What was going on here then (strange goings on with a hob)

[ProDave]

Landlord calls, problem with the hob.

It's a basic electric hob, the sort with 4 hotplates each solid round things, I forget what that type is called but it's nothing fancy like an induction hob.

The tenenat says he was cooking something then it was "like star wars" a big blue arc like a plasma ball between two of the hot plates.

So I go and look. 

Fixed wiring okay, R1+R2 tests good, hob definitely connected okay and earth continuity okay. Insulation of fixed wiring good, insulation of hob not brilliant at 10M hms L-E

the only odd thing I can find is while there's good earth continuity to the metal surface of the hob, there's no earth continuity to the 4 individual hot plates. but since all 4 have no earth continuity I guess that's the way it's meant to be?

Anyway I tried it, ran it for about 10 minutes with all hobs on full, no strange blue flashes, and I can't detect any voltage on any of the hotplates when they are on.

Anyone come across anything like this before? or was the tenant smoking the wrong tobacco?

 

[Andy™]

the hotplates are generally earthed through the fixing bolt, which you probably removed to get inside it?

but no, never came across anything like that before

 

[poni]

ask them if it boiled over ,the water could have gotten between the rings  

 

[roys]

Must have been cooking that new Italian dish, plasma pasta.

Certainaly sounds unusual in a heavy drinking type night.

 

[Rob_the_rich]

Get a priest in pronto

 

[kerching]

If you cannot get a Priest at short notice

get a couple of Choir boys

that should speed things up a  bit  :innocent

 

[Lusk]

it was "like star wars" a big blue arc like a plasma ball between two of the hot plates.

Get a priest in pronto

More like Nikola Tesla, sounds like one of his energy transfer experiments :slap

 

[phil d]

More like Nikola Tesla, sounds like one of his energy transfer experiments :slap

reminds me of a day at Blackpool,we were in the tower and they had all kinds of amusements,optical illusions and that sort of thing,anyway they had 2 large plasma ball's and the idea was that you touch the ball with one hand and a flourescent tube with the other and the tube lit up.Well there were 2 teenagers who were a bit annoying and they were messing about so,I told them to each put one hand on a plasma ball and then to touch their other hands together,now that was certainly both educational and highly amusing.they both got a bit of a belt and yelped,I don't know which bit they'll remember most,not to do things like that again,or not to blindly follow what other people tell them.