Socket sparks - what you should do in any case

Occasionally it happens that the socket sparks as soon as you insert a plug. This sparking is caused by the voltage compensation on the power supply. In this tip, you will learn how the sparking occurs and at what point you should start worrying.

What causes the sparks in the socket?

If your socket produces sparks as soon as you put a plug in it, this is nothing to worry about. The sparks are normal and are produced by compensating for a voltage difference.

1. Electric current is produced in power plants. Here, alternating current is produced, which is transformed to a higher voltage via substations in order to transport the current over a long distance.
2. The voltage is then reduced again in substations so that the electricity can be used by the end consumer. The final voltage is 240 volts. Old light bulbs use the voltage unchanged. Modern devices, however, adjust the voltage according to consumption. A laptop, for example, uses about 40 volts.
3. The power supply is there to filter the device's spurious vibrations from the current. This is done via a capacitor, which is located in the power supply.
4. If you now connect the power supply to the socket, the first thing that charges the capacitor. Durch die geringe Spannung im Kondensator und die hohe Spannung in der Steckdose kommt es zu einem Ladungsausgleich, den Sie als Blitz wahrnehmen. Die Not, sich einen Ladungsausgleich zu verschaffen, wird stärker als der Widerstand der Luft, die sich zwischen dem Stecker und der Steckdose befindet.