Those of us not blessed with central air conditioning will be dusting off their AC units and installing them in their windows now that we’re entering true summer. If you’ve managed this feat without mangling a toe or a passerby on the street below, congrats, but there’s something else to consider before you cool off in the new breeze: depending on how you’ve set up the unit’s power cord, you might be at risk for setting your home ablaze. As Gothamist explains, air conditioners draw a lot of current, far more than a television or computer, more than the average extension cord than handle. (Not all extension cords are made equal; they come in different sizes, called gauges, which, along with the cord’s length, determine the amount of current they can safely carry.) No matter how distant your AC is from the outlet, resist the temptation to plug your AC to any old extension cord you have lying around, as it could overheat and start fires. In fact, the FDNY advises against using any sort of extension cord with a current-guzzling appliance like an AC, fridge, or space heater.

Poorly chosen or overloaded extension cords and overloaded power strips have been the source of fatal fires in cities like New York, and according to the U.S. Product Safety Commission can be blamed for household fires nationwide.So if your window is too far to plug in a window unit, you should opt for another cooling method, like a fan or a free-standing AC unit that you can maneuver closer to the outlet. Should the layout of your apartment deny you any other option, you could get a heavy-duty extension cord in accordance with the electricity rating listed right on your AC unit or on its instruction manual. If you’re overwhelmed, just bring that information to an electrician or expert at the hardware store who can guide you in selecting the right cord. (If you have other equipment to set up, you can also consult this Home Depot guide for cord selection.) Just get this whole issue out of the way now so you can savor a summer of chilly pillows, and avoid waking up to a fire. @oldturkey - True, the primary of the ac adapter could have a voltage mismatch, but I think it unlikely unless of course Ryan had moved to a country where the primary voltage is now 220Vac instead of the original 110Vac?

@Ryan - Please understand the notion of cause and effect in electronics. If the power supply fails (the effect) then it is because it is suffering from a too large a load (the cause).air conditioning unit ratings This excessive load could be caused by the famicom itself as perhaps a voltage regulator or something else has failed and is in effect behaving like a short between + and - of the supply input (this would also hold true if a pet chewing on the adapter output wires resulted in shorting the + and -). carrier ac unit not workingHence if you simply replace the AC adapter and try to plug the new one into your famicom, then this new adapter will also cook, crash and burn.best ac split unit It is important to understand that the load on the secondary of the transformer is "reflected" onto the primary, hence it is the primary that also overheats.

When a transformer overheats, the resin coatings on the copper wires that constitute the coils become brittle and in some cases just burn away, resulting in short circuits between adjacent windings. This in turn creates a shorter and shorter circuit, resulting in more and more reflected/non-reflected current flow, resulting in more and more heat being generated. or better put, thermal-runaway. But all this is just a bit of common sense being applied to speculative faultfinding. Pictures and some multimeter skills would be best.Severe burns: Elizabeth Soffe was lying in her cot beneath the air condition unit An air conditioning unit believed to be the cause of a fire that led to an Irish baby nearly being burned to death in a Qatar villa broke down 12 days previously.It has emerged that a complaint was made about the unit in a bedroom of the Doha villa where six-month-old Elizabeth Soffe's Dublin parents were living.In an email to the maintenance workers employed by the owners of the villa - Al Asmakh Real Estate - Elizabeth's mother Sinéad raised her concerns.

The unit was seen to by maintenance workers, but it is believed to have broken down again on the day of the fire. What role it played in the May 29 blaze that caused the toddler to suffer 60 per cent burns is currently being investigated.Last night, the company was unavailable for comment.But Mrs Soffe's email shows there were issues with the air conditioning unit, which was based over the cot where her daughter was sleeping when it caught fire.On May 17, her email read: 'The a/c unit in our master bedroom is leaking water. It needs to be fixed as a priority as our small baby sleeps there. Kind regards, Sinéad Soffe.'As a consequence of the complaint – which was one of many maintenance issues at the villa – a worker came out to fix the leak. But tragedy struck on May 29 and Elizabeth suffered horrific injuries in the fire at the villa where there had been a string of maintenance issues months and weeks previously.The Soffe couple, who moved to Qatar three years ago, had to travel to England with Elizabeth four days after the fire so she could receive medical treatment.

