Dishwasher - 13amp connection melted

[robertbullen]

I have recently moved house and inherited a Zanussi DW15 TCR dishwasher. The mains cable wasn't long enough so the previous owners have used a 13amp in-line connector. I opened this up and the neutral connection (brass I presume) had melted, it was totally burnt out.

I replaced the connector and ran the dishwasher on one cycle. I noticed the cable was getting warm during the heat cycles, not hot. Is this normal? It could be that being near the sink, the connection got wet. It could have been a faulty connector. No obvious signs of a short and the plug fuse hasn't blown.

Any ideas?

 

[tiredengineer]

Suspect a loose or bad connection on the neutral led to the connector melting.
As to the cable getting warm, is it the extension, the dishwasher original cable or both that get warm? and how warm?
When it's washing and heating it will draw a lot of current, in excess of 10 watts, so the cable may well get a little warm.
Best bet is to check out the insulation on the dishwasher with a megger or have it checked over by a professional.


Unplug your appliance before working on it.

 

[robertbullen]

Thanks for the reply. It is both cables getting just warm. They're by no means how but I've not felt a cable this hot before, not as I feel a lot of cables anyway. I've taken a picture of the connection, just to be sure. It's very big just so you can see the detail. http://www.pelsall.me.uk/burnt.jpg.

Many thanks.