Could an electrical outlet kill a hairdryer? I know someone who in the past two days had one hairdryer burnout with a puff of smoke and another new hairdryer set off a smoke alarm (no visible signs of smoke with the 2nd but there was a plastic burning smell). The second also stopped working and wouldn’t work in any outlet and then it started working again later. What could be going on? The house is very old (1800’s) could this be the problem?
My hairdryer would stop working if it was overheating and start working again when it cooled down.
I guess hairdryers have some kind of fuse that makes them stop working when they get too hot.
Hair dryers (and other things that generate heat) have thermal breakers in them; they behave in the manner described by Dog80. If it’s just cutting off when hot, check the air intake to make sure it’s not clogged with lint. If the intake seems unobstructed, the breaker could just be bad and tripping to soon.
Regarding the outlet, I can’t imagine what might be wrong with it that would cause it to fry a small appliance. Do you know anybody who has an AC voltmeter? Carefully check between the two prongs for 120V RMS. Does sh/e live in a 220V country? I think it’s more likely that the hair dryer has a 110/220 switch and it’s set for 110 but being plugged into 220.
Yea, check the voltage. Both “open circuit” and “under a load.” This may be counterintuitive, but my guess is that there’s an undervoltage problem.
I agree. If the fan isn’t running fast enough due to insufficient supply voltage (or as indicated by others above, the air intakes are blocked), the heat can build up inside the dryer, causing just the symptoms observed. The open circuit voltage should read about 117 V +/-3 V in most areas, although as low as 110 V is acceptable. If the load voltage drops significantly from the open-circuit voltage, then it’s indicative of a dirt, loose or corroded connection someplace. The culprit is cases like this is often inside the breaker or fuse box.
Q.E.D.: Yep, that’s exactly what I was getting at.
First of all, most motors don’t like to be operated at a voltage level significantly less than their nominally-specified voltage level. They can overheat/burn up. Even if a low voltage doesn’t destroy the motor, the extra heat the motor produces, plus the lower CFM, could cause the heater to overheat. This can still happen even though the heater power has also been reduced (P = V[sup]2[/sup]/R).