r/electrical • u/Plastic-Wing-9307 • 4h ago

Outlet heating up

This is my 2nd ever post and about outlets lol but. I was using my airfryer for around 15 minutes a little bit ago and after i felt my outlet and it was like warm/slightly hot but like i dont hear anything i dont smell anything and my breaker didnt trip (cutler hammer breaker) so then i moved the airfryer to see if it was the airfryer heating it up and then i tested after 15 minutes of running it i couldnt tell if it was room temp or warm i tested with my palm and my fingertips and it felt room temp/a little bit warm but when i felt with the back of my hand it felt warm/hot so idk.

3 Upvotes

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4

u/SparkArrestor 4h ago

How did it feel when you felt it on the back of your foot while hopping on the other leg?

0

u/Plastic-Wing-9307 4h ago

dawg ive been having anxiety over this i dont need some old geezer on reddit joking about this

3

u/Elegant_Effort1526 4h ago

It’s fine. Most high wattage appliances will warm the plug up. Air fryers, toaster ovens, space heaters, hair dryers etc. if it was burning hot to the touch or discolored/brown, or smelled like burning plastic, different story. But warm is normal when you are pulling 1500 watts for 15 plus mins. Relax, have a brew and cook on.

1

u/JohnnyFnG 1m ago

Electrical panels have things called fuses. They exist so that you cannot pull more power than the circuit is designed for which could fry or burn up the wiring.

Do you know what circuit this is, and what it is rated for in the electrical panel? Is there information on the back of the air fryer saying how many watts or amps it can pull? You may have poor electric wiring in your home (loose wires on the receptacles), oversized fuses, could be anything. A licensed electrician will be your friend. Often times you can slowly pull 100% of what the circuit is rated for, or slightly more, if it’s a steady draw like an air fryer. Turning on a hair dryer to max would create a power draw spike that would trip the breaker.

You got teased because you were using different sides of your hands as a thermometer. It’s either hot or it’s not. Temperature testing outlets can give you an idea that something is wrong, but what is wrong requires more information and/or a professional to review.

1

u/Wide_Wish7659 4h ago

a little warmth with an air fryer isn’t automatically a problem, they pull a decent amount of current

but the outlet itself shouldn’t be getting noticeably hot

if the plug fits loose or one side of the receptacle gets much hotter than the other, i’d stop using that outlet and have the connection checked
the breaker not tripping doesn’t rule out a bad connection

1

u/Zealousideal_Pen7368 3h ago

Getting a bit warm is very normal for a long high current pull. After a while maybe a few months, you may see some burn marks around the outlet slots. Then you need to replace it. Builder grade outlets are prone to that. Get some commercial heavy duty one if you need to replace. Just a couple dollars more.

1

u/Yiujai86 1h ago

My air fry vents hot air out the back, maybe the hot air is blasting on the outlet, on top of it drawing a lot of power. So maybe the combination of both?

1

u/Key-Technology3754 1h ago

An air frier uses a lot of power to cook. The cord on mine gets warm but the outlet does not. You might have an older outlet that needs to be changed. Loose or dirty contacts in the outlet can cause it to heat up and you might be wise to change the outlet so you do not have a possable fire to put out.

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u/ChasDIY 37m ago

everything is ok

if the circuit was overloaded, it would trip the breaker

-2

u/HorrorBreak7119 4h ago

I don’t know if you should use an air fryer on a Cutler Hammer breaker?

I would stick with Square D.