PaulD
Active Member
Had my first switch casuality in my new house. I have a number of US240 switches controlling wall outlets where I might put a lamp or other light load. Our housekeeper always turns on every light switch in a room when she is cleaning and then turns them out as she finishes a room. She is not fully familiar with the fact that the switches may only turn on the outlet in a dimmed mode. As a result, all the switch controlled outlets are hot but she may not realize that it may be in a dimmed condition.
Today, after she had turned on all the switches, she plugged a floor steamer into one of the controlled outlets and it fried the switch controlling the outlet. Switch was smoking and blackened the switchplate. Had to replace the switch as well as the rocker cover due to slight melting of the plastic rocker. In addition, there was another outlet controlled by the same switch which had a small lamp plugged in and the lamp remained on with no control from the switch. As a result, the switch failure mode allowed power to continue to flow to the outlets (not good). This compounded the problem because the floor steamer was still plugged in and trying to draw current which meant the switch was still trying to feed power to the outlet and getting hotter by the second. Fortunately, I was nearby and the housekeeper called me in to see the smoke coming from the switch. When I realized what was going on, I unplugged the steamer and the smoking stopped but the room now smelled like burning rubber. Obviously not good and this is a scenerio that my wife or guest could have created as well with bad results if they did not unplug the device creating the high load. I would have expected that the US240 would fail in an "open" condition for the power flow to prevent continued heating of the switch which might start a fire however, that is not what happened.
My lesson learned is to minimize the opportunity for someone to plug in a high current device into a outlet which may not be suitable for that type of device. My fix is to put a child proof insert into every switch controlled outlet which is only to be removed to plug in a dimmable device such as a light. I intend to put a label on each plug with something like "Lamp Only". Not a perfect solution but it is one I think will work in my situation.
Today, after she had turned on all the switches, she plugged a floor steamer into one of the controlled outlets and it fried the switch controlling the outlet. Switch was smoking and blackened the switchplate. Had to replace the switch as well as the rocker cover due to slight melting of the plastic rocker. In addition, there was another outlet controlled by the same switch which had a small lamp plugged in and the lamp remained on with no control from the switch. As a result, the switch failure mode allowed power to continue to flow to the outlets (not good). This compounded the problem because the floor steamer was still plugged in and trying to draw current which meant the switch was still trying to feed power to the outlet and getting hotter by the second. Fortunately, I was nearby and the housekeeper called me in to see the smoke coming from the switch. When I realized what was going on, I unplugged the steamer and the smoking stopped but the room now smelled like burning rubber. Obviously not good and this is a scenerio that my wife or guest could have created as well with bad results if they did not unplug the device creating the high load. I would have expected that the US240 would fail in an "open" condition for the power flow to prevent continued heating of the switch which might start a fire however, that is not what happened.
My lesson learned is to minimize the opportunity for someone to plug in a high current device into a outlet which may not be suitable for that type of device. My fix is to put a child proof insert into every switch controlled outlet which is only to be removed to plug in a dimmable device such as a light. I intend to put a label on each plug with something like "Lamp Only". Not a perfect solution but it is one I think will work in my situation.