An innocent plugged-in battery charger can cause melted electrical outlets like the one pictured here.
You love ’em, all those handy and convenient cordless devices — drills, vacuums, floor cleaners. But leaving the chargers plugged in for extended periods can lead to dangerous situations. So, here’s our advice:
DON’T LEAVE THEM PLUGGED IN!
The transformer in the charger (converts electric from AC to DC), heats up and can cause an existing outlet to melt without showing any signs of what’s going on. In 2013, Ryobi had to recall almost 600,000 chargers due to just this kind of problem.
Since you can’t see anything, you don’t know what to fix. Symptoms: a circuit will work intermittently or a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt (GFCI) outlet, further up the line, will trip under a modest load. These are just two of many symptoms.
This caution comes out of a recent, perplexing troubleshooting call: intermittent loss of power in outlets, especially under load (like when the sump pump came on heated up because of all the rain we had).
Through the end of February 2017, APG Electric Co. is offering a free inspection and testing of your electrical panel and GFCI outlets.
ground fault circuit interrupting.
We are a small but sophisticated group of professional electricians offering high-end services to discerning customers. With our constant research and training on cutting-edge products, we help our customers make better decisions by knowing and explaining all their options.
