Changing a Worn Receptacle Yourself
You can almost never get an electrician to make way for such a job unless you know one and make him a cake or something. If you call your carpenter to do it, well, let’s admit it, a good carpenter does not want to nor have time to do electrical repairs, that’s how the world wound up with electricians in the first place. And, a decent handyman, well, what is the credentials of that? There is usually a reason a handyman is a handyman and not a licensed skilled tradesman. You have to ask, do you want that person in your house? And can he/she be trusted to do electric work in your home…where your kids live?
That leaves you. You have some basic tools, screwdrivers, pliers, knife and wire strippers, and you know how to turn off a breaker or remove a fuse. That should be enough to get you through a receptacle replacement.
Plug a radio into the receptacle that you wish to change and go to your fuse box or breaker box and unscrew fuses or flip breakers until you hear the radio go off. Take a flashlight with you in case your effort to find the right breaker or fuse leaves you in the dark and have it on in case you lose light while discovering which breaker or fuse you are concerned with. When you hear that radio go off, leave that fuse out or that breaker off.
Now, of course you bought that replacement receptacle weeks or even months ago -far too long to wait, by the way- so now all you have to do is find it. Once you do, then lay it beside the area you will be working along with the tools. Remove the cover plate by removing the center screw and if it does not come lose and tip freely into your hands pry it gently at each corner until it does. If that does not work, check to see if it is painted to the wall. If it is, cut that paint gently with the knife until it can be worked lose.
You will then find two screws, one at the top and one at the bottom that must be removed in order to remove the old receptacle from the box. Pull it carefully straight out towards you. Hopefully, it will pull out and towards you about 6 inches. At this point if you did not make certain the power was off at that stage you will learn the truth of this and you will either be pleased or indeed very unhappy. If you have a voltage proximity tester or a voltmeter, use it. If not, if the radio was truly not playing and went on and off with the flipping on and off of the breaker, or the in and out turning of the fuse you are probably OK. I would like to suggest you get and learn to use a voltmeter for such as this, but that is me.
You will notice screws on the side holding wires. Loosen them, back them out as far as you can, even allowing them to come out and fall if possible. Notice while you begin this the locations of those wires because they have to go back on in the same fashion to the new receptacle you are putting in this one’s place. Each screw can have up to one wire on/under it. If there is more than one wire beneath any one screw, the new one cannot go back in that way.
If the wires are stabbed into holes on the back of the receptacle, using your side cutters cut the wires off as close to where they penetrate the back of the receptacle as possible.
At this point you have to read the information regarding your new receptacle that came with that product. You must re-fasten the conductors to it as those informational instructions appoint. Failure to do so may void warranties and of course, when dealing with electricity, burn down your house.
If you have a replacement product that allows for simple “stab in” of the wires to the back of it and makes no provision for mechanical fastening of the supply conductors, do not use that method. Loosen the side screws and place the curled supply wires directly beneath the screws then tighten them down until the wires are securely fastened beneath the screws. The spring-loaded tension method of anchoring the supply conductors is no longer legal. They start fires and are extremely subject to heat break-down.
Receptacles are designed so that there is a built-in respect for polarity. If you look carefully at a receptacle, you will see that they have two straight slotted receivers and one round receiver. If you hold the device to face you, you will see that the straight slot on the right is the shorter one, the fasteners to the side of that slot always take the “hot” or ungrounded wires, often indicated by black or colored coating not green. The slot on the left is the longer of the two straight slots and the fasteners on that side always take the “neutral” or grounded wires, usually indicated by white insulation coating.
There is another screw on the back of the receptacle, which is most often green. It is the grounding or equipment ground terminal and is there for the bare copper or green insulated wire. It is directly connected through the design of the receptacle to that rounded receiver on the front of the receptacle. It provides a path for stray electricity such as static or arc faults to have a path back to the earth thru the grounding system your electrician designs into the wiring system of your home. It does a lot in the case of a problem to help you remain alive and avoid shocks, or “electro-pokes” as I like to call them.
Once you have followed your manufacturers instructions regarding your reconnection of the conductors to the receptacle you have selected as a replacement, you tuck your wires back into the box a little at a time working it slowly back into the box making sure not to cross any insulated wires over a bare ground wire. No terminals on your new receptacle can make contact with the bare grounding wires in the box. This will cause a short circuit when you trip the breaker back on or replace the fuse.
Using your screwdriver turn the two screws back into the holes in the box designed to hold your receptacle device in place. Turn each one a few turns and then the other alternating top to bottom until you have driven the screws back in to the point where the yolk of the receptacle (the part the screws go thru in the receptacle) is flush with the finished surface of the wall around the box. Make sure, as you do this that the receptacle goes back straight. You do not want it twisted and contorted all catty-wampus. It must be straight and parallel to the wall surface.
It is now time to inspect your work. Look in and around the sides of your new installation to be certain you do not have any wires all pinched up between the device and the box sides. Make certain all wires are back in behind the device. Be certain that the screws on the sides of your device are not in contact with anything except the very wires they themselves hold, you don’t want them against the sides of the box or to have them laying against plugs of plaster and other wall materials. They should be in free air.
Replace your cover plate, take your flashlight with you and screw your fuse back in or turn on your breaker. If you have a polarity test plug, use it and be certain you have the polarity correct. If you followed instructions though and you re-wired the conductors as they were on your old receptacle, you are probably OK to begin using your new receptacle.
