Intermittently-working Hair Dryer

[seanppp]

I'm really scratching my head. My wife's hair dryer has been working intermittently. Very frustrating. At first I thought maybe the main cord was loose somewhere, but it shows continuity in both wires with all sorts of contortions. I then expected maybe the bimetallic strip was open, but not so. At one point I plugged it in and it worked, then out of curiosity I flipped the plug 180 degrees (switching the hot and neutral), and it did not work. I kept flipping back and forth and it would only work with one particular orientation. I thought maybe that meant something was up with the heater rectifier? But after that I tried it again 10 minutes later and it is again not working in either orientation.

I am really stumped.

 

[telectrix]

buy her a towel.

 

[SparkyChick]

Have you tried it in other power outlets?

If not, I would... could be the receptacle (is that the American term for a socket outlet) could be bad.

 

[seanppp]

Have you tried it in other power outlets?

If not, I would... could be the receptacle (is that the American term for a socket outlet) could be bad.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've tried just about every receptacle in the house.

I should say, also, that now it is again working, but only with one orientation. Can some AC appliances be wired such where there is a "polarity" produced? Why would it work only one way???

 

[SparkyChick]

If you've tried it in other receptacles and the same thing occurs, then I would suspect a broken/damaged plug or a break in one of the conductors in the cable.

I got called out by an elderly lady once who believed she had an electrical fault because her vacuum cleaner would only work in certain sockets. On testing I observed the same behaviour and replaced an ageing unswitched socket outlet. The problem didn't go away so I investigated the cable in more detail than I did originally and observed that certain orientations of the cable resulted in the loss of power. The solution was to chop off the moulded plug and fit a new one.

By rotating the plug through 180 degrees you are moving the cable/conductor within the cable and sometimes you're hitting a point where it makes good contact and works.

That would be my assessment and I would go down the line of trying to manipulate the cable near the plug. Or sections that might appear 'lumpy' or at the other end of the cable. But take care, if it's not a great connection, it could get hot and melt the cable insulation.

 

[MDJ]

I'm really scratching my head. My wife's hair dryer has been working intermittently. Very frustrating. At first I thought maybe the main cord was loose somewhere, but it shows continuity in both wires with all sorts of contortions. I then expected maybe the bimetallic strip was open, but not so. At one point I plugged it in and it worked, then out of curiosity I flipped the plug 180 degrees (switching the hot and neutral), and it did not work. I kept flipping back and forth and it would only work with one particular orientation. I thought maybe that meant something was up with the heater rectifier? But after that I tried it again 10 minutes later and it is again not working in either orientation.

I am really stumped.

Bin it and buy another lol

 

[Jay89]

I had a callout where a customer had an intermittent fault and eventually received a shock to her stomach from her hair dryer. It turned out to be a slight break in the cable where it exits the hair dryer.. obviously had happened over time with constant bending one way then another.

 

[elsparko]

the inner workings of a hairdryer will be lost on those with the chrome tops , pop it in the bin or give it to charity

 

[elsparko]

i would grab it by the plug and swing the hair dryer as hard as i could into the ground, if that doesnt fix it i dont know what will.

 

[Wilko]

My 20p worth is on the appliance cable/plug as per @SparkyChick. It would be a labour of love to fix it .

 

[Pete999]

If you've tried it in other receptacles and the same thing occurs, then I would suspect a broken/damaged plug or a break in one of the conductors in the cable.

I got called out by an elderly lady once who believed she had an electrical fault because her vacuum cleaner would only work in certain sockets. On testing I observed the same behaviour and replaced an ageing unswitched socket outlet. The problem didn't go away so I investigated the cable in more detail than I did originally and observed that certain orientations of the cable resulted in the loss of power. The solution was to chop off the moulded plug and fit a new one.

By rotating the plug through 180 degrees you are moving the cable/conductor within the cable and sometimes you're hitting a point where it makes good contact and works.

That would be my assessment and I would go down the line of trying to manipulate the cable near the plug. Or sections that might appear 'lumpy' or at the other end of the cable. But take care, if it's not a great connection, it could get hot and melt the cable insulation.

Sockets SC sockets don't you start getting all American on us, can you imagine someone posting, "my GFCI keeps tripping"

 

[telectrix]

pete. you need to get up to date with americanisms.

GFCI........ Gross Feeding Causes Indigestion.

 

[grantr37]

the inner workings of a hairdryer will be lost on those with the chrome tops , pop it in the bin or give it to charity

Charities won't take electrical appliances a lot of the time now due to new laws that came out in the USA and the UK at pretty much the same time making it your liability if you sell or gift to a charity or stranger and something goes wrong, if there is a fire or a hospital visit you can get sued and lose (badly)

The element in hairdryers is ac unless it is a new one with a microchip in it that has fancy features and costs lots of money with fully variable fan speed and ceramic element and the likes, anything under £200 won't have this

 

[telectrix]

Charities won't take electrical appliances a lot of the time now due to new laws that came out in the USA and the UK at pretty much the same time making it your liability if you sell or gift to a charity or stranger and something goes wrong, if there is a fire or a hospital visit you can get sued and lose (badly)

The element in hairdryers is ac unless it is a new one with a microchip in it that has fancy features and costs lots of money with fully variable fan speed and ceramic element and the likes, anything under £200 won't have this

sounds like an ad for that rip-off merchant dyson.

 

[elsparko]

Charities won't take electrical appliances a lot of the time now due to new laws that came out in the USA and the UK at pretty much the same time making it your liability if you sell or gift to a charity or stranger and something goes wrong, if there is a fire or a hospital visit you can get sued and lose (badly)

The element in hairdryers is ac unless it is a new one with a microchip in it that has fancy features and costs lots of money with fully variable fan speed and ceramic element and the likes, anything under £200 won't have this

post #9 contains the solution, if its really broken then you cant fix it.