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Replacing electrical wall outlets... chicagofan 10-09-2007
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Posted by chicagofan on October 9, 2007, 5:45 pm
My house is 20 yrs. old, and I'm tired of leaving parts of these 3
pronged cable plugs in my outlets, because I can't remove them without
so much force. Living in the SE I have to unplug my computers, and
video stuff *frequently*, and just today destroyed another $50 surge
protector pulling it out of the wall.

Can anyone tell me what it would cost *roughly* to replace each box or
whatever is required? Or even if that is going to help, and make these
small appliances and data cables any easier to unplug? [That is, hiring
a professional electrician to do it.] TIA as always...

Barbara

Posted by Malto on October 9, 2007, 6:01 pm
snug fitting electrical receptacles are actually a good thing and you
will find commercial grade receptacles of higher quality are generally
"snugger" fitting. They will break in over time though.
If the outlets look new and the only problem is the retention force,
i'd keep them as is.

If you are powering off your equipment due to thunderstorm activity,
consider hiring an electrician to install a lightning arrestor at your
electrical panel. this will shunt a lightning strike to earth ground,
protecting your household wiring. This combined with power strips of
sufficient joule rating should help protect your sensitive electronic
equipmetn from all but the worst direct lightning strikes.

hope this helps.

chicagofan wrote:
> My house is 20 yrs. old, and I'm tired of leaving parts of these 3
> pronged cable plugs in my outlets, because I can't remove them without
> so much force. Living in the SE I have to unplug my computers, and
> video stuff *frequently*, and just today destroyed another $50 surge
> protector pulling it out of the wall.
>
> Can anyone tell me what it would cost *roughly* to replace each box or
> whatever is required? Or even if that is going to help, and make these
> small appliances and data cables any easier to unplug? [That is, hiring
> a professional electrician to do it.] TIA as always...
>
> Barbara


Posted by Jeff Wisnia on October 9, 2007, 6:10 pm
chicagofan wrote:

> My house is 20 yrs. old, and I'm tired of leaving parts of these 3
> pronged cable plugs in my outlets, because I can't remove them without
> so much force. Living in the SE I have to unplug my computers, and
> video stuff *frequently*, and just today destroyed another $50 surge
> protector pulling it out of the wall.
>
> Can anyone tell me what it would cost *roughly* to replace each box or
> whatever is required? Or even if that is going to help, and make these
> small appliances and data cables any easier to unplug? [That is, hiring
> a professional electrician to do it.] TIA as always...
>
> Barbara


You might try putting a little smear of "dielectric grease" on the
prongs of those plugs so that it lubricates the inside of the female
recepticals.

You can get that kind of grease at auto supply stores.

HTH,

Jeff

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.


Posted by RBM on October 9, 2007, 6:30 pm

> chicagofan wrote:
>
>> My house is 20 yrs. old, and I'm tired of leaving parts of these 3
>> pronged cable plugs in my outlets, because I can't remove them without so
>> much force. Living in the SE I have to unplug my computers, and video
>> stuff *frequently*, and just today destroyed another $50 surge protector
>> pulling it out of the wall.
>>
>> Can anyone tell me what it would cost *roughly* to replace each box or
>> whatever is required? Or even if that is going to help, and make these
>> small appliances and data cables any easier to unplug? [That is, hiring a
>> professional electrician to do it.] TIA as always...
>>
>> Barbara
>
>
> You might try putting a little smear of "dielectric grease" on the prongs
> of those plugs so that it lubricates the inside of the female recepticals.
>
> You can get that kind of grease at auto supply stores.
>
I'd recommend getting it from an electrical supply, or you may wind up with
wheel bearing grease


> HTH,
>
> Jeff
>
> --
> Jeffry Wisnia
> (W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
> The speed of light is 1.8*10^12 furlongs per fortnight.
>



Posted by Doug Miller on October 9, 2007, 8:25 pm
this)@optonline.net> wrote:
>

>> You might try putting a little smear of "dielectric grease" on the prongs
>> of those plugs so that it lubricates the inside of the female recepticals.
>>
>> You can get that kind of grease at auto supply stores.
>>
>I'd recommend getting it from an electrical supply, or you may wind up with
>wheel bearing grease

Or simpler still, in the electrical department at Home Depot, Lowe's, Ace
Hardware, etc. -- you're looking for "OxGard".

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Page 1 of 6       1 2 3 > last >>
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