I plugged a contraption into an outlet and everything (lights/outlets) burned out in my room! what can i do?

Question

I made a contraption where a light dimmer was supposed to control the temperature of a soldering iron. I cut the the soldering iron's plug wire in two and then connected a light dimmer switch to it. When I plugged it into the wall everything went black!! and no outlets work in my room anymore.

Stupidly, I tried plugging it into the kitchen's outlet afterward....there was a big spark that melted part of the plug. Once again, the lights in the kitchen shut off and all the outlets don't work.

What happened and what can I do to fix it (besides calling an electrician)???????
Please help my parents are coming back home in a couple days:X

Answer 1

You've probably just tripped the circuit breakers. Find the house's electrical panel and take a look at the circuit breakers. You'll probably find that two of them are in the 'tripped' position (neither fully on nor off). Flip those breakers to the 'off' position and then to the 'on' position to reset them.



With a melted plug in the kitchen, you're going to get caught anyway so you might as well plan on confessing what you did when your parents get home. I wouldn't recommend trying to fix the plug yourself. You could easily make things worse.

Answer 2

The others have answered you correctly concerning the circuit breakers and the burned outlet. This answer concerns the contraption. You started with the wrong device. A light dimmer won't handle the current. You need an AC rheostat. That's a bigger device, capable of handling the current of a soldering iron. They are not expensive. You will have to re-connect the electrical plug on the soldering iron. That is best done by soldering, and so you need another soldering gun or simply replace the entire cord.



When you get the rheostat, you plug the iron into it. The AC rheostat comes with a cord or an embedded plug for plugging into the wall.



Mayan

Answer 3

You probably just tripped the circuit breaker switch. Go take a look at the circuit breaker, and see if any of the switches are in the down position instead of the up position - specifically, look for the switches that control your room and the kitchen.



Furthermore, I wouldn't 't go plugging this contraption in anywhere else. It sounds like a seriously dangerous contraption that could potentially electrocute you. Nothing is worth that.



Most likely though the differential which monitors current surges kicked in and tripped the switch on the circuit breaker.

Answer 4

Sounds like you put the 2 cut ends into the circuit wrong. Power goes into the dimmer and out to the contraption thru 1 wire of the split cord, the other wire is complete and goes to ground.

What happened? you blew the circuit breaker ,not the appliances and lights.

Unplug EVERYTHING you worked on and RESET the breaker, everything will be OK>

Answer 5

its wired wrong (the soldering iron) the outlets are just off find circuit breaker panel and look for the 2 switches that are flipped the opposite of the rest. flip them back. it the outlet that you fried wont wipe clean before you flip breaker back on replace it. $4 at hardware store. make sure you put wires in same places or the beaker will just trip again the second you flip it back on. on a side note go to harbor freight and get an adjustable soldering gun for cheap. got a nice one for $20

Answer 6

Nice work sparky, twice.