i have 3 light sockets that need replacing cause they blew. Does anyone know how to replace it? could you write up a diy or should i call up an electrician?

 

I'm an electrician, explain the problem and I'll tell you what's wrong...

 

Make sure you turn off the power!

 

1. go to hardware store and pick up some
2. start ripping them out
3. get shocked by forgetting to turn off circuit breaker
4. wake up few minutes later
5. call friend who knows what they are doing, or electrician


j/k. they arent that hard to do. cut power, remove them. undo wiring, connect new one up. install in wall/ceiling.

 

I learned that the hard way while installing a ceiling fan

 

just make sure you connect the wiring to the new ones the same as the old ones....look closely there is a difference in the terminals

 

you really don't need to cut the power, just make sure the two wires don't touch, and you aren't holding both at the same time.

unless this is your first foray into electric, than yeah, play it safe. but remember, just cuz the powers off it's still not 100% safe, you still need to be careful.

how do you have 3 sockets that blew though? seems like something's not right there...

 

cut the power

 

Unlike sorority girls, electrical sockets don't just blow.
Call in a professional. If you do it yourself and there's a fire next year think about what could happen.

 

Why do you mean they "blew", that makes no sense?

Anyway, to answer question... installing an electrical socket is childs play. You don't need to turn off the power, just don't touch the white/black wires together.

White goes to the silver screws and black goes to the gold. The ground goes to the grounding screw.

Just dont use a power screwdriver... they like to strip the cheesy screws.

 

I once made fire come out of an outlet, so I always cut the power now.

How did fire come out? Always make sure your multimeter is on AC. If its on DC, you will see fire. Your meter will melt too. You also get to goto the hospital with 3rd degree burns on your fingers.

 

 

Sockets dont "blow"... usually...

If all of the sockets are on the same circuit, you probably have a loose wire somewhere.

Usually... it is a loose neutral in the panel. Usually... it is noticeable as the insulation will be brown and burnt on the offending wire.

In any case, if you need to ask how to replace the sockets you probably want to call someone to help. Either get an electrician to do it, or have a friend that knows what he is doing to instruct you.

DIY electrical is not too difficult for most people, just be careful.

I think Scottman is our resident authority on electrical so he is probably your best resource.

 

well i went one day to turn on the light in my living room and as i was turning it on the light blew and also the socket shot out a small curent. I changed the bulb but nothing will turn on.

can anyone reccomened a electrician in the bay area?

 

Did you check the breaker to see if it tripped?

 

Maybe just change the bulbs ?

 

 

Oh Soopa, you spend $9234892349 on fancy switches, then cheap out on the plugs, lol

We use Leviton brand switches/outlets at work and I don't really have much trouble with stripping them out, but a lot of the 's we hire do

 

I bought the outlets that match the switches, Cooper Aspire, whatchu talking bout willis.

I'm just saying, in the past, I've had a 19v screwdriver strip a outlet screw or two

 

hmmm, I'm a little confused...you said in your original post that it was "3 light sockets" that blew. Now it's one light and one outlet??? Whatever it is it isn't normal, obviously. Is the outlet(s) that blew the closest to the switch? Does the switch turn on the outlet(s) along with the light? Was anything plugged into the blown outlet?

...lol at checking the breaker, I'm almost positive it tripped. And if it did don't keep flipping it on/off a million times...not good. See if you can take off the plug and switch covers and/or the light down and see if you see anything out of the ordinary (black wires, shit melted, etc.) I can't really give a good guess as to what the prob is right now since I don't know much about your situation, but I can tell you it's probably something easy that you can do yourself...
F*ck electricians, we charge too much

 

big money for the plugs too, huh? If you don't mind me asking, how many did you buy @ what price...I put some CA's in for a customer and really liked them.

yeah I've stripped a few out before, no big deal just stack about 3 wires or so under one screw. Problem fixed How I ever got my license I'll never know

 

The outlets were like $2.67... I think I put in 11 of them. The outlets were cheap, its the stupid silver face plates that bumped the price

Damn you Ernie!

 

hmm, you didn't pay too much I guess. I think the dude I put those in for payed more like $3 apeice...and I'm guessing you only put them in one room huh since you only got 11?

 

One more vote for "cut the power".

We had the most idiotic electrician build our house. I did cut the power when I replace the bathroom fixtures which ahd a three way in them. Somehow one of the lines was still live and I got a pretty good jolt out of it.

Note: I'm a EE and had to build an AC powered AM radio for one of my labs. This was not difficult, but the idiot that I am installed the fuse near the internal trim cap (only had to tune one station). Since the box was metal and grounded, I got zapped at least a half a dozen times every time adjusted that thing.

Moral of the story ... 120 will wake you up, but probably won't hurt you that bad. Most of the time you feel the shock up to your elbow or so in the amount of time it takes to let go.

Still .... cut the power.

 

yep, kitchen/dining.

 

I've never heard of sockets blowing, especially 3 of them.

 

Bulbs blow (which are very easy to replace) ... but for a socket to go "bad" wouldn't a wire have to come loose or burn through?

If you have 3 sockets with melted wires ... not only would I change
EVERY one in the house, I'd also be checking the circuit breakers and questioning the wire in the walls.

Maybe he meant the bulbs blew. No don't worry about turning off the power unless the bulb breaks off in the outlet. In that case, shut it off and use a half a potato to get the rest of the bulb out.

 

Hypertech, I'm not picking on you or anything, but your a perfect example of why I would recommend everyone get a pen tester. All it does is light up if you stick it next to a wire that's hot. I don't trust other people's work (especially in the panel) so after I go flip the breaker I just stick the pen in the box and check. It's saved my ass more times than I can count. And the best part is it only costs like $2

 

It's "highly unlikely" that an outlet will just go bad, but I say it like that because it's not impossible. Usually you will have 10 switches go bad for every one outlet, thats just my odds. If one does go bad it will be because it wears out, or something happend when it was manufactured that eventually gave out.
Usually if an electrician messes up we will be able to tell right away (example, the breaker blowing right when we turn it on for the first time) But your right, you can have wires come out of wire nuts, etc that can cause an outlet to be damaged. Other than that, lightning is really the only other way an outlet can go out (especially GFCI's, I don't know how many of those I've changed over the years ), unless it's just a really really cheap p.o.s.

As far as this goes, there really is no reason to change out every plug and wire in your house, unless it's aluminum or really old (like glass insulator, early 1900's old) There is nothing wrong with checking the outlet and wires in the box for obvious problems, but just changing them out and/or re-wiring is a waste. Although, I will say your solution is 10x better than just neglecting the problem :wink:

 

I think I'll put one on my christmas list.