The plug was damaged and the two line shorted together.

Iron bad, receptacle good.

there was probably a short between line and neutral. try replacing the plug with a new hubbell plug.

If the iron is an older one, it's possible that the plug was damaged by use. Straining the cord at the plug (which can happen when the cord is wrapped around the iron for storage) may cause invisible damage that can lead to such an event.

OTOH, if the iron is a recent purchase, return it to the store.

This is not something to take lightly. Your home's fuse or breaker protected you from possible harm.

my mom's $300 rowenta iron did that where the cord went into the iron. replaced the cord and it works like new.
btw, what is it with people having iron problems?

Next time don't unplug the iron by pulling on the cord.

that was probably it. use a new hubbell plug.

I'd think that this happens because most irons are used very heavily, so the cord wears out quickly. I know this because the one iron that I had stopped working, but when I plugged it in and moved the cord around where it enters the iron it would turn on and off. But anything having to do with live electric lines that are expossed and touching is extremely dangerous, and could be fatal. Thank God for breakers!

forget the plug! replace the cord with 14/3 sjoow and a hubbell hbl5266c! do the ground to the ironing plate.

#1 Breakers don't protect people from shocks. We have resistance, lots of it.
#2 By the time you buy a hubbell cord cap, and some cabtire, you are probably halfway to a new iron(and not a cheap one either)
#3 Stop posting as two people

i am not posting as 2 people. he is my friend, that i told him to join so he can stop bugging me everytime he has a question.

Our chances of dieing of an electrical related shock are greatly reduced by the resistance of our bodies, this i know
& most definately must agree with because I got shocked once. I was simply saying that breakers can protect you from harm by interupting the flow of electricity to the recepticle.

"I was simply saying that breakers can protect you from harm by interupting the flow of electricity to the recepticle."

That can be true, but not if the harm is in the form of a shock. GFCIs may(but not always),while regular breakers(including AFCIs) do not protect you from shocks. That's not what breakers are for.

read the post. The cord " cord cap " blew out. not the entire cord to the iron. There is nothing wrong with the
iron cord. Don't unplug the iron or any thing by pulling on
the cord. Tabasco found out the hard way. My wife did the same thing on her hair dryer. BANG.

the rest of the cord could still have broken strands throughout. Replace it!

"I was simply saying that breakers can protect you from harm by interupting the flow of electricity to the recepticle."

The only function of breakers (and other over-current devices like fuses) is to protect the wires in the walls from overheating and causing fires.

A 15 amp breaker is not going to protect a human from harm.

It will not even approach tripping until the current is ~1500 times what it takes to kill you (about 10 mA through the heart).

It is the low voltage (only 120 V) and our high skin resistance (when dry), along with electrical insulation, & careful design to limit contact with live conductors that protects us.

A GFCI provides some additional protection since current entering a person is very unlikely to return on the neutral associated with the hot you are touching (but not impossible).
They trip at ~5-6 mA of 'missing' current (missing means not on the circuits hot and neutral).

he probably meant an afci, like what is in his house.

Afcis won't protect you from shock! Read the other posts.

"he probably meant an afci, like what is in his house."

AFCUs have a higher current GFCI function built in, IIRC ~10 mA.

The personnel protection will be a little worse than a GFCI, but cannot prevent shock, just reduce the chance of a long enough shock to hold the heart stopped.

The problem is that even with the fast reaction time of GFCI technology the hearts rhythm can be disrupted, and you WILL feel the shock (however briefly).

If you manage to get across the hot and neutral on GFCI protected circuit and do NOT leak ANT current to another ground, the GFCI will not even react.

GFCIs use a simple current transformer that passes both the hot and neutral through the core.

If the current does not match within ~6 mA (0.006 amps) the circuit is first shorted with a triac, and then opened.

For normal healthy people the odds are very good they will not have a problem with the quick shock they receive.

If only SquareD made cordsets for irons... :-)

just an FYI. they use 2000 volts on the electric chair and
cannot acceed 5 amps as the body will ROAST. That is why they put a rubber hood over the face because a normal electricution will blow the eyes out. It takes about 100
milliamps to kill if everything is right. Try getting a
15 amp breaker to trip on that.