Hi Z

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I was going to guess that the ground terminal of the duplex isn't connected but the box itself is bonded; short-to-ground on whatever is plugged in being carried over the screws, but... since those aren't the yoke screws.....maybe fire behind the plate that didn't involved that duplex itself which leaks out around the cover-plate screws?
 
zbang said:
I was going to guess that the ground terminal of the duplex isn't connected but the box itself is bonded; short-to-ground on whatever is plugged in being carried over the screws, but... since those aren't the yoke screws.....maybe fire behind the plate that didn't involved that duplex itself which leaks out around the cover-plate screws?
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I think your first guess that the yoke screws may have been conducting current and got overheated could be the cause. The two burned areas are both inward from the exposed screws (i.e., below the top screw and above the bottom screw) and would therefore be close to where the yoke screws are. Also if there was a fire I'd expect there to be discoloration or soot: 1.) around the inner and outer periphery of the cover plate. and 2.) above the top screw and not below it (because heat rises).
 
K8MHZ said:
GE breaker?
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Could be an old challenger or FP, either have had trip failure. It appears the ground became energized, and either no ground wire or receptacle strap not bonded. It would be interesting to see the receptacle under the cover.
 
I saw that on reddit last night..... don't know without taking the plate off. Everything else is just a guess. Is the pate plastic or metal? Looks plastic, then again someone could just photoshop stuff like the burn marks? Is is wired properly? How long has it been that way, what was plugged in? Was water involved? I always scroll past that stuff unless detail is given.
 
Fred B said:
Could be an old challenger or FP, either have had trip failure. It appears the ground became energized, and either no ground wire or receptacle strap not bonded. It would be interesting to see the receptacle under the cover.
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I was just picking on GE because they can turn into metal melting shunts. To be fair, CH breakers can go into never trip status as well. I saw one carry 115 amps which is a lot for a 15 amp breaker. The #14 actually jumped when I turned the breaker on. All the lights in the basement went to dim. It was a bolted, actually wire nutted, short about 50 feet away in an outside light.
 
zbang said:
I was going to guess that the ground terminal of the duplex isn't connected but the box itself is bonded; short-to-ground on whatever is plugged in being carried over the screws, but... since those aren't the yoke screws.....maybe fire behind the plate that didn't involved that duplex itself which leaks out around the cover-plate screws?
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My guess too, resistance in yoke, screw to metal box and current flowing over it, may or may not be short circuit level of current, in fact probably wasn't or it would trip overcurrent device much sooner.
 
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