receptacle temperature

[bandag]

Watched Mr. Reavis video on electrical and he mentioned receptacle temperature but I didn't catch where he gave a acceptable temp. he did mention one was 85 degrees and one was 93 degrees. Anyone have a acceptable range for this? BTW it would be a good idea to watch his videos. ( look under this column for the voltage tester post.)

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Hey Fella....yep I thought it was a neat video to post...as for the temps well what I have found is that you use a method called sampling..in that you shot your thermal at 2-3 of the recepts in the room.

Get a baseline....and help that formulate your standard as one that is high will more than likely stick out.

not sure many inspectors THERMAL the recepts...I know I do..just as a normal thing.....while I am testing with my SureTest.

Interesting method also to verify voltage drop.....the Suretest does that well and as the guy stated...it is nice to help find a weak connection as well in a receptacle because many times you will get a higher voltage drop to that one device...and not so high at others....helps you narrow it down.

However as the guy also said......could be a potential issues with going above the generalists level.....but I dont worry as I have a background in it...but inspectors should use caution when determining how far they are going to go.

However I will go into some detail on MY theory - Typically receptacles "AT REST" should be close to room temp, as they are passive for the most part when nothing is plugged into them. Now the heating up under a load is where you determine problems with arcing and so on...as addressed in that little video.

However this is also kinda normal because anytime something is plugged in you are going to have some heat build up and so on but where do you draw the line. Well here is what I use and I found this method using a FRIDGE plugged in all the time.

Receptacles At Rest ( Indoors ) 60-75 Degrees Normal, 75-95 Probably a load involved, over 95 look to see if you can determine the reason because a normal receptacle at REST lets say..should not be elevated unless sun is hitting it or other factors are playing in...do some investigative snooping at that point. * Also depends on your climate and temps
Receptacle In Use ( Standard Use ) 65-90 Degrees - Acceptable Range

Now here the problem happens is when a large LOAD is placed on the circuit and one of the receptacles has a week connection...or defective device......THEN you will be able to see a spike in the heat...which is why you really can only use the sampling method I explained before.

Obviously this will vary....but lets say you sample (2) and they are 65-75 and you hit one that is 95 to 100...you will want to see possibly what is on that circuit...if the house is empty because it is a sale property...and one recept seems HIGH...I would not worry in the least to defer it on my report....IF it stands out.

The electrician who GRIPES about that service call is simply a JERK........but a I said.....let your sampling be your guide.

Hope this was somewhat helpful

[Greg Fretwell]

I would take that a step farther. If you have an "unused" receptacle that is not very close to room temperature the next one in the string has low voltage/high voltage drop. I want "backstabbed" in the pool.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Agreed......MOST EXCELLENT...... we can THROW that in the hat as well....

[jtedesco1]

"Tighten terminal screws to 14-16 in.-lbs. of torque! "

Now what, the many 1000's already installed?

I was going to say "loose connections" too?

Look at the attachment here for more on torquing.

Torque screwdriver tools for sale by anyone?

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Very true Joe, I can tell you many times I have yelled at helpers and so on that use the backstab and don't tighten down the screws. Beyond the issues you posted...it also just increases the change of something comeing in contact as usually with these boxes...if the screws are out you have little clearance on the sizes.....so they JAM the wires back and whamo.....

[Marc D. Shunk]

Originally Posted by jtedesco1

"Torque screwdriver tools for sale by anyone?

My Klein torque set does have a torque screwdriver. I have never used it, other than playing around with it. I bought the torque set mostly for torquing switchgear and transformer connections. A qualified installer of receptacles should be able to tell when the terminal screw is properly torqued by the torque measuring device that God built into his wrist.

[jtedesco1]

I have heard arguments that were related to using plastic tape to cover the terminations after the they were made.

I have done that in the past, just mad Ame feel better and sometimes could be an insulator where inside of a grounded metal box.

I imagine some will not consider this necessary and others would agree.

PS: How many colors of tape do you carry on your pouch chain?

Trouble with my measuring device is that it seems to want to give it just another turn and that's when something breaks a the point of connection.

[Marc D. Shunk]

Originally Posted by jtedesco1

PS: How many colors of tape do you carry on your pouch chain?

I don't tape up devices. When I see devices taped up, that screams out to me, "A handyman worked on this stuff. Check it out very thoroughly". Seems wrong somehow to add an incendiary right on top of terminal screws. That's just me talking, though. Actually, I take that back. I do occasionally tape up devices that are in boxes supported with Madison type box supports.

I only ever carry black tape, normally, for taping up the head of a pull. White and green sometimes, too, but not that often. Got the phase colors handy, when needed. Black is the general duty tape, because it's cheaper, and it makes good Band-Aids too. My wife is a nurse, and she growls me when I come home bandaged up with electrical tape. I console her, explaining that it's anti-bacterial electrical tape.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Originally Posted by Marc D. Shunk

I console her, explaining that it's anti-bacterial electrical tape.

lol.......now my wife would believe that

I carry Black and White most of the time...just habit....but the fact remains I can always tell a new electrician because he has his trusty tool belt on and every took under the sun...lookin a shiny like the day it came out of the wrapper. So I got all my guys these little belt pouches...holds (2) screw drivers, kleins, strippers , knife and thats about it...on a rough in anyway.


As long as I have the truck handy near by.....got tons of colors on the shelf..

[Marc D. Shunk]

Originally Posted by pabernathy

lol.......now my wife would believe that

Pictures! Pictures! Where's the pic of your gal? Saw you and your kids on your website earlier today.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

lol....come to think of it....I dont know if we have any pictures of us all.....we snap the heck out of them of our son......hmmm....she would probably not approve anyway...members can be brutal...

Man..I had to remove that......They are tearin me up.....

[W. Michael Chris]

Originally Posted by bandag

Watched Mr. Reavis video . . .

OK, I give, where do you find the video?

[bandag]

Mike,

There is a lot of new info on the electrical post right now, I have been reading thru all the posts. Here is where the video is at. Paul has a post "electricial training-voltage tester" the first reply lists the site, further down Roy lists the fellows homepage, which had another video, don't judge Mr. Reavis by his looks or slow speech, when I first saw the video my first impression was ...what's this old hippie talkin about? He is very intelligent and I learned a lot. I think the 2nd video was the one that got into recep. temp. Also don't overlook the post "extracted from archives" that Joe posted, some of the links don't work but the certainteed links all have a short course with a test. very informative. PM me if you need more help.

Mike, The 2nd video is under Paul's post "electricial testers and STUFF" that is the one you really want to see, He has the link posted. It is about an hour long so grab a soda and a bag of chips first!

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Nice little video from that guy....spends more time on a Series Arc than he does on actual Parrallel arcs...which is more dangerous in terms of fire potential.....but a great example and I have to say....I like the old guys approach.....dang there I go again with the OLD GUY thing....honestly I don't mean it is a bad thing....my SON calls me an old guy.

Sorry: Edited it for Mr. Sparks.....