Question: Why is my plug-in frying my small appliances?

(Posted by: andrewTX98 on 2008-12-15 05:55:18)

I have a wall plug in that i replaced about a year ago, I can recharge my cell phone on it with no problem, but if i plug an appliance they go nuclear. So far have lost a toaster, crock pot and blender. I think i'll stop using it till its fixed.

Posted by: Cannibal on 2008-12-15, 06:18:56

I think you put a black wire on both sides of the outlet instead of a white on one side and a black on the other side. Go out and buy a multi meter to check what the voltage is before you plug anything else into it. Good luck.

Posted by: Ken B on 2008-12-15, 06:10:00

It sounds like you've got 2 hot wires attached to the outlet, giving it 220v. Most household appliances in the U.S. are 110v but your phone charger is probably 220/ 110v with a feature that will allow either voltage. Use a meter to check between each hot and ground, I think that you'll find both prongs have 110v.

Posted by: wayfstr on 2008-12-15, 06:41:52

There may be a number of reasons. You might have a situation similar to what the first answerer mentioned. You might also have a situation where the circuit is getting overloaded and the breaker or fuse is too big of an amperage. The cell phone would pull much less electricity than an appliance would. You might also have an issue like the 2nd person mentioned where no neutral wire is hooked up to the outlet and its just two hot wires. The most likely situation would be that there are two hot wires running to the outlet like the first person stated. That would give you a higher voltage than the 120V that most appliances run on. When somebody replaced the outlet they could have easily connected all of the black hot wires and not realized that they were chang the voltage from 120V to 240V by doing that.

Posted by: classicsat on 2008-12-15, 14:44:12

Why did you replace it? If it was because it was funny and normal plugs didn't fit, it is because it is a 240V circuit, which will blow out most appliances. Otherwise, you wired the new outlet wrong, likely from a multiwire outlet, which if wired wrong, can supply an appliance blowing 240V.