bathroom vanity has an empty socket which lit up with sparks/smoke - could this be dangerous?

Question

the bathroom vanity has a light bulb which blew out. never got around to replacing it. turned the light on the other day and sparks rained down from the empty socket. I could smell smoke and there are actually 2 burn marks on the light fixture. what happened? how deep is the damage? i'm worried about an electrical fire now. strange thing is, the circuit breaker never turned the power off to this current. what gives?

I have an electrician coming on Saturday (today is Thursday). I'm posting my ques in hopes that someone with electrical experience can tell me what might be wrong and if we're in immediate danger. I told the electrician I needed someone to come ASAP.

Answer 1

Better leave that switch off. You can't do anything else safely until the electrician gets there. He can identify the problem and recommend a fix. (Sounds like you will be replacing the socket).
If the socket was truly empty (not with a broken bulb base still in it) the replacement part isn't expensive, it's the time required to remove the old and install the new. The short probably happened too quick for the breaker to trip.
Good luck and don't try it yourself, I got plenty of surprises in my 13 years as an electrician (including the funniest one of all - A fried mouse skeleton in a breaker panel with one paw on the breaker and the other on the ground bar).

Answer 2

Sounds like a spider or other insect took up residence in the empty socket, or as a co-incidence a wire came loose inside the fixture. The breaker may not have blown because the short burned off before the breaker had a chance to trip.

If you can't figure out what happened, then it may be a good idea to replace the fixture or even just the socket in the fixture. Home Depot, & other hardware stores sell replacement sockets for electrical fixtures. Turn off the light switch and/or circuit breaker.
remove the light fixture from the wall or ceiling. Use some masking tape to mark & label which wires are connected to the ones in the electrical box. Disconnect the fixture & take it or the socket to the store to find a match.

In the future it might be a good idea to leave the blown bulb in the socket until you have a replacement for it. The open socket is live with the wall switch turned on, & if something falls into the open socket it may create a short & you know the rest.

Hope that helps.

Answer 3

Turn the power off to that source nad remove bulb and inspect area for possible burn damage and replace bulb,

Answer 4

THIS IS JUST A SUGGESTION, BUT THE VENT PIPE GOES UP THAT WALL OF THE VANITY AND THE ROOF JACK MAY BE BAD. IF WATER IS LEAKING IN IT COULD BE CAUSEING THE ELECTRIC SHORT. IF U CAN GET INTO THE ATTIC OR ON THE ROOF CHECK IT OUT. ANOTHER POSSIBILITY IS THE SWITCH IS BAD AND IT CROSSED WIRED IT SELF AND CAUSE THE SHORT IN THE OUTLET.

Answer 5

You appear to understand little enough of the situation that you should call an electrician at once! We don't wan't you to hurt yourself, and we don't want your house to catch fire while you are sleeping, either, do we now?!!!

Answer 6

That 20 ft. intense yellow and red monster with 3 heads and 7 eyes (and all of them on one head) hiding in the back of the bathe curtain. No heavily. i comprehend it truly is there. have not entered my bathing room when you consider that weeks using monster. (Slowly yet easily i visit't carry it anymore)

Answer 7

Too much there to answer. Call an electrician!!