“How to tell if a power strip is burned out?”
@Coloma You describe the following symptoms:
1. All 6 outlets shut off at once.
2. The strip was “very hot” all the way back to its plug.
3. The power light doesn’t come on.
4. The switch is frozen.
5. It does not reset. [per later post]
You should photograph it and make it the poster child for burned out power strips.
@SpatzieLover: If it’s not safe to use inside a house then I wouldn’t consider it safe to use outdoors, either—still a fire risk. But I totally agree that the space heater is the culprit.
Power strips are usually rated at 15A so space heaters, typically 1500W like hair driers, use up most of that allowance. It’s the equivalent of powering 10 or 12 televisions at once. The best strategy is to connect heating devices directly to the wall outlet & use power strips only for convenience in powering a group of low-wattage devices like a computer system. If the cord doesn’t reach use a dedicated extension cord of maximum thickness and minimum length, or use a power strip with nothing else plugged into it.
A power strip has an electrical resistance R that’s small but not zero, so there’s resistive heating inside its wiring. The formula is I^2R (I-squared R) where I is current, which shows that at a fixed resistance heating is proportional to the square of the current. Triple the strip’s load, heating increases by a factor of 9. Respect any device whose purpose is to heat.
@Coloma I’d worry a little about the wall outlet and in-wall wiring, particularly since everything got so hot. Hopefully the power strip sacrificed itself to protect the house wiring – that’s the code, lol. I suggest plugging the heater into the wall as a test, even if the cord doesn’t normally reach. Run it for a while & check to see if the outlet is more than just a little warm. If so, call an electrician.