• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Close Call This Evening?

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
I had gone to the Y for a swim after dinner.
Came home and Gretchen met me at the door doing her usual song and dance, but she seemed a little more excited than normal. I took her out to potty, then came back in the house and went to take a shower to get the chlorine off me.

The entire time I am in the shower, she continues running back and forth into the bathroom, whining and barking.
This started to concern me. She and I are so in tune to one another.
I quickly got out of the shower and got dressed and she kept running into the living room dancing in circles.
I said WHAT??????????? what do you want??

She then went over to the tower fan I purchased a while back and started sniffing around it.
I looked under the loveseat that sits nearby. I thought maybe a mouse got in the house or something.
OMG! there is a little trail of smoke coming out of that outlet and the plastic is turning a yellow brown. I unplugged it immediately and went over to my neighbour Stan's house and told him what I found.

He came over and said for some reason the fan overheated in that outlet.
He went back home and got his tool box, removed the outlet cover and had a look inside.
He then went to my circuit breaker and turned off the power to that outlet and fixed the wiring and all for me.
He said I could have had a wall fire, and lost my house and Gretchen possibly if I hadn't come home when I did.:neutral:
It's good to have a doggie who is my guardian angel and a neighbour who takes care of me. :D

Tower fan is in the wheelie trash bin and Gretchen got lots of extra hugs and treats.
Stan got a kiss and a hug.
I suppose he's gone from window gawker now, to good neighbour friend LOL
 

tsaw

New member
GOLD Site Supporter
Wow... That WAS close. Glad Gretchen alerted you to the danger. I wonder what possibly could have made a fan draw enough amps from the outlet to cause so much resistance and heat. I'm soooo glad it turned out ok!
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
That was close enough to being real bad. Get up and check your smoke detectors now. It is time for fresh batteries soon anyway. My wife tested ours the other day when we had the hotwater canner and pressure cooker both going. Between 9 detectors and the birds and dogs it makes a hell of a racket!
 

Big Dog

Large Member
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
I'm glad you and Gretch are OK ......... Never underestimate the intuitions of a canine!

Can I have my kiss now .............. :biggrin:
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
Wow... That WAS close. Glad Gretchen alerted you to the danger. I wonder what possibly could have made a fan draw enough amps from the outlet to cause so much resistance and heat. I'm soooo glad it turned out ok!
It was a cheap one I bought at Walgreens about 3 months ago?
Can't remember.. the brand name is Aries.. 29" tall.
 

Rusty Shackleford

Automotive M.D.
SUPER Site Supporter
holy shit, glad to hear everything turned out alright!

Dogs are much smarter and intuitive than most people give them credit for.

give that pooch an extra treat courtesy of Rusty.
 

Rusty Shackleford

Automotive M.D.
SUPER Site Supporter
It was a cheap one I bought at Walgreens about 3 months ago?
Can't remember.. the brand name is Aries.. 29" tall.

wow Aries from what i heard is pretty decent.

of course over the past couple years it seems more and more is getting past "Quality Control"
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
That was close enough to being real bad. Get up and check your smoke detectors now. It is time for fresh batteries soon anyway. My wife tested ours the other day when we had the hotwater canner and pressure cooker both going. Between 9 detectors and the birds and dogs it makes a hell of a racket!
Bill, my smoke/heat detectors are working just fine.
That little red light that flashes tells me they are working.
Just went and pushed the button on the smoke alarm and it beeped.. which got Gretch going again. :hammer::yum:
Thanks! lol
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
I'm glad you and Gretch are OK ......... Never underestimate the intuitions of a canine!

Can I have my kiss now .............. :biggrin:
YOU sugar, can always get a kiss anytime. Mwaahhhhh! Large Canine!

God, I am so happy nothing bad came from this.
I live in a manufactured home. These things can burn to the ground in 5 minutes once they get fired up, I am told.

home.jpg
 

Rusty Shackleford

Automotive M.D.
SUPER Site Supporter
God, I am so happy nothing bad came from this.
I live in a manufactured home. These things can burn to the ground in 5 minutes once they get fired up, I am told.

View attachment 48026


they can and cant. once again its pride in worksmanship. if the company and its employees care about their job and their customers' safety, then a manufactured home can be about as high quality as ay other house.

if all they care about is money, different story :sad:
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
The newer ones with drywall instead of paneling on the walls are much better. The old ones had aluminum wiring and it overheated at outlets and switches from oxidation creating loose connections. They are built to much stricter codes now.
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
The newer ones with drywall instead of paneling on the walls are much better. The old ones had aluminum wiring and it overheated at outlets and switches from oxidation creating loose connections. They are built to much stricter codes now.
Mine is 7 years old. I bought it new and paid cash for it.
It's my home and I'd like to keep it.
Stan said the wiring looked good, and figured the fault was with that damned fan. So I don't know Bill.
I'm going to Google that particular brand later and see if there are similiar complaints about it.
 

