Strong heating of cords and supply wires is an undesirable phenomenon that is often encountered when connecting electrical circuits and household appliances. It should not be left unattended, and if detected, immediately take measures to restore normal thermal conditions. But first you need to figure out the reasons for the heating and how to correct the undesirable situation (photo below).
Why is the power cable or power cable heated
The main reasons for this phenomenon are the following deviations from normal operating conditions:
- the current load on them significantly exceeds the permissible value;
- the electrical wiring was installed with serious violations of the requirements of the PUE;
- the presence of poor-quality connections in the supply chain;
- use of poor quality cable products and power cords.
Each of the presented reasons and ways to eliminate them require separate consideration.
Ways to eliminate defects in the power cord
To find the reason for the heating of the power cable of the electrical appliance, you first need to determine the place of its occurrence.
In this case, the following options are possible:
- The section of the wire immediately adjacent to the plug is hot or damaged.
- Strong heating is observed in the place where the cable is inserted into the housing of the electrical device.
- The entire network wire is heated along its entire length.
When examining the zone in the area of the plug, two outcomes are possible: poor contact inside it, or a violation of the quality of the connection in the outlet itself. In both cases, to eliminate heat, you will need to tighten the loose contacts.
Note: Heating in the outlet is also possible due to weakened springs compressing the contact jaws (photo below).
In this situation, the latter are compressed with pliers, and in the event of a complete loss of elasticity, the entire socket is replaced with a new product.
If the cord heats up in the area near the entry into the housing of the household appliance, the reason is also a weakened contact. To fix the problem, disassemble it and stretch the poor-quality bolted connection. When the cord heats up along its entire length, the reason lies in the incorrectly selected section of the working cores, which heat up due to the inconsistency with the current flowing through them. In this case, you should completely replace the cord with a new product that has parameters suitable for the given load.
Human factor
The reasons for heating the wiring associated with the human factor, in addition to the incorrectly selected section, include:
- mistakes made during the installation of electrical wiring;
- purchase of low-quality components (power cord and sample of cable products).
To get out of the situation, it will be necessary to revise all wires and localize the places of possible violations of the PUE requirements. If you find low-quality samples of cable and wire products, you will have to completely update them with new products.