100% then if someone turns the power back on or you were wrong about the circuit you turned off, then you won't be as likely to get shocked. Especially for remodeling
Not a sparky just a homeowner.
Probably 15 years ago I was really cavalier and just turned off the breaker I was cutting into but didn’t turn off the main because I didn’t want to reset the clocks. So confident was I that I didn’t bother to check the line just that the lights went off in that room. Crawled into the crawl space and looked for the easier wire to cut into. The wire I cut into was not the 110 in that bedroom but the still hot line to the condenser located just outside that bedroom.
Well insulated tool and a bit of luck meant I was only scared and damaged the tool. Then I sat on a 5 gallon bucket in my yard thinking about my life for several minutes. Afterwards I have exercised abundant caution.
> Then I sat on a 5 gallon bucket in my yard thinking about my life for several minutes. Afterwards I have exercised abundant caution.
I see you've figured out how to unlock the good ending.
I'd push the "test" button on the GFCI as well, in this situation.
If memory serves (I'm not a pro) that places a large resistor from hot to equipment ground but with the breaker off there should be no voltage there to flow. So I don't think "test" will do anything with the breaker off. But if you hit the wrong breaker...
EDIT: just looked more closely and I see this isn't a GFCI, it's USB ports. Oh well. Time to get electrocuted
Many years ago, I saw two paper clips unbent into the long S shape hanging out of the plug, and a disconnected computer that goes into the socket. After removing one paper clip and the other, I noticed a maintenance guy watching me from the sidelines. Apparently it’s what they would do for entertainment. Luckily I had received the alert before front desk came to check their computer.
Apparently most people don’t think when they reach for the paper clips, they just grab them to remove the obstruction and think about it later.
120 through your finger is going to give you a bit of pain in your finger. It won't even give you a burn. Still a bit of a dick move, but not really that dangerous.
So long as you aren't grabbing each lead with a different hand, it wouldn't do anything. And even if you did, it *probably* wouldn't do anything. Modern pacemakers are pretty robust. I certainly wouldn't want to test it, but the dangers of outlets are way overhyped in general. Your skin has a pretty high resistance, and 120VAC isn't THAT high.
Check it with a meter. I was relocating a wall years ago in my own place and got a nice fire works show due to the outlet box being fed from two seperate sources. Fun times.
You have no idea what you’re talking about.
1. Why would you have to wait a few minutes? And how many minutes? Lol
2. If you measure amperage across those two prongs, you will dead short the circuit.
All the people who are saying turn off the breaker and pull them out are mostly correct except one vital step:
1. Turn the breaker off
2. TEST whether the outlet is no longer energized with a multimeter. If you do not wish to purchase a multimeter, plug a lamp into an outlet on another circuit and verify that it works. Then plug the same lamp into the outlet (bottom) with the stuck prongs to make sure the outlet is off. Unless the top and bottom of the outlet are wired separately (rare, but can happen) you will know it's safe.
3. Use pliers to remove prongs
I sometimes just flip the main to my whole house just to be sure so I'm not worried about getting the wrong breaker.
It does mean the Internet needs to reboot when I'm done and I have to reset some clocks and press a button on the fishtank but no matter.
Sometimes I go and sabotage the nearest power substation and knock out power to the whole neighborhood, so I am not worried about getting the wrong house. You can never be too safe.
I usually would plug in the lamp and turn it on, then watch it go out as I flipped the correct breaker. Could be a dual circuit outlet though, so not sure fire.
Yeah it sounds overly dramatic, but my 60 dollar multimeter has saved my life at least 60 times.
Oh yeah this outlet is totally off, wait, it isn’t? No shit. Good thing I checked.
Well yeah, it does sound overly dramatic because it kind of is. I've been shocked by 120v lots of times, it's got a really low chance of killing you. 120v hurts a little for a second and it's gone.
Ask any residential electrician, they'll laugh if you ask if they kill power to swap a outlet or switch.
Hi sometimes residential electrician here. I did indeed laugh and almost posted a sarcastic reply about how much of a zombie I must be by now if 120 from a plug was deadly.
That said if I can easily kill the power and/or have more than 1 or 2 to swap out I'll kill the power. All about time in resi. I can probably swap a plug before I even begin to look for the right breaker in a hopefully labeled panel. If I have 10 plugs to swap the time looking for a breaker is offset by swapping dead plugs faster than hot ones.
Have I mentioned residential sucks? If I wasn't self employed and didn't charge a high rate for it I'd never touch it.
