What happens when water spills into electric socket?

[Frankly Speaking]

Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.
We left it alone for the rest of the day. The next morning I used a
two prong tester on the outlet and it seems to be working. The
exterior of the outlet doesn't show any burn marks and it doesn't
smell burnt.

I'm assuming the gfci did worked and her mother pushed the reset
button before I got a chance to look at it since the circuit breakers
looked set. I'm concerned that there may be damage to the wiring in
the walls. Should I change out the outlet? Not sure if this is
important, but this house was built in 2001.

I was wondering what happens when water is spilled into a gfci outlet
that malfunctions and the circuit breaker doesn't trip. Would the
wiring in the wall burn up or be damaged?

All information and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Tracy Fort]

It should trip the breaker in the circuit panel next...not burn up the
wiring.

Tracy


On 26 Dec 2003 14:06:54 -0800, rquartar@yahoo.com (Frankly Speaking)
wrote:

Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.
We left it alone for the rest of the day. The next morning I used a
two prong tester on the outlet and it seems to be working. The
exterior of the outlet doesn't show any burn marks and it doesn't
smell burnt.

I'm assuming the gfci did worked and her mother pushed the reset
button before I got a chance to look at it since the circuit breakers
looked set. I'm concerned that there may be damage to the wiring in
the walls. Should I change out the outlet? Not sure if this is
important, but this house was built in 2001.

I was wondering what happens when water is spilled into a gfci outlet
that malfunctions and the circuit breaker doesn't trip. Would the
wiring in the wall burn up or be damaged?

All information and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Rheilly Phoull]

"Tracy Fort" <beerbarrel@cox.net> wrote in message
news:1kcpuv877lmga8ukne7cp6e5ql5ihi6d96@4ax.com...

It should trip the breaker in the circuit panel next...not burn up the
wiring.

Tracy


On 26 Dec 2003 14:06:54 -0800, rquartar@yahoo.com (Frankly Speaking)
wrote:

Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.
We left it alone for the rest of the day. The next morning I used a
two prong tester on the outlet and it seems to be working. The
exterior of the outlet doesn't show any burn marks and it doesn't
smell burnt.

I'm assuming the gfci did worked and her mother pushed the reset
button before I got a chance to look at it since the circuit breakers
looked set. I'm concerned that there may be damage to the wiring in
the walls. Should I change out the outlet? Not sure if this is
important, but this house was built in 2001.

I was wondering what happens when water is spilled into a gfci outlet
that malfunctions and the circuit breaker doesn't trip. Would the
wiring in the wall burn up or be damaged?

All information and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

Yup, it should have tripped. Once the water has dried up it should be OK but

it would be best to just check inside as well for carbonisation. If there
was no "burnt" smell I imagine there will be little is any damage. The
possibility of damage to the wiring is remote. I doubt there is any need to
change the outlet for this event.

--
Regards ............... Rheilly Phoull

 

[mike]

Frankly Speaking wrote:

Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.
We left it alone for the rest of the day. The next morning I used a
two prong tester on the outlet and it seems to be working. The
exterior of the outlet doesn't show any burn marks and it doesn't
smell burnt.

I'm assuming the gfci did worked and her mother pushed the reset
button before I got a chance to look at it since the circuit breakers
looked set. I'm concerned that there may be damage to the wiring in
the walls. Should I change out the outlet? Not sure if this is
important, but this house was built in 2001.

I was wondering what happens when water is spilled into a gfci outlet
that malfunctions and the circuit breaker doesn't trip. Would the
wiring in the wall burn up or be damaged?

All information and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

Speaking as someone who's watched his house burn to the ground TWICE!!
I'd replace any electrical device that had smoke come out of it.

Do the math: cost of new GFI/Cost of new house. It's a no-brainer.
A short that trips the GFI or the main breaker is not your problem.
It's the "short" that catches fire without blowing anything that's your
problem.

