Posted by Allen Patnode on Sunday, January 23, 2005 at 7:52PM :
In Reply to: OT almost burned the house down posted by mike a on Sunday, January 23, 2005 at 3:56PM :
I had a service call friday night where the outlet was sparking. In the older homes and probably newer ones, they used to feed thru the outlet instead of splicing the wires and connecting 1 set of wires to the plug. If the wires get loose, they will arc when there is a load applied somewhere else on the circuit. In my case the homeowner went to home depot and replaced all the 2 prong plugs in his house with 3 prong plugs. He neglected to ground the new plugs and this particler plug he didn't tighten all the wires enough when he fed thru it.
Not everyone should be doing their own electrical work.
In your case make sure you splice your wires and put 1 set on the plug. make sure the plug is grounded and tight.
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