Rusty Shackleford

Automotive M.D.
SUPER Site Supporter
i agree with the fault being in the fan. get your money back! 3 months old is bullcrap for this scenario. and bring along the yellowed part. and dont forget the Rusty Rule: Bitching goes along way. Especially when you are right.
 

JEV

Mr. Congeniality
GOLD Site Supporter
I'm glad your neighbor corrected the problem for you. Is he a qualified electrician of just a handy guy? Whenever an overheating problem occurs, the circuit should be checked by a licensed electrical contractor to insure the circuit was not damaged. The fact that the circuit breaker did not trip concerns me, and the breaker may be overrated for the wire size. This is a no-no, but is more common than you can imagine. The electrician can inspect and test the circuit to make sure no additional damage was done to the wiring from the overheating situation, and insure the proper sized breaker is in place for the wire size. Excessive overheating can degrade the current carrying capacity of the wire, and even thought the outlet was replaced, the wire should be inspected.

I'm not trying to scare you, just make you aware that this should be taken seriously. This is my professional opinion.
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Was it UL listed on the unit or cord? I would file a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commision. The only way they learn about problems and issue recalls is if folks complain. You need to give the neighbor some good peeks or some good cooking! Could also have been a bad outlet that caused it.
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
I'm glad your neighbor corrected the problem for you. Is he a qualified electrician of just a handy guy? Whenever an overheating problem occurs, the circuit should be checked by a licensed electrical contractor to insure the circuit was not damaged. The fact that the circuit breaker did not trip concerns me, and the breaker may be overrated for the wire size. This is a no-no, but is more common than you can imagine. The electrician can inspect and test the circuit to make sure no additional damage was done to the wiring from the overheating situation, and insure the proper sized breaker is in place for the wire size. Excessive overheating can degrade the current carrying capacity of the wire, and even thought the outlet was replaced, the wire should be inspected.

I'm not trying to scare you, just make you aware that this should be taken seriously. This is my professional opinion.
Thanks Joe.
Stan works for Honda and did work for GM as an electrical engineer.
I do intend to get the local guys from town in to look at it and check out ALL the wiring just for my own peace of mind.
 

muleman

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
JEV is spot on. Should have only been a 15 amp breaker on that circuit.
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
Was it UL listed on the unit or cord? I would file a complaint with the Consumer Product Safety Commision. The only way they learn about problems and issue recalls is if folks complain. You need to give the neighbor some good peeks or some good cooking! Could also have been a bad outlet that caused it.
Bill, like I said, I am going to look into this brand of tower fan and see what's gone on with them in the past.
I still have the product and service numbers and all that stuff that came with it in a drawer.
Phone calls will be made.
 

JEV

Mr. Congeniality
GOLD Site Supporter
Thanks Joe.
Stan works for Honda and did work for GM as an electrical engineer.
I do intend to get the local guys from town in to look at it and check out ALL the wiring just for my own peace of mind.
Good idea.
 

tsaw

New member
GOLD Site Supporter
Was it UL listed on the unit or cord?.

Not to bust any chops.. just updating my knowledge. But is it possible to buy any new electrical unit that is not UL listed? I thought that it was mandatory to be UL listed in order to be sold.
 

tsaw

New member
GOLD Site Supporter
That company is on the up and up so to speak.

"Standards We Test to for the North American Market

  • UL <--the minimum
  • ANSI
  • CSA <-- More strict
  • ASTM
  • NFPA
Don't know about the rest. But Something needs checking PG! The company is not making fans that burn down hoses. I'd have to say you need a certified electrician (as you said you are going to get) to check your wiring and investigate what the devil happend:dizzy:
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
I'm glad your neighbor corrected the problem for you. Is he a qualified electrician of just a handy guy? Whenever an overheating problem occurs, the circuit should be checked by a licensed electrical contractor to insure the circuit was not damaged. The fact that the circuit breaker did not trip concerns me, and the breaker may be overrated for the wire size. This is a no-no, but is more common than you can imagine. The electrician can inspect and test the circuit to make sure no additional damage was done to the wiring from the overheating situation, and insure the proper sized breaker is in place for the wire size. Excessive overheating can degrade the current carrying capacity of the wire, and even thought the outlet was replaced, the wire should be inspected.

I'm not trying to scare you, just make you aware that this should be taken seriously. This is my professional opinion.
I totally agree, that breaker should have shut down the circuit before the smoking started. That is what they are there for.
 

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
I totally agree, that breaker should have shut down the circuit before the smoking started. That is what they are there for.
I cannot explain it Jimbo, but I am going to find out why it happened.
As I said, ALL electrical is going to be checked out in my house.
Right now I have the television on, the computer, a desk lamp.. and the light above my stove on the range hood.
My washer and dryer run off that same circuit (I think) and I had no problems with either earlier today.
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
It that unit is 7 years old, it is probably built to higher standards than the typical tract home.
Be sure and give that dog a couple of thank you hugs.
 
Top