Why do those cheap outlet extenders melt so fast?

I bought a 4-pack of those $6 outlet extenders for my basement workshop and after 3 weeks one of them literally started smoking when I plugged in a space heater. Has anyone else had these things fail on them?

3 comments

3 Comments

morgan.rose22d ago

Did you check the wattage rating on those things before plugging a space heater in? Most of those cheap ones are only rated for 1250W and space heaters usually pull 1500W, so that's not really the extender's fault.

rubyk2622d ago

Yeah, exactly. I've seen people melt those cheap extender cords just running a space heater for an hour. Always go with a heavy duty cord rated for 1500W or just plug straight into the wall.

hall.joel22d ago

Did you actually see the damage firsthand though? I helped a buddy swap out a melted outlet once and the whole wall plate was warped from the heat. He thought any old cord would work, but that thing got hot enough to scorch the carpet underneath. Real eye opener about how important a good cord is, especially if you're running it for hours overnight or something. Gotta check those ratings even on the thicker ones, some of them still fudge the numbers.