Replace Dryer’s Blown Plug

shakedown

Moved house and changed the dryer from being hard wired to a 13a wall plug, which blew out today.

Can I just get a new plug and wire it up again, or is this a job best left to an electrician?

Alun

First you need to determine why it burnt out like that in the first place, otherwise you're just setting yourself up for it to blow again and potentially cause a fire.

Could be any one of, or a combination of a number of things ... crappy old plug, wires not secured properly in the pins, flex grip not tightened causing wires to become loose, crappy old socket. In any case the root cause is probably a loose wire or bad contact between plug pin and socket causing arcing which in turns causes carbonisation and then overheating. Overheating causes the plastic parts and wire insulation to melt causing more problems.

One things for sure, even if you do replace the plug, I wouldn't be using that socket again without replacing it too, or getting it replaced.

L1011

A hardwired dryer would concern me deeply - is it actually under 13A or is it some non-domestic thing that's over 13A?

Alun

Even if it was, the 13A fuse should have just blown without any more damage to the plug and wiring such as shown in the photo, but yes I was also a bit concerned about the reference to it being "hard wired".

OP, are you still there?

aido79

shakedown wrote: »

Moved house and changed the dryer from being hard wired to a 13a wall plug, which blew out today.

Can I just get a new plug and wire it up again, or is this a job best left to an electrician?

If you are going to wire the plug again with that much copper hanging out of the terminals then it's best to leave it to an electrician. It's most likely the reason why it looks like that.

shakedown

It’s a domestic hotpoint tcym 750c dryer.

It came with a plug originally, but was moved to an outhouse and the electrician hard/direct wired it into the socket.

When we moved, I cut the cord and put a plug back on (hence the excess exposed copper), and then this happened. I will be more careful when wiring the new plug.

The socket is slightly black from being burned, but still functions. Are you saying it could still be damaged and needs checking?

Alun

If you're wiring a plug you just need to strip back enough insulation on each wire to fit in the pins and allow the screws to be fully tightened on the wire, around 5-7mm or thereabouts on most plugs. There should be no exposed copper showing at all, certainly not the amount showing in that photo, although I hope that was due to the insulation melting and not how it was fitted :eek:

If the socket is showing burn marks, I'd replace it. If there's any carbon deposits inside the socket itself that will present a resistive load and will cause overheating resulting in another meltdown somewhere down the line.

aido79

Alun wrote: »

although I hope that was due to the insulation melting and not how it was fitted :eek:

This is actually very important. If the copper was stripped that far back when the plug was fitted then that is most likely the problem. However if the plug was fitted properly with no exposed copper and the insulation melted that much then the appliance is possibly faulty...although I think the fuse should have blown if this was the case.

J.R.

Out of interest - did the trip switch at the main fuse box trip when this happened?

ozmo

Looks to me like the brown wire came loose from the terminal - arced and melted everything.

Did you remember to replace the cable grip(the two screws and plastic piece that hold the wire - they are missing from the photo) that could have been why the cable got pulled out.

The green insulation missing from the wire is very concerning - could have electrocuted the person using the dryer if it had touched the brown wire.

Fitting a plug is not something that should need an electrician - search youtube for a guide - use the best quality plug for high amp usage - but if unsure might be better get someone to help.

Alun

ozmo wrote: »

But fitting a plug is something that should not need an electrician - search youtube for a guide - for but if unsure might be cheaper buy a new hair dryer

I think it's a tumble dryer not a hair dryer! Bit more expensive.

colm_mcm

aido79 wrote: »

This is actually very important. If the copper was stripped that far back when the plug was fitted then that is most likely the problem. However if the plug was fitted properly with no exposed copper and the insulation melted that much then the appliance is possibly faulty...although I think the fuse should have blown if this was the case.

Going on the way the copper strands are, I’d say it was stripped back

Mango Joe

colm_mcm wrote: »

Going on the way the copper strands are, I’d say it was stripped back

*** Sorry for off-topic - Colm posting to let you know your PM inbox is full!

colm_mcm

Message received!

shakedown

aido79 wrote: »

This is actually very important. If the copper was stripped that far back when the plug was fitted then that is most likely the problem. However if the plug was fitted properly with no exposed copper and the insulation melted that much then the appliance is possibly faulty...although I think the fuse should have blown if this was the case.

The copper was stripped that far back when the plug was fitted. I know now that you shouldnt have so much exposed.

J.R. wrote: »

Out of interest - did the trip switch at the main fuse box trip when this happened?

Yes, the main switch tripped when it happened.

Wheety

Changing a plug is a DIY job alright but it still needs to be done correctly. Strip back enough of the insulation to expose just enough copper to fit in the terminals. I twist the exposed copper to get a better fit.

Also the cable clamp should be holding down the outer insulation, not the individual cables.

shakedown

Here’s the new plug wired up. How important is it that the clamp is on the outer conduit rather than individual wires?

And a pic of the socket which I haven’t changed yet.

Cordell

The cable sleeve, the white one, needs to be clamped under the white bracket above.
https://www.wikihow.com/Wire-a-UK-Plug

shakedown

Cordell wrote: »

The cable sleeve, the white one, needs to be clamped under the white bracket above.

Bah ok, I’ll fix it now.

L1011

shakedown wrote: »

Here’s the new plug wired up. How important is it that the clamp is on the outer conduit rather than individual wires?

Very! The likelyhood of pulling one or more cores out is very high without the strain relief being on the jacket.

colm_mcm

At least have the cables not crossing over each other!

My OCD is triggered.

shakedown

Take 2...

Alun

shakedown wrote: »

Take 2...

Much better!

ozmo

Very nice.

CoBo55

shakedown wrote: »

Take 2...

When you buy a new plug there's usually a cardboard picture slid up on the plug that gives you the dimensions the wires need to be cut to. Not to drive you nuts but for heavy load items like clothes dryers I usually put some solder on the copper strands. I would change that socket too.