Why is my kettle sparking

Question

i just moved into a new apartment and i have a new kettle that plugs into the wall and heats the water until its boiled. its not one of those auto shut off ones. when the kettle boils i have to unplug it to turn it off but at the new apt. when i do it there's a blue spark coming from the outlet. i've tried it on a couple other outlets and some spark and some don't. so what is making it spark

Answer 1

Sounds like there is something wrong with those certain outlets.  This is definitely something to get checked out by an electrician...you don't want your house to catch on fire.

Answer 2

When an electrical circuit is opened, there is always the likelihood of a spark.    Think of all those little electrons rushing along the wire.  When you pull out the plug, they just keep going for a fraction of a second.  This is called "arcing" .  If the contacts inside the receptacle are a little worn or dirty, the likelihood increases.  Bring the situation to the attention of your landlord who may or may not choose to change out your receptacles.

While the small arc itself is not terribly dangerous, it will over time damage the plug on your kettle and, of course, should there happen to be some flammable gas present in your apartment, it could be ignited.

If it were me in your situation, I would install an "in line switch" on the cord of the kettle.  Then the arc would occur internally within the switch and it would not spark when you unplug it after turning the switch off.

To install such a switch, first check the information plate on the bottom of the kettle to see how many amperes it draws -- probably about 5. (I'm assuming you live in North America and your line voltage is 110 - 120)   If the information plate does not state amps or amperes, it will state Watts.  Divide the Watts (say 600) by 110 to obtain the number of amperes.  Now you're ready to go to the hardware store to buy your switch.  You need one that is rated for at least the number of amperes your kettle draws -- or more.  More is better.  Some switches may be rated for 240 volts & 15 amps.  This is good.

Bring your switch home.  Examine the plug on your kettle.  One of the prongs will be narrower than the other.  With your fingers, trace the wire that leads from that narrow prong back 12 inches or so from the plug and with a sharp knife, carefully cut only that wire.  Peel 3/4" of insulation from both cut ends and then twist the little strands to they won't fray too much.  Using a small blade screwdriver, open the switch.  You'll find two screws inside.  Loosen them.  Curl one of the bare wires around each s***w in the same direction as the s***w turns to tighten.  Tighten the screws onto the bare wire being as neat as you can.  Reassemble the switch.

Now you can turn your kettle off before unplugging it, eliminating the arcing problem.

Answer 3

It seems like when you pull the plug it is still drawing current thats why the spark is happening . since there is no off switch i would replace it with somrthing that has a switch so you can shut it off before unpluging. a blue spark is hot and could start a fire.