Emergency Appliance Repair

A typical appliance repair emergency could be a leak or smoke or even a fire coming from the home appliance.

If an appliance emergency happens in your house, unplug the appliance right away and call Solis Appliance Repair for local appliance repair in Orlando. If there’s an electrical fire from one of the large or small appliances in your house, we suggest calling the city fire department even before you try to extinguish the fire on your own.

An electrical fire from an appliance is very scary and very dangerous, but there are a few steps to be prepared in the event of an emergency. If one of your appliances is in flames, it’s important not to panic. Follow these simple guidelines below to help keep your home safe from electrical appliance fires.

PREVENTING ELECTRICAL FIRES

Homeowners are able to stop electrical fires from ever starting by following a couple of simple guidelines for appliance safety in a home. Be sure not to plug too many devices into one outlet—the wiring might get overloaded and then spark a fire, especially when there’s clutter like paper or clothes near the electrical outlet.

It can be easy to forget about the dangers of large home appliances because they stay plugged in all of the time, but they can present as much chance for a fire hazard as small electrical appliances like toasters and heaters. Larger appliances like a washing machine or dishwasher shouldn’t be left to run overnight or any time you are away from home, and don’t place a freezer or refrigerator in line of direct sunlight, to prevent overworking their cooling systems.

Inspect all outlets regularly for extreme heat, burns, and buzzing or crackling noises that might indicate electrical arcing. Make sure you keep at least one smoke detector on every floor of your house, and test the smoke detectors quarterly to keep them in good working order.

WHAT TO NOT DO

If there’s an appliance repair emergency involving an electrical fire, it could be tempting to put out the flames with water, but water shouldn’t be used to fight an electrical appliance fire.

Water can conduct electricity, and throwing water on or near a power source might cause a harmful electrical shock. It might even make the fire stronger. Water might conduct electricity to additional locations of the room, running the chance of igniting more flammable items in the area.

HOW TO EXTINGUISH AN ELECTRICAL FIRE

The immediate step you need to do is unplug the device from the power source and call the fire department. Even if you think you are able to take care of the fire on your own, it’s a good idea to have backup if the flames do get out of control.

For small fires, you could be able to use baking soda to extinguish the flames. Covering the smoldering or burning spot with some baking soda will sometimes prevent oxygen flow to the flames with minimal risk of electrocution. Baking soda also includes sodium bicarbonate, which is the chemical used in standard fire extinguishers. You could be able to extinguish a small fire using a heavy blanket as well, but only if the flames are small enough not to catch the heavy blanket on fire as well.

For large electrical appliance fires, use a Type C fire extinguisher. You should be sure you have at least one Type C or multi-use extinguisher in your home. Extinguishers should also be inspected regularly to be sure they have not expired. If there’s a working extinguisher on hand, pull the pin near the top, aim the nozzle at the flames, and squeeze the handle. If the flames get too dangerous to put out by yourself or you are concerned the fire might block an exit, you should leave the home right away, shut the door behind you, and wait for assistance from the local fire department.

For the smaller appliance fires, call Solis Appliance Repair once the fire is extinguished and we can diagnose the reason for the fire and repair the appliance and restore it to working order.

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