About a week ago my daughter plugged up her iPod to a power strip that was plugged into an outlet in her bedroom, she said she placed the iPod onto the power strip and let it sit there while she plugged it up, then it made a spark, and the electricity in her room went out. The iPod was burned on one side from the spark. So my question is, could it of happened just because she placed the iPod onto the power strip or could it be a bad power strip or is it the outlet? I haven't turned the power back on in her room because I'm afraid of a fire, but if its just the power strip then I could easily replace that. I can't afford to call an electrician right now and would like to be able to get her back in her room with out worrying about a fire. (Update) 8/5/14 Since I posted this, my daughter told me the power strip was only plugged half way into the wall when this happended, I also just noticed the outlet looks like its been burned, The power strip looks normal. The iPod still works and we are still using the same charger in a different outlet. Thanks.
Electrical – A spark from a power strip recently made the electricity go out is it safe to turn it back on
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Related Solutions
My approach (not an electrician, just a guy with a meter) would be to start by mapping the circuit (find all of the outlets and fixtures that are on it), then unplugging EVERYTHING that's plugged into that circuit and see if that has an effect.
Next up, I'd kill the breaker and open up the switches and take a look. See if there's evidence of burning or arcing, or if one switch feels different than the other. I'd probably disconnect both switches (safely capping all wires), then turn the breaker back on and verify (using a meter) that the voltage is reasonable at all the outlets and other fixtures, and see what happens in the bedroom.
Basically if that tells you nothing, then I'd either start pulling outlets and fixtures off the circuit (kill breaker, remove outlet, capping wires, breaker back on) until I figured out what the heck was wrong, OR I'd just call an electrician.
Have you thought about trying to achieve the same result without running wires? Assuming you're using a cable (or satellite) box of some kind (and your TV doesn't have a built-in cable card), you could use something like this:
That would give you a standard RCA connection from your satellite/cable box to your TV. There are other options for other connection types; e.g. this one for HDMI (although it gets spendy).
Failing that, how about just using a quarter-round cable cover around the edge of the room?
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Best Answer
The metal casing of the iPod caused the power strip to short out. The breaker did it's job in tripping when it sensed two much current on the line. The iPod might live, might not. But it is safe to see if it does. The power strip, even it if works, is dead. Throw it out. The circuit should be safe to turn back on.
I say should, because if was wired to code, and done correctly it would handle the current before the breaker tripped. If an oversized breaker was used on undersized wires or outlet, either/both the wires or the outlet could have failed as well. If you question the electrical work done in the house, then play it safe until you have an electrician, or even a handman friend, do a visual inspection. Or if you feel comfortable, remove the plate off the outlet and do an inspection. With the breaker still off, remove the cover plate and inspect the outlet. If you see scorch marks or evidence of smoke, you will at least have to replace the outlet. If feel even more comfortable, remove the two screws that holds the outlet to the box. Carefully pull the outlet out and inspect the wires behind. Again, looking for scorch marks inside the box and also look at the wires. If everything looks good, carefully push the outlet back into the box and re-screw. Replace cover and turn on the breaker.