Human life today is highly dependent on one thing, i.e. electricity. For what was considered to be a luxury once is now a necessity of every living person. If electricity hadn’t been invented, we wouldn’t have been able to live with such advancements in technology and an improved lifestyle. While we are completely dependent on it, we still need to beware of what it could do if not controlled and used properly. This particular blog is about short circuits and how it happens and what are the ways to prevent short circuits.
What Is A Short Circuit?
Let’s begin with understanding a very basic question: what is a short circuit? As the term itself suggests, a short circuit occurs when the electrical flow completes its circuit using a shorter path than the one already present. The result of a short circuit can be a number of things including damage to the appliance, electrical shock or fire in some cases.
Types Of Short Circuits
There are basically two types of short circuits:
Normal Short Circuits
When a hot wire supplying current comes in contact with a neutral wire, the resistance decreases and a huge amount of current starts flowing through an unpredicted pathway.
Ground Fault Short Circuits
This occurs when a hot wire supplying current comes in contact with the ground base. The ground base could be anything like for example a metal box, base of a machine or bare ground wire.
Causes Of Short Circuit
There are a few reasons which mainly cause short circuits and if not dealt timely and properly, it may lead to electric shocks and fire as well. Main causes of short circuits are as follows:
Loose connections
Due to the negligence while repairing of connections installed, the wires often loosen their grips resulting in a chance of being short. The circuit, to complete the proper flow of current, requires strong connectors at the end of the wire but if it loses even a small bit it might be exposed to other wires. The electricity will be able to pass to other wires or can come in contact with the ground base of the circuit causing the short circuit.
Old and outdated wiring
The insulation on a bare wire plays a vital role in smooth and riskless flow of current. Over the period of time these wires or connections require repair might result in the efficiency of wire due to wear and tear.
The modern wires are made of copper which has less resistance as compared to ones used previously which were made up of aluminum. The resistance of a wire is important because at times due to excessive usability the wires overheat and wear more quickly resulting in higher chances of electrical fire. In the houses that were built in the 1970s, aluminum wires were frequently used and if that’s the case and you know for sure that wiring is still the same, you might need to upgrade it to copper. The modern-day copper wires are designed to support the consumption of modern-day homes but it also has an age limit after which the wiring must be replaced.
Faulty Insulation
The wire comes with an insulation around it which is basically a electrocution prevention measure. A flawless insulation can not only save the trouble of short circuit bit it is also one of the ways to prevent electrical hazard such electrocution.
The damage to insulation can be caused by a number of things including; age of the insulation, usability of wire (higher the usage, lesser will be its life) and most importantly pests and rats that might chew off the insulation. One must keep a regular check on crawl spaces or spaces not easily reachable and has wire connections.
Another factor that, if being negligent, can hurt the wires behind walls is placement of nails, screws or making holes using drills.
Faulty Appliance
It is highly unlikely that one gets a faulty appliance even though it’s recently bought but chances are still there. But for the electrical appliances that have been there for a while in our kitchens or may be living rooms have a considerably higher chance of being faulty. One of the short circuit examples can be the issue in wire or plug of juicer blender.
Mostly what happens is that in Asian countries, appliances are not just used by one single person and usability of these items vary from person to person. The fault is not always with the plug or wire of an appliance but it could also be in the internal wiring or machine itself.
Overloaded Adapters
Mostly in older houses where there are not enough sockets considering the modern-day utilization and need of appliances, adapters are used to fill that void. If the use is minimal and the load on the adapter is optimal it will work fine, but overloading the adapter with appliances that consume more electricity can be dangerous. This load may result in overheating of the adapter and result in short circuit and melting of the adapter.
Ways To Prevent Short Circuit
Talking about the ways to prevent short circuits at homes and offices, there are a number of things that can be taken as preventive measures.
Unplugging Appliances
There are a number of appliances that don’t consume a lot of electricity even when they aren’t in use, e.g. a microwave oven, TV, and an AC. Switching them off from the power source is advisable so that these electronics don’t consume even minimal electricity and burden the electrical circuits.
Carefully Unplugging From Outlets
Due to carelessness of the users mostly what happens is that plugs and power cords are pulled out ineffectively causing the power cords and plugs to loosen. As discussed above, this starts damaging the wire resulting in short circuit due to contact of hot wire with the neutral wire. One must hold the plug and carefully remove it so that neither the outlet nor the wire is damaged.
Fix Damaged Wires And Appliances
Make sure that none of the wires are damaged and need repair. One of the many reasons is that kids in the houses might touch the wire particularly from the area that needs repairs. Keep a close check on appliances as well to avoid any inconvenience later.
Another thing that owners as well as housekeepers must know and follow is that don’t put any wire under the rugs or carpets because there is a high chance that it could heat up and catch fire.
Yearly Electrical Inspection
Even if you have a new house, make it a habit to have a professional check in order to stay safe. This would help you identify any fixes or wires that would require your attention soon. The professional might also find things that you don’t even know could be there e.g. damages done by pests and rats.
Appliance Service
Among other tips to prevent short circuits, an important one is to get your major appliances services at least once a year. These appliances include AC, refrigerator, deep freezers among others.
Fuse Box And Circuit Breakers
Almost every home these days has a fuse box or a circuit breaker installed which prevent the short circuit from happening by preventing excessive current from flowing.
How does a fuse box work: A fuse box has a metal chip through which current is flowing and if too much electricity starts flowing through it, the metal melts and breaks the circuit. These were mostly used in the homes built in late 1900.
How does a circuit breaker work: Circuit breaker is basically a box that flips the switch if there is too much current flowing through the circuit. It can then be manually overridden. All the new houses built have one of these and is also known as a main switch.
One should be very much careful if there is a live bare wire or a short circuit. Always call a professional who can take a look at the desired circuit and fix it with proper tools. Read more about some common electrical problems or home fire safety precautions. To get regular updates on our blogs, you can subscribe to our newsletter. Keep following Zameen Blog, the country’s leading property and lifestyle blog.
