Loose wires cause fires.

Watch the results of a loose electrical connection and the inability of a standard circuit breaker to open during the fault condition.

[woodhonky]

Just a note from a 20 year residential electrician. First you nail up boxes. Then you drill holes to pass wire through. So, yeah, sawdust in boxes. Also, most problems I have ever seen are caused by arcing at a bad connection. Just think, an arc is used to melt steel together. always twist wires together before you wire nut them securely. I have been on service calls where the problem was a melted push-in connector, so they are not perfect. As far as loads go, most failures of this type I have seen were from running a portable electric heater. It does not even have to happen at the receptacle where the load is connected. If there is a bad connection at another device upstream it can happen there. Just my 4 cents worth.

[rivernet]

I’m fast asleep, toasting a bagel, and drying my hair.

[DanielKhuu]

Now this is the type of video I’m looking for. I searched “All ways fires can start” but most results are videos showing burning houses, news stories, ect. I want to see more educational content on such an important topic!

[Jim-fexz]

This is exactly what happened to my sister's cabin. It was in escrow to be sold and they did a "last minute jury rigged fix". She left a heater plugged in while she took a day trip. Came back and it was totally destroyed (thankfully didn't take the forest with it!). Fire department reported cause was faulty wiring. The problem is real.

[TheLightningStalker]

This needs a few more amps and more sawdust.

[Dirthauler]

If it takes 9 minutes for your toaster to make toast, I'd get a new one.

[FENATECH]

Great video on how improper connections may result in a serious potentially life threatening situation. Thank you for sharing.

[bigdog]

This a fantastic video to show how electrical boxes are designed to prevent fires despite loose wires.... and saw dust. Thanks!

[LuckUnstoppable]

I almost had a fire today. The power cable for my CCTV wire melted apart halfway down the wire until the pieces were in two. I only noticed it because I saw an orange glow on the side of my desk. The thing is, I wouldn't normally be home when I discovered it so it might've been a different story :/

[jfremont]

Well I'll be SURE not to place sawdust in my boxes moving forward!

[bcnghhwk]

I suffered a similar problem a while ago: I had a freezer and a microwave on a power bar, somebody plugged and unplugged the microwave and in doing so, loosened the bar's plug on the outlet.
the freezer remained plugged onto the extension, and worked out as usual over night.
at some point, the arc between the outlet and the plug melted the plug's own frame, loosening it even more, until it melted the wire inside the plug, and the wires shorted out.
I heard the breaker pop downstairs and went looking, and nothing seemed out of place, no burns anywhere, no appliances shorted out, nothing.
reset the breaker, plugged everything back in, and when I grabbed the extension cord, I noticed the plug had melted.
taking it apart, I saw the interior all burned up.
fortunately, the breakers had been changed a while back, replacing the old ones which were almost 30 years old.
I doubt those old breakers would have popped.

[jidar]

This is why I never store my sawdust in my device boxes. I do store my grill lighters there though and so far no probs.

[steveodeluxe]

Thanks for getting me scared now. Guess I’ll shut off the main every night now.

[randydavis]

35 year Red Seal Electrician, great video Andrew. I have seen this probably over a thousand times.Loose connections are very common. In many cases the electrician or handyman thinks the connection is good because the wire connector gets tight, but in many cases, especially with multiple wires in the connection it is very common for one of the wires to back out of the connection unnoticed and presents a loose connection and a fire hazard. Now, as for all your smart ass comments boys. Women plug in the curling iron to heat it up for several minutes then plug in there hairdryer and go for several more minutes. More than enough to present this exact situation Andrew has shown here.want another one boys and this is usually YOU. You plug in two car block heaters in the winter to one outlet or two outlets on the same circuit and do the same thing. Lets see, space heaters going full out and then someone wants to vacuum and i could go on and on. Keep up the greats videos Andrew .CHEERS

[OneRoomShed]

Nice demonstration and very well explained. It's scary to think this could be happing inside your walls. I've gone over and checked almost every outlet, switch and junction box that I could find in my house to try to prevent shit like this from happening.

[vicpinto]

You lost me when you added the sawdust.

[johnjohnson]

Always twist bundles of wires together with a lineman before putting wire caps on.

[_rich]

Excellent video. I have photos of a couple boxes where this has happened. After the plastic melted the circuit operated just fine yet until some type of vibration would cause the now exposed wire to contact the metal box and trip the breaker.

[shinosg-wiz]

interesting video. At 2:30ish ..when you were talking the LOAD was still on? thank you

[markmyjak]

Great demonstration! Give it time, dust actually collects in switch and outlet boxes. The dust provides the fuel for the arc. Here's some info. Screws on outlets and switches actually loosen up over time. Creating loose connections.

The same can happen when aluminum and copper wires are twisted together and capped using a wirenut. I had happen at my parents house. The house built in 1963. The was wired by an electrician. I'm guessing at that time, there was no clear understanding about copper and aluminum creating electrical issues.