Terminalcoffee discussion

Help! I turned on a light last night and it made a hissing/popping noise and burned out. There was a bit of smoke coming from the outlet. I took the lightbulb out and went to change it and there was still a tiny bit of smoke. Is this just left over from the first lightbulb burning out or do I have a serious problem or an electrical fire potential on my hands.

I am trying to save the moolah and not call an electrician.

First let me say that I am not an electrician, but I have wired lights and outlets. You may want to pull the fuse/throw the circuit breaker and have a look at the outlet. You should be able to see if there are any burn marks on the outlet. If there are any loose wires or wires touching it may cause the outlet to short out. If the outlet has any burns marks I would replace it as soon as possible. Jonathan will surely be able to tell you more.

Thanks Jim! I was just coming over here to change my wordage because I have a few things wrong. I meant light socket instead of outlet. The smoke was coming from the light socket. There is a tiny copper wire that looks burnt. The light socket is in a terrible ceiling fan that came with the house. Bulbs burn out throughout the house all the time and I have a suspicion that the electrical wiring is maybe not the best.

Generally speaking, smoke is not considered a desirable feature in a ceiling fan, Susan. Incandescent light bulbs produce a great deal of heat and under certain conditions can cause insulation, plastic lamp holder bases and other parts and pieces of a light fixture to burn. Is the socket in an enclosed fixture, for instance one with a glass globe? If so, you should probably be using only a 60 watt bulb in there, or else switch over to a compact fluorescent (Edison base), which can give you more light with almost no heat--although you may need to look around for a brand of compact fluorescent whose quality/color of light appeals to you; also those bulbs can't be wired to a dimmer. If it's an open fixture that is smoking up or if you see any kind of charring of the insulating components of the socket, you should probably replace it by wiring in a new porcelain socket. If you're handy with tools, this isn't difficult to do, and there's no need to work with live wires or anything like that, so it's not especially dangerous, so long as you're careful and follow a good set of instructions.

Thank you, Jonathan!

I was the first one to see the smoke and immediately thought it was not a good thing. It was a 60 watt bulb but I think it is a 40 watt socket (I was not the one that put it in the socket) so there is the first mistake. It is an enclosed fixture. I need to take another look in the socket when little wakes up, it is in his room, and check for charring. I think I have watched a show (This Old House perhaps) where they showed how to replace a socket and I could probably handle it.

I really appreciate all the input!

I have wanted to do that since we moved in and that was about 4 years ago!

::sigh::

However, when I mentioned it last night to the husband he said he did not want to put more money into the house (we are thinking of moving). No worries, though. I have my ways of making him see reason.

No one was burned! Thanks for asking, Charly! The problem has been fixed and I believe the initial smoke was coming from the burnt bulb. There was no charring on the inside of the socket. The light fixture is still there but remains smokeless. Since this episode, I had to move on to other things and fixed the toilet handle and lever.
I guess nobody was enticed with the last sentence in #7. I can always try harder, I suppose.

Susan wrote: "I can always try harder, I suppose."

And longer.

Ah shucks, you really do care!

:)

Charly, in my house it is sometimes for the better if I am the one to do these little chores. For example, the handle on the toilet was loose to begin with and someone else stepped in to fix the problem. The next thing I knew the lever was in two pieces. Now a trip to the hardware store and guess what comes back. A front mount handle set. Ours is a side mount. I am still on the sidelines as the new side mount comes back from the hardware store and I am called into the game to observe that the lever, once installed, will hit the overflow tube in the tank. Thankfully it was a copper lever so I just strategically bent it to allow room for the overflow tube and saved a crumpled husband from another trip to the hardware store.

But I get what you are saying. I do not clean the fish tank. I do not know how to do it properly. ;)

:D