In last week's Irish Daily Mail her parents detailed the devastating moment when Mrs Soffe discovered her baby on fire, just moments after she had been laid down in her cot. Husband Liam, who works for Doha-based engineering firm Atkins, said his wife patted out flames on Elizabeth's head and chest after she heard the baby's screams.He told the Irish Daily Mail last night about the various maintenance issues they had in their home. Raised concern: Sinéad Soffe, Elizabeth's mother, had raised concerns about the air conditioning unit less than a fortnight before the fire broke outThere was another A/C unit (air conditioning unit) in another room and the on/off switch melted.'The compound replaced it. The same thing happened with the washing machine, the plug in the socket melted, they replaced that. We also had problems with the electric cooker, where even if you switched it off, it was wired wrong, so one of the rings stayed on.'He added: 'The only two things in the room were the A/C unit and the baby monitor.

Because Sinéad heard her crying on the baby monitor we knew it wasn't that.'Rod Stewart, managing director for Atkins in Qatar, said: 'We're a close-knit organisation in Doha and all our people are devastated by Elizabeth's injuries.'It's a tremendously difficult time for Liam, Sinéad and the family and we're doing what we can to support them, both as a company and a community.'Elizabeth, who is now being treated by specialists in Birmingham Children's Hospital, is going to have to stay in the UK for at least a year.Liam and Sinead – who lost everything in the blaze – have set up a charity to raise £100,000 to care for her and their other three children. website – has so far raised just over £33,500.The family have attracted just under 500 supporters of the fund, a link to which has so far been shared on Facebook 1,400 times.The family are also currently trying to have returned to them €8,400 in rental and deposit cheques which Al Asmakh Real Estate is currently holding on to.

Despite the May 29 tragedy, the company cashed the €2,800 June rent cheque four days later. The company, which is owned by one of the Qatar's wealthiest businessmen Ibrahim Al Asmakh, has since promised to return the money. Blaze: The fire took place at this villa, which the Soffe family rented in Doha, Qatar Following an approach by the Irish Daily Mail, Al Asmakh Real Estate apologised about the June rental cheque having been cashed and promised to make a contribution to the cost of Elizabeth's care.That offer of help has, however, yet to materialise despite a promise from the company's general manager, Fadi Barakeh.Although he said he was too busy to take questions last night, when spoken to previously he said: 'We are more than happy to do everything to help the family in any way we can.'There's been an unfortunate misunderstanding on the issue of rental cheques. We are determined to help the family and, in the company, this goes all the way to the president Ibrahim Al Asmakh who is following this very closely.

Like the rest of us, his sympathies are with the family and Elizabeth and he very much hopes for her safe recovery.'He added: 'We will also facilitate any discussion relating to the issue of insurance. Obviously at this stage, we are unable to pre-empt the outcome of any investigation into what caused this terrible fire.'But if we are liable in any way, then we will obviously not shirk any responsibilities we have. IT'S A MIRACLE ELIZABETH SURVIVED': WORDS OF FATHER WHO LOST A SON AND TWO DAUGHTERS IN 2012 QATAR FIREA father who lost his triplets in a fire in Doha two years ago said that he isn’t surprised to hear of Elizabeth Soffe’s appalling injuries.Martin Weekes said last night that medical care was disturbingly backward when his two-year-old daughter, Lillie, and sons Jackson and Willsher died at the Gympanzee day care centre in the Villaggio Shopping Mall on May 28, 2012.‘Given the appalling state of Qatar emergency care in May 28, 2012, when our three children died, Ithink it is a miracle Elizabeth survived,’ he told the Irish Daily Mail last night.