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Electrical

Burning smell from plug

Anonymous user 28/02/2024 - 3.43 PM

Hi I have a compact dishwasher and it tripped the circuit breaker yesterday. I tried using a vacuum cleaner in the same socket and that worked fine. So I replaced the fuse in the plug of the dishwasher. It worked only there was a smell of burning rubber/plastic so I switched of the dishwasher and unplugged it and haven't used it since. Would appreciate thoughts on possible causes please. I also went through the circuit breaker switches one by one after unplugging dishwasher and none of them tripped it.

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4 Answers

Internal Repairs

Rating: 5 out of 5
Epsom
So the previous fuse HAD blown? There is a fault with the dishwasher then. Depending on what you think is most economical you can have an appliance engineer fix it or or you could buy a new one.
Answered2 June 2019
21

Ben Energy Electrical Services

Rating: 5 out of 5
Market Rasen
I strongly suspect the burning smell is actually coming from the plug top or the socket. One would think a poor socket connection when plugged in causes a weak hot spot, especially when the dishwasher is on full load ( element on ) the result means higher currents which is why your fuse may of blown. It’s very difficult to say for sure without seeing of course, but experience tells me this is a probable cause . Your dishwasher may actually be fine. Get it checked to be safe.
Answered19 June 2019
1

Anonymous user

A fuse in an appliance is there for protection of the 'inner workings' of the items.. If a fuse 'pops', that means the appliance itself is more than likely to be at fault, and seeing that its a dishwasher, the heating element, pump, etc could have developed a fault (i.e. possibly the burning small you can smell?) causing the fuse to pop... I would either have an appliance Engineer out or have it PAT tested or evening get a new one which May be cost effective and have a new warranty on it... Hope this helps! Regards, Stephen.
Answered5 June 2019
0

Rose Electrical and Energy Company - Electricians in Torbay and South Hams

Rating: 5 out of 5
Totnes
The first thing to do would be to compare the current requirements of the dishwasher with that of the plug fuse rating. If the dishwasher current is 13A or higher and the plug fuse is 6 to 10 A this would overload the fuse. It probably would not blow immediately as cartridge fuses need around 3 times the rated current for instantaneous operation. When a fuse is overloaded, there may be some burning of its element before it goes. This might also help explain why the circuit breaker did not trip as it may have been a higher rating than the fuse and higher than the current used by the dishwasher. If changing the fuse to a higher rated one does not work, it could be as the other electrician said that there is some kind of fault with the dishwasher. It any case, it would be best to get an electrician or technician to look at it.
Answered19 June 2019
0