Here's a related anecdote. I spilled coffee on my workbench and it
dripped on the floor. Cleaned it up and didn't think any more about it.
Three days later, the phone quit working. I had an open RJ-11 phone
plug on the floor that had coffee on it. It had grown the biggest
mound of green corrosion fuzz that I'd ever seen on a conductor.
Had there been any power on that wire, there would have been a fire.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of advice to not worry about it. And they'd
be right most of the time. The relevant quote is, "are you feeling
lucky...punk?"

mike

--
Return address is VALID.
Bunch of stuff For Sale and Wanted at the link below.
Toshiba & Compaq LiIon Batteries, Test Equipment
Honda CB-125S $800 in PDX
TEK Sampling Sweep Plugin and RM564
Tek 2465 $800, ham radio, 30pS pulser
Tektronix Concept Books, spot welding head...
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Monitor/4710/

 

[Lou DeChris]

On 26 Dec 2003 14:06:54 -0800, Frankly Speaking hath writ:

...water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.
We left it alone for the rest of the day.

Are the Darwin awards closed for the year?

 

[Ken G.]

Answer to the above :


The outlet makes a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if
it got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke comes out of
it.

What to do .... replace the outlet with a new one

 

[Henry Mydlarz]

I ditto that. Many years (decades) ago I had a washing machine with a
bakelite plastic level sensor, onto which water had spilt a number of times.
It current path had developed between the 240VAC terminals, then carbonized.
Eventually there was a spectacular fire display. Nothing got tripped. No
fuse was blown. Even the receptacle here is probably not that type of
plastic, I still wouldn't take the slightest chance with it.

--
Henry Mydlarz

remove spam to reply

"mike" <spamme0@juno.com> wrote in message news:3FECDBE0.8070205@juno.com...

Frankly Speaking wrote:
Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.
We left it alone for the rest of the day. The next morning I used a
two prong tester on the outlet and it seems to be working. The
exterior of the outlet doesn't show any burn marks and it doesn't
smell burnt.

I'm assuming the gfci did worked and her mother pushed the reset
button before I got a chance to look at it since the circuit breakers
looked set. I'm concerned that there may be damage to the wiring in
the walls. Should I change out the outlet? Not sure if this is
important, but this house was built in 2001.

I was wondering what happens when water is spilled into a gfci outlet
that malfunctions and the circuit breaker doesn't trip. Would the
wiring in the wall burn up or be damaged?

All information and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

Speaking as someone who's watched his house burn to the ground TWICE!!
I'd replace any electrical device that had smoke come out of it.

Do the math: cost of new GFI/Cost of new house. It's a no-brainer.
A short that trips the GFI or the main breaker is not your problem.
It's the "short" that catches fire without blowing anything that's your
problem.

Here's a related anecdote. I spilled coffee on my workbench and it
dripped on the floor. Cleaned it up and didn't think any more about it.
Three days later, the phone quit working. I had an open RJ-11 phone
plug on the floor that had coffee on it. It had grown the biggest
mound of green corrosion fuzz that I'd ever seen on a conductor.
Had there been any power on that wire, there would have been a fire.

I'm sure you'll get a lot of advice to not worry about it. And they'd
be right most of the time. The relevant quote is, "are you feeling
lucky...punk?"

mike

--
Return address is VALID.
Bunch of stuff For Sale and Wanted at the link below.
Toshiba & Compaq LiIon Batteries, Test Equipment
Honda CB-125S $800 in PDX
TEK Sampling Sweep Plugin and RM564
Tek 2465 $800, ham radio, 30pS pulser
Tektronix Concept Books, spot welding head...
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Monitor/4710/

 

[ajb]

On 26 Dec 2003 14:06:54 -0800, rquartar@yahoo.com (Frankly Speaking)
wrote:

Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet.

[snip details of incident]

Just curious - what exactly is a "gfci" outlet? Not a name used over
here I think.

Regardless of type, I would change - or have changed for me - any
elecrical item about which there was the slightest shadow of doubt.
Mike is quite right about fires, and there is also the question of
houshold insurance. In England at any rate most insurance companies
would, if they got wind of this sort of event, use the fact that a
doubtful item hadn't been dealt with as a valid excuse for restricting
or even invalidating any claim you might need to make.

--
ajb

Dogs have owners; cats have staff.

 

[5HAD0W]

Just curious - what exactly is a "gfci" outlet? Not a name used over
here I think.

