My Wall Caught On Fire!---A Classic *Mangia*

[Jay H 237]

One major problem with aluminum is it corrodes when in contact with copper. Outlets in most rooms in a house are on one circuit. The outlets are "daisy chained together" for lack of a better term. The problem is the wire has corroded at the outlet(s) since you said you have aluminum wiring and contacts on the outlets are copper or brass. There is a bad contact with the wiring at that other outlet. Running two computers definitely shouldn't cause heat and smoke. You have a MAJOR problem that needs to be fixed ASAP. The fact is the wiring and/or outlets are already damaged and continueing to use that circuit is like playing with matches. You have been lucky so far that it has cooled down and no actual fire has broke out yet. The other thing to make sure is if the correct amperage fuse or breaker is on that line.

[Aignam]

They're standard 20 Amps. Is there a way to fix this problem without calling up an electrician?

I was thinking of making a power map of my room and nearby rooms and seeing if any outlet in my room was on a different breaker or perhaps running an extension cord to an outlet on another breaker, assuming that distance isn't terribly far.

Can a 20 amp breaker handle 2 PC's, 2 Monitors, an Alarm Clock, a Cable Box, a stereo, any combination of a PS2/Gamecube/X-Box/DVD Player/VCR with a 36" TV, and two chargers for portable devices at once? Or is that a bit much?

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by Aignam

They're standard 20 Amps. Is there a way to fix this problem without calling up an electrician?

Unless someone in your family is comfortable doing electrical work I don't see any other answer. I would say atleast that one room will need to be rewired. The problem is even if the outlets are replaced you don't know the condition of the wiring in the walls. You mentioned it got hot enough to create heat and smoke which means you don't know if any of the insulation has burned off or melted on the wiring concealed with in the walls, floor, or cieling. Even looking at the outside of the wire won't be good enough. You have to worry about the insulation inside seperating the conductors. Putting new outlets on possibly damaged wiring isn't a good or safe fix. Atleast have an electrician inspect the outlets and what wiring is visible. They should be able to make a better call on it seeing it first hand.
Spending a few hundred for an electrician is cheaper and better than spending thousands rebuilding a house (insurance doesn't cover everything) and possible loss of life.

Jason

[Jay H 237]

Originally Posted by Aignam

I was thinking of making a power map of my room and nearby rooms and seeing if any outlet in my room was on a different breaker or perhaps running an extension cord to an outlet on another breaker, assuming that distance isn't terribly far.

Unfortunately this doesn't fix the underlying problem. Simple fact is since there's been heat and smoke chances are good that something has suffered damage.

Originally Posted by Aignam

Can a 20 amp breaker handle 2 PC's, 2 Monitors, an Alarm Clock, a Cable Box, a stereo, any combination of a PS2/Gamecube/X-Box/DVD Player/VCR with a 36" TV, and two chargers for portable devices at once? Or is that a bit much?

Look at the back of the individual devices and they should mention how much amperage they draw. If all those devices are on the same line add them up.