Some ‘do it yourself’ tips involving electrical receptacles

Last month we had a little discussion about new regulations involving Electrical Contractors, so this month I thought I’d continue with the electrical subject by giving you a few tips on things you should know about the electrical receptacles in your home and a few things you can do yourself to check their condition. I think most all of us take the electrical power available to us in our homes pretty much for granted and just flip light switches on and off as well as turn appliances on with out so much as a thought other than the absolute expectation that whatever it was we switched on had better operate. Unfortunately, the ease and reliability of our use of electricity in our homes actually lulls us into a false sense of security that can expose our family members and us to the possibility of a nasty electrical shock or worse. So, let’s ‘dive right in’ and see what we can do to make sure that at least some basic electrical items are safe.

First, to make your electrical safety check project a little easier and give you some decent information to work with, I’d like to suggest that you visit your local hardware or home improvement store and purchase a 3-prong socket tester. These inexpensive little testers have three lights on them that provide you with information as to the condition and/or manner in which the electrical receptacle was wired. The testers do come with instructions on how to interrupt what the tester lights are trying to ‘tell’ you. The last time I checked I believe that the testers were under $10.00. Starting at one end or the other of your home, begin by removing the wall electrical receptacle cover plate, which usually are plastic with one small slot head machine screw in the center that secures the cover to the receptacle. All of the electrical receptacles and wall switches should have cover plates installed that are not broken or have openings in them that could allow access to the energized wires and terminals in the wall box. After removing the outlet cover plate, inspect the outlet receptacle for any kind of damage (cracks, missing chunks of the plastic housing, charring or a broken off prong in one of the receptacle openings, which usually will be the round ground prong). If the receptacle is damaged it’s time to call an Electrician.

Next, take your tester and plug it into the receptacle outlet and wiggle the tester to see if the outlet or the electrical wall box itself is loose. If either is loose, you have the decision to make whether you feel confident enough to secure the outlet or the box safely and properly, or whether you’d be better off having an Electrician perform the job. If you decide that you can handle the job, make sure you de-energize the circuit that the receptacle is on by switching the appropriate circuit breaker in the main electrical panel to the off position, and then testing the receptacle with your tester or a lamp to make certain the circuit really is dead. If everything has checked out OK with the receptacle up to this point, the next thing to do is plug your tester into the outlet and read the indicator lights on the tester. For most testers, the lights mean the following:
· Two green lights means the outlet functions properly
· A single green light means the outlet has power, but is not grounded. In
essence, it is a 2-prong outlet, which is safe only for two prong plugs. If you
want to use a 3-prong appliance, you need to have the receptacle repaired.
· An amber or red light indicates a serious fault that should be corrected. Don’t
use the outlet until it is repaired.
· If none of the lights on your tester light up, it means you have no power at the
receptacle or the receptacle itself has a problem. Check the circuit breaker or
fuse in the main panel, and if they are OK and on, then the problem is with the
outlet and you need to get it repaired.

Never use a 2-prong adapter on the cord of a 3-prong appliance or power tool to utilize a 2-prong receptacle as you will be defeating the grounding safety features of the appliance or tool and subjecting yourself to a possible electrical shock hazard. Always avoid the use of electrical extension cords for ‘permanent’ installed appliances as they have been determined to be one of the main causes of fires in the home. And, as we are talking extension cords, when using an extension cord to power a tool, make sure the extension cord is sized right (the proper gage wire) for the length of the cord and amps of electricity that the tool will draw. Avoid use of multi-outlet strips or plug-in cubes that can over load the single receptacle outlet and circuit that they are plugged into because of the possibility of numerous appliances running simultaneously and drawing too much power. If there are toddlers in the home, installation of those small flat plastic caps into the base of wall receptacles will prevent the curious child from inserting something metal into the outlet prong opening and getting electrically shocked. And finally, make sure that all the receptacles that are with-in 6’ of a sink, all those in the garage, and all those around the exterior of the house or in a damp/wet area are the special GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) type receptacles, or are wired into a GFCI protected circuit. The GFCI is designed to immediately turn the power off at the receptacle if the unit senses a possible power surge going to a ground, which will protect you from an electrical shock or worse. I hope this information will help you make sure that your home is a safe one.