"Skirrow" wrote in message
m...
Hi,

I was wondering if someone can help me with a problem I'm having.

With the days getting colder I have started using an electric heater
in my garage. The only problem is that it has a very short power lead
so I have plugged it into a 2way extension which is plugged into a
double socket in my garage which in turn runs to a fuse box in the
garage and then into the house (into an old cooker outlet).

Anyway, the other day, after being in the garage with the heater on
for a couple of hours, I unlugged it and noticed that the plug was
warm, rather foolishly I stuck my finger on the prongs and the live
one was bloody hot.

Can anyone tell me whats causing this and what I can do to fix it as
I'm a bit scared of melting the socket or burning the garage down.

Cheers,
Dave

What ampage rating is on the heater ?

How many watts (kW) is the heater ?

What ampage rating is on the extension lead ?

Was the extension lead fully unwound off its reel ?

Is the power socket in the garage wired with the correct sized cable for the
type of loading you're applying to it ?

What else was plugged in along with the heater ?

Is the garage lighting taken from the same supply as the socket ?

Does the garage light go dimmer when the heater is switched on ?

Does the heater have a fan ?

Did you notice if the extension cable itself was also getting warm / hot ?

Although the garage is wired into an old cooker outlet, it may not be heavy
enough to run a lot of small appliances like heaters, lighting, fridges,
freezers, power tools etc. etc. I take it that by saying "an old cooker
outlet" you mean that the old cable is diverted into the garage and it is
now supplying a separate fuse box.

If this is the case, then the earth connecting centre (the bare copper
conductor in the cable) may not be heavy enough to be used as a proper
connection for such an installation, and you may need to take a separate
bonding cable back to the main earth point in the house and create a lower
resistance path for fault signals to trip/blow fuses as quickly as possible.

If it is just this one extension that is causing its plug to heat, then it
is more than likely not up to the job of supplying the heater properly. A
simple test is to try plugging the heater directly into the socket and see
if it causes the same symptoms.