Do I have a problem? (Electrical)

[Dean]

Ok folks, recently a couple of power outlets around the house started excreting this green stuff down the wall. (see pic). The outlets seem to work fine regardless.

Is this a major problem or some kind of insulating goo leaking from the outlet innards? I'd image some of these outlets are original from when the house was built 25-30 yrs ago.

[zymurgy]

I think they're coming! :D

[craigb]

Yeah, wasn't that how it started in that '50s movie "The Blob"?

Be afraid Dean, be very afraid

:D :D

[Dean]

Hehe yeah reminds me of that TV/Movie series "V"

Unfortunately, this is real goo from a real outlet!
Any ideas?

[bitingmidge]

Do I have a problem?

Yes!

:eek:

I'm guessing that you have a condensation problem in the wall cavity, rather than an electrical issue, is this happening on one wall, all walls, or just a couple?

P

[Ben from Vic.]

That shouldn't happen.

I think you should get that looked at. :eek:

[journeyman Mick]

Dean,
I think at some stage someone has used bleach or some other nasty to clean the walls (possibly prior to painting). I've seen a similar green goo coming out of power points but not in such copious quantity. Bleach leaves a film which is slightly hygroscopic (attracts water). I believe that the constant presence of a slightly corrosive fluid is attacking the copper and brass in the power point. Another danger with bleach residue is that it is conductive. I was told this by a painter one day on a job, he told me that it should never be used around power points. The next day I went to a job and he was just leaving when I arrived. The power was off so I rang the builder who rang the sparky who told me it could be turned on again. Reached up to the main board to turn it back on and got a huge boot. :eek: :eek: :eek: . Got an Ergon technician out who tested the board and suprise, suprise the board was live with a conductive film. The tech said he suspected that someone had used bleach on it. Bl**dy painter had bleached the walls and the main board the day after he had told me how bad it was! :mad: . The board had to be replaced and they made the painter pay for it.
Back to your problem: this is not a good look for a power point, at worst it could give you a boot or cause a fire, at best it will continue to ooze until the power point stops working. I think a phone call to a sparky might be in order.

Mick

[Dean]

Yes!

:eek:

I'm guessing that you have a condensation problem in the wall cavity, rather than an electrical issue, is this happening on one wall, all walls, or just a couple?

P

Only 2 outlets so far have displayed this... all others are fine.

[Ian007]

Dean,

Some of the older style wiring had a vulcanised rubber ( sort of thing)
casing around the copper wire. i have seen this green ooze before but not running down the walls!!
I see that you live in that sunny humid corner of Australia
I wonder if the old wiring and humidity has somthing to do with it.

call a sparky :o
expect to rewire your house :(
be sitting down when he tells you the price :eek:
think long and hard who do i know that has a kid who is an apprentice sparky :rolleyes: and will work for $100 a Day on a weekend or
find a cheaper way :)


Hope this helps
Cheers Ian

[Dean]

Strangely enough though, I took one of these outlets out (power off of course) and the wire looked fine... This green crap looked like it was coming from the internal (covered) part of the actual outlet?

This did seem to happen shortly after we had those 41 degree days in summer and the house is west facing with weatherboards and not insulated, which meant prolly 100 degrees in the walls :(

[Ian007]

isnt green the colour of copper when it comes from the ground?
and when your copper pipes get wet they turn green, returning to there natural state maybe?
so maybe the copper in the wire is doing something like this?
or the brass in the fitting is doing it.

brass is an alloy of copper and zinc.

cheers Ian

[Theva]

Dean,

As per BM's post, probable cause is condensation / heat combined with other issues.

Since you opened it up and had a look at the wires few questions.

1) are the wires PVC insulated or rubber / cotton insulated?

2) do you have a safety switch?

First, clean the backside of the powerpoint, all connections and reconnect / tighten the terminations (with power disconnected of course). Make sure that each wire is reconnected to its correct position (no swapping of wires). As they say, all electrical wiring related work should be done by a licensed electrician.

If you have rubber / cotton insulated wires then they will be brittle and probably require re wiring (sooner or later).

If there is no safety switch, then get one installed; it is more important for houses with older wiring.

Regards,

Theva

[Dan]

I'm not 100% sure Dean, but I seem to recall some information circulating at work several years ago when the same problem was discovered in some switchboards. I think the problem was confined to certain batches of Pirelli cables and the green stuff had something to do with the plastiser used in the PVC sheathing, there was no big push at the time to go replacing the cables so it doesn't look as if it is a fire or shock hazard. There should be some more info about it from the electrical safety office, I tried a quick search but couldn't find much.

[glock40sw]

G'day Dean.

Are the outlets low on the wall?
Do you have a dog that gets in the house?
Is the dog a leg cocker?

I have seen similar to your problem due to a male dog cocking his leg on outlets. Although, it was not as green as in your picture.
Hooroo
Regards, Trevor
Grafton

[journeyman Mick]

Whatever is causing this must be more than just condensation, after all copper is pretty robust when it comes to water otherwise they wouldn't use it for waterpipes now, would they? Maybe water from condensation activating some other compound like dog pee, bleach, faulty pvc or outlet materials.

Mick

[Dean]

I had my brother in law take a look at it... He is a builder, not a pro-sparky or anything but he has dealt with/seen enough electrical work to know what he is talking about. After closer inspection it seems a long time ago someone must have used some kind of wrapping/insulation tape at the very ends of some of the wires (for whatever reason - maybe cut the regular casing back too far?). It seems this tape may be the cause of the goo :D

The regular casing around the wires seems to be in fine condition. No house re-wiring recomended. I'll have the outlet replaced with a new one anyway.

Thanks for all the feedback and potential answers etc.

[seriph1]

glad you fixed it ..... I wouldve spent my time getting as far from it as possible, while doing all I could to contain the brown stuff that woulda been oozing down my leg!

:D:D:D:D

[Dan]

A bit of excavating at work has uncovered a report from the Office of the Energy Regulator(Qld) and an Electrical Industry Safety Bulletin, both produced in 1996. I've only scanned the first page of the report and the safety bulletin, they're the most interresting bits. The whole report is about 12 pages so if anyone wants it then send me an email. Still can't find any info on the web which I think is a bit strange. I hope the scans are readable.