Similar to our ELCB or RCCB I would think

 

[CJT]

ajb wrote:

On 26 Dec 2003 14:06:54 -0800, rquartar@yahoo.com (Frankly Speaking)
wrote:


Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet.


[snip details of incident]


Just curious - what exactly is a "gfci" outlet? Not a name used over
here I think.

Ground Fault Current Interrupter

as the name implies, interrupts current when a ground fault is detected

Regardless of type, I would change - or have changed for me - any
elecrical item about which there was the slightest shadow of doubt.
Mike is quite right about fires, and there is also the question of
houshold insurance. In England at any rate most insurance companies
would, if they got wind of this sort of event, use the fact that a
doubtful item hadn't been dealt with as a valid excuse for restricting
or even invalidating any claim you might need to make.

--
After being targeted with gigabytes of trash by the "SWEN" worm, I have
concluded we must conceal our e-mail address. Our true address is the
mirror image of what you see before the "@" symbol. It's a shame such
steps are necessary. ...Charlie

 

[jakdedert]

"mike" <spamme0@juno.com> wrote in message news:3FECDBE0.8070205@juno.com...

Frankly Speaking wrote:
snip

Here's a related anecdote. I spilled coffee on my workbench and it
dripped on the floor. Cleaned it up and didn't think any more about it.
Three days later, the phone quit working. I had an open RJ-11 phone
plug on the floor that had coffee on it. It had grown the biggest
mound of green corrosion fuzz that I'd ever seen on a conductor.
Had there been any power on that wire, there would have been a fire.

Here'a a related (to the above) tidbit: Any telephone jack which you--or
anyone else--have mounted with the RJ-11 jack pointed *up* is a problem
waiting to happen. For some reason, I did this in a couple of locations
10-15 years ago, and it's come back to haunt me. In fact, I'd advise, if
there's room--to point them *down*, especially if you don't expect to have
something plugged in 24/7/365.

With the jack at the top, they are much easier to plug into; but when
there's nothing plugged in, they catch every bit of crap that comes their
way, . Add a bit of moisture and...z-z-z-z-t-t...no phone service.

jak

I'm sure you'll get a lot of advice to not worry about it. And they'd
be right most of the time. The relevant quote is, "are you feeling
lucky...punk?"

mike

--
Return address is VALID.
Bunch of stuff For Sale and Wanted at the link below.
Toshiba & Compaq LiIon Batteries, Test Equipment
Honda CB-125S $800 in PDX
TEK Sampling Sweep Plugin and RM564
Tek 2465 $800, ham radio, 30pS pulser
Tektronix Concept Books, spot welding head...
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Monitor/4710/

 

[Jim Adney]

On 26 Dec 2003 14:06:54 -0800 rquartar@yahoo.com (Frankly Speaking)
wrote:

Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.

I suspect that the sound you heard was the sound of the water inside
the outlet being vigorously boiled and electrolyzed. If it had drawn
enough current to trip the breaker it would not have lasted more than
a fraction of a second. The puff of "smoke" at the end was most likely
just steam.

I doubt that there's anything wrong with the outlet now other than
some possible minor lime deposits.

-
-----------------------------------------------
Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, WI 53711 USA
-----------------------------------------------

 

On Sat, 27 Dec 2003 23:58:59 -0600, Jim Adney <jadney@vwtype3.org>
wrote:

On 26 Dec 2003 14:06:54 -0800 rquartar@yahoo.com (Frankly Speaking)
wrote:

Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.

I suspect that the sound you heard was the sound of the water inside
the outlet being vigorously boiled and electrolyzed. If it had drawn
enough current to trip the breaker it would not have lasted more than
a fraction of a second. The puff of "smoke" at the end was most likely
just steam.

I doubt that there's anything wrong with the outlet now other than
some possible minor lime deposits.

An obvious question that hasn't been asked is whether the test
function on the GFCI works properly. If it doesn't then replace the
outlet as it is no longer providing proper protection. This may also
be a non-grounded outlet which would make this even more urgent to
replace.

-Chris

 

[James Sweet]

"Frankly Speaking" <rquartar@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ec34b291.0312261406.501d07f1@posting.google.com...

Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.
We left it alone for the rest of the day. The next morning I used a
two prong tester on the outlet and it seems to be working. The
exterior of the outlet doesn't show any burn marks and it doesn't
smell burnt.

I'm assuming the gfci did worked and her mother pushed the reset
button before I got a chance to look at it since the circuit breakers
looked set. I'm concerned that there may be damage to the wiring in
the walls. Should I change out the outlet? Not sure if this is
important, but this house was built in 2001.

I was wondering what happens when water is spilled into a gfci outlet
that malfunctions and the circuit breaker doesn't trip. Would the
wiring in the wall burn up or be damaged?

All information and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

I would replace the outlet just for good measure, they're not expensive. The
wiring in the walls is fine, that's what the breaker/fuse panel is for.

 

[Jeff Strieble]

"James Sweet" <jamessweet@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<pI4Ib.232184$_M.1021278@attbi_s54>...

"Frankly Speaking" <rquartar@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:ec34b291.0312261406.501d07f1@posting.google.com...
Don't ask me why, but my girlfriend's mother put a cookie sheet of
water on a case of soda on the kitchen counter bringing it level to a
gfci outlet. Her cousin ended up bumping the cookie sheet causing
water to spill into the outlet which had nothing plugged in. The
outlet made a sound similar to a garbage disposal motor binding if it
got stuck for about 3-5 seconds, then a puff of smoke came out of it.
We left it alone for the rest of the day. The next morning I used a
two prong tester on the outlet and it seems to be working. The
exterior of the outlet doesn't show any burn marks and it doesn't
smell burnt.

I'm assuming the gfci did worked and her mother pushed the reset
button before I got a chance to look at it since the circuit breakers
looked set. I'm concerned that there may be damage to the wiring in
the walls. Should I change out the outlet? Not sure if this is
important, but this house was built in 2001.

I was wondering what happens when water is spilled into a gfci outlet
that malfunctions and the circuit breaker doesn't trip. Would the
wiring in the wall burn up or be damaged?

All information and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

I would replace the outlet just for good measure, they're not expensive. The
wiring in the walls is fine, that's what the breaker/fuse panel is for.

I agree 100 percent. I would replace any kind of outlet--GFCI,
RJ-11, anything--that has had water spilled in it, even if the breaker
didn't trip or it seems to work after it dries out. It is always
better to be safe than sorry.

BTW,if a GFCI outlet makes any kind of noise (as the first poster in
this forum stated his did), I would also replace it without thinking
twice, as the outlet has been damaged. My experience with any kind of
electrical equipment that makes unusual noises (particularly hum or
arcing)while operating tells me there is something very wrong with the
equipment, which must be repaired immediately. The device making the
noise must not be used until the problem is corrected, but this is
common sense.

Another comment was made here that it is the device with the problem
(short, overload, etc.) that causes electrical fires, not the AC
wiring in the walls of the building (unless, of course, the wiring
becomes overloaded to the point of burning the insulation off the
wires, and the heat from that starts a fire in the walls). Again, I
agree. The chances of insulation actually burning off house wiring as
the result of an overload, however, are slim if the circuit breakers
are working as they should. Charred wiring was much more of a problem
back in the days of screw-in fuses (before the introduction of
tamper-proof type-S plugs) than it is today; people used to put copper
pennies behind the blown fuses to complete the circuit, while the
problem causing the overload was still there--or else an oversized
fuse was used to replace the blown one. Either of these dodges may
have restored the circuit in question, but I shudder to think of what
inevitably happened to the line the fuse was supposed to protect.
Circuit breaker panels in today's homes, however, are arranged such
that tampering is impossible, as the breakers are permanently mounted
in the panel. Any severe overload will flip the breaker long before
the wiring gets anywhere near hot enough to start a fire behind the
walls.

Kind regards,

Jeff, WB8NHV (mailto: jeffhs@ameritech.net)
Fairport, Ohio

 

[ajb]

On 31 Dec 2003 14:22:12 -0800, jeffhs@ameritech.net (Jeff Strieble)
wrote:

[snip]

Do, please, consider the whole question of the details of your

household insurance....

Regards
--
ajb

Just because I'm paranoid it doesn't mean
they're not out to get me...