Fridge Freezer Blew Up!

[PankySmooch]

Today I was in my kitchen when all of a sudden there was a loud noise which I can only describe as fire crackers, at first I thought it was on the radio until I walked passed the fridge and saw sparks coming from the plug socket.

I managed to flick the switch off and pull the plug out which was covered in black soot, the socket itself is fine and still works when anything else is plugged in.
I took the fuse out of the fridge plug which was cremated and in two parts and put a new fuse in, plugged it in and switched it on and then the same again only his time flames were coming out of the plug!
It's one of those moulded plugs which you can't undo so I have no idea if there was a loose connection inside.

Have to wait until Monday for an Indesit engineer to come and have a look at it but am baffled as to why this happened and dread to think what would've happened if the house was empty or it happened at night.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Panks

[vakayu]

As you say lucky you were in when this happened,they always say to unplug electrical items when out or away from home but no one thinks about the fridge or freezer which are left on.

[vakayu]

My goodness methyl that is certainly not understating the problem!

[Buenchico]

My starting point would be to remove the moulded plug and fit a new plug. (It's an easy enough task). If everything then works fine it was obviously a fault within the plug; if not, further investigation is required.

However, when I've had a similar problem myself (with a fridge) it was actually the socket (or the supply to it) that was the problem. (The wall was hot where the cable ran to the socket, even if nothing was plugged in). All I did was to remove the socket, insulate the ends of the cable, fit a blanking plate and plug the fridge into a different socket. That was about 15 years ago and my house hasn't caught fire yet!

[Bathsheba]

Blimey!! I bet you're a barrel of laughs at dinner parties, methyl ;)

x x

[Pete65]

Most encouraging, Buenchico!

[vakayu]

Bathsheba it certainly would put the wind up me to read that to say the very least!

[Bathsheba]

;) x x

[PankySmooch]

Thanks methyl but I think that's a bit extreme.

Buenchico, I was going to cut the plug off and fit a new one but thought its best to wait for the engineer just so they can't blame me for anything

[Bathsheba]

@methyl...wow, that sounds horrendous :( Ok then, I would be delighted to have you at one of my dinner parties! You could have a look at my laptop maybe + you would be able to see for yourself the make, model no,.+ all the rest of that vitally important info, yeah? ;)

@ Panky,....I hope you get it sorted asap...:)

Baths
x x x

[douglas9401]

Well I for one don't think Methyl's advice should be sneered at.

I'd go further in fact and have the house isolated from all utilities, demolished, the site exorcised then covered in reinforced concrete and used as a helipad.

[Bathsheba]

@Douglas...*snigger*...only just seen this, lol! :D

Baths x x

[Old_Geezer]

I don't think we need to go overboard here. Do get the socket checked. Replacement is a good precaution, it had passed a large current will not have done it (or the wring to it) any good. It could be as bad as needing the cables replaced but I suspect not. Aqualified electrician could put your mind at ease.

In a mention of what I'd do, not what I'm advising, and which may be a little lacking in H&S, I'd replace the plug and see if the f/f still had an issue. I'd probably, maybe, replace the wall socket to be on the safe side. And I would investigate why the fuse/mcb (possibly even the rcd) didn't "blow". That does seem strange. They are there to protect the circuit, and they failed.