View Single Post
  #5  
Old 12-11-2014, 02:16 PM
wa2ise's Avatar
wa2ise wa2ise is offline
VideoKarma Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: USA
Posts: 3,147
Quote:
Originally Posted by Electronic M View Post
House fuses and breakers don't always catch failures. ......POW the insulation between the leads at the plug failed, and it let out a bunch of smoke and a pinky red flame from the plug after a moment of surprise I grabbed the cord away from the plug and gave it a good yank which managed to unplug it. The aftermath: a good 1/4" of one of the cord wires starting at the plug moving towards the toaster was vaporized, and the outlet and plate that I had changed months earlier was charred and had to be replaced. The fuse never blew!
Maybe your house used Federal Pacific Electric stab-lok breakers, electricians call them "No-Trip". http://www.ismypanelsafe.com/fpe.aspx. Quality breakers should kick out immediately when a dead short happens.
__________________
Reply With Quote
Audiokarma