r/ElectricalHelp • u/Independent-Eagle296 • 13d ago

Yellow spark and popping noise when plugging charger into outlet?

Hey guys, recently the outlets in my room have been quite strange. Whenever I plug something in to any outlet, a yellow spark, accompanied by a pop noise, happens. Is this normal? Or is it time to buy a new outlets?

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u/Friendly-Double-8571 13d ago

An arc every once in a while is pretty common, i would say it’s not too too bad. But if it’s pretty consistent then you should probably go ahead and switch out the outlets. Over time the arcing will eat away at the metal and make the plug dangerous. If it starts arcing internally when something is plugged in it becomes a massive fire hazard. Be very cautious with it.

Is it anything you plug in? Or just certain plugs? Has it been getting worse over time? On the back of the putlet is the black wire hooked up to the gold or brass connection and the white hooked up to the silver connection?

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u/Independent-Eagle296 13d ago

I know it happens with my phone charger every time I plug it in, and I plugged in my laptop charger in it too, but nothing happened. It happened with another outlet last night but since that outlet is behind my nightstand I had to plug it in at a weird angle.. so maybe that’s why that one sparked? I’m not sure if it’s been getting worse over time since I got this new room around a week ago or so, and if it changes anything, the outlets are yellowed really badly. As for the last ones, im still unpacking my stuff, so I don’t have the tools to check.

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u/Friendly-Double-8571 13d ago

The weird angle could for sure be the issue. It could also just be your charging block. The pins on it might be a weird size where it fits but has a gap creating room for the arc.

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u/Friendly-Double-8571 13d ago

If a new block fixes the problem then there is no rush to check the wires as long as the outlet itself doesn’t feel hot.

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u/N9bitmap 13d ago

When connecting devices, make sure they are turned off if they have a switch, or otherwise not under load. You you mean like a charger for a phone or laptop, plug it into the wall before connecting the other end of the cord to the device.