Any elec gurus about.
The socket in my kitchen started smoking yesterday, on further inspection the insulation on the live wire was burning.

It is a double socket spur onto the ring main with 2.5 mm2 cable. The spur is max 1-2 metres long.

Im at a loss to explain this, could it be that the kettle is knackered and drawing too much poewr? The toaster is on the same socket , which in retrospect is a bit daft but at the time of the incident only the kettle was on.

I am aware of part P regs, so of course this is a [cough] existing installation!

Get a new kettle! Quickly!!

Spurs are not the best idea for heavy usage appliances.

duff connection causing arcing / high resistance?

I’d suspect a slightly loose connection in the socket.

Is it one of those no-cable kettles that drops onto the connection?

Loose connection or terminal screw clamping onto insulation rather than copper resulting in arcing.

If that does not solve the problem get someone in to run a Z_e test on that ring and spur.

cheers guys. I suspect it is the duff connection.

It is a wife-free kettle – would this have an impact?

wife-free kettle

It is awful when you have to make your own cuppa…

lol wwaswas – you know what i mean, besides Im not married!

lol wwaswas – you know what i mean (wire free – aka cable free)

yeah just sounds like the socket might have a slight short somewhere. I’d bung a new one on and see how it does