M.Haja Sahib
Guest
A ground fault eventually turns into short circuit and so the healthy breaker should trip.The fire due to sustained ground fault should have caused the short circuit and tripping of breaker.Then the fire would have died,as the ignition source was removed due to breaker tripping and the wires insulation would not self-sustain flame.
Sierrasparky
Senior Member
- Location
- USA
- Occupation
- Electrician ,contractor
Ground fault through a heater element would not cause a breaker to trip unless GFCI protected. As I stated earlier a High limit on both legs would catch the issue.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
If belt breaks the blower is usually direct drive on the motor shaft and would still be moving air over the heating element, there would just not be any drum rotation.
If the short is from the heating element to the frame there will be enough resistance in the remaining portion of element to carry a low enough level of current (at 120 volts to ground not 240) the breaker will not experience any overload.
Joethemechanic
Senior Member
- Location
- Hazleton Pa
- Occupation
- Electro-Mechanical Technician. Industrial machinery
In India household receptacles are 230 V. But they are, I believe, 230 V from ground. That may be accounting for the differences in our thinking about this.
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
Since not all dryers have direct drive blowers, and we do not know the model, this may or may not be the case.
personal experience
personal experience
I was doing laundry, moving wash from washer to dryer. Moved the first arm full to the dryer on the way back to get the next load set the timer. Place next arm full into the dryer and noticed the heating element was already on. I had not pushed the start button and the door was open. Finished the laundry and opened the dryer to troubleshoot. All controls worked fine and traced problem to the heating element. Took the heating element out and found that a element coil had popped out of the ceramic holder and grounded against the housing. The only device switching off current to the heating element was the timer switch, no safeties in the circuit, blower did not need to run. Dryer is a 3 wire hookup.
personal experience
I was doing laundry, moving wash from washer to dryer. Moved the first arm full to the dryer on the way back to get the next load set the timer. Place next arm full into the dryer and noticed the heating element was already on. I had not pushed the start button and the door was open. Finished the laundry and opened the dryer to troubleshoot. All controls worked fine and traced problem to the heating element. Took the heating element out and found that a element coil had popped out of the ceramic holder and grounded against the housing. The only device switching off current to the heating element was the timer switch, no safeties in the circuit, blower did not need to run. Dryer is a 3 wire hookup.
GUNNING
Senior Member
- Location
- Gainesville, Florida
Electrical?
Electrical?
Maybe it wasn't the dryer mechanism but what they were drying. People do stupid things like use flammable cleaning solvents then through the item(s) in the dryer.
Electrical?
Maybe it wasn't the dryer mechanism but what they were drying. People do stupid things like use flammable cleaning solvents then through the item(s) in the dryer.
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