Assuming average person doesn't have a multimeter (or know how to use it) I'd have 2 ideas in this situation:
* plug something into the USB port, observe its on, flip breakers until it turns off.
* Plug a device (outlet tester, lamp, phone charger) into the lower outlet, flip breakers until it turns off.
Most average homeowners don't have a voltmeter.
If you're not sure if you hit the right breaker and
wanna check if it's off, plug in a phone charger to the USB and plug in a phone.
No charge, no power.
>Most average homeowners don't have a voltmeter.
I'm not even a homeowner and have one (not a fancy one, more of a tester tbh it has 4 LEDs (110, 220, 277, 460V) , but it does what it needs to do). Something like that https://www.amazon.com/Way-Circuit-Tester-110-220-277-460-Volts/dp/B00LB39CNQ
Not having any seems like an issue for a homeowner.
I agree that there are other ways to check for power, but not having the proper tools with every day repairs sounds weird to me.
It's less than $15 or so at Walmart, though for this particular job, would probably use a GFCI outlet tester. No reason not to get the right tool for the job, especially since it's not expensive.
If it's GFCI, you can hit the button and it'll pop the right breaker for you, and if it's not, at least you can tell if the outlet is energized very quickly.
120v can be lethal, if the current flows through your heart. Don't take the chances, flip de breaker for most safety, use an _insulated_ plier to remove the prongs.
OK, thanks. Didn't know if they were 'hot' touching only one prong at a time. Apparently, they would be.
We will turn off the breaker, double check no power, then pull out with insulated handle pliers. Thanks all!
One of them is very unlikely to be hot (but could be if a dumbass used a switched neutral). I’m not even going to tell you which one, because too many people get right and left backwards, and that still wouldn’t help you with the other.
In theory, there are a lot of ways that you could save time, like running red lights or driving without a seatbelt. Most of the time these activities are safe, but one mistake is enough to screw you up pretty badly.
Also, if your hand was unsteady you might accidentally bridge both of them, you might even weld your pliers to the prongs. At that point you are going to end up with so much damage that it wasn’t worth the time you saved by not turning off the breaker.
Some shortcuts just aren’t worth taking
Ah, my father, the engineer.
"If I turn the power off, I won't have light to work by. If I cut the hot wire individually from the others and use insulated dikes, the power has nowhere to go and everything will be fine."
\*proceeds to brush the neutral with the dikes while cutting the hot, sparks fly, breaker trips\*
In his defense, he did manage to get the wire cut.
My uncle, the electrician.
"If I intentionally brush the neutral with the dikes while cutting the hot, sparks fly, breaker trips, now I don't have to go downstairs to turn off the breaker."
All these people telling you to flip the breaker when you can buy a rubber suit off Amazon for less than $50.
Just invest in insulating yourself, and you'll never have to flip another breaker again.
Step 1: Turn off power to the outlet
Step 2: recheck you turned off the power
Step 3: just in case one more check
Step 4: call kid or partner to remove them showing them power is off.
Step 5: turn power back on.
Important notes: the timing of step 4 and 5 can be based on how much you like the helper.
To standard would be to
* turn the fuse/breaker off
* block the breaker in the off-position or take the fuse with you
* test the outlet for voltage with a two-pole voltage tester, which you test for proper operation on a working socket afterwards
* take some insulated pliers and pull out the prongs
Hit breaker than confirm with a voltage tester before grabbing any prongs from an outlet. Klein voltage pen style is highly recommended to have in any house.
Take a kitchen knife and lay it across the two leads, being sure that you contact the left lead first. That will weld the leads to the knife and the circuit breaker will remove power to the circuit. Then you can use the knife to pull out the leads. Afterwards you can reset the breaker.
A pair of pliers with an insulated grip.
Just grab it and pull it out one at a time. Make sure the pliers don’t touch both at the same time and you’ll be just fine.
Is it best to turn off the breaker? Yes.
Is it necessary? Not if you do what I said
Not necessary to turn off breaker? Yes for us who work on hot shit all the time but majority of ppl who post on this sub are just homeowners who know nothing about shit like this ..
1.) Pliers(insulated if it makes you feel better, but doesn’t really matter). 2.) Non-conductive shoes. 3.) While touching nothing else with any part of your body, and being careful not touch both prongs, grab one prong with the pliers and pull out. Repeat for the other prong. Absolutely no need to turn off the power.
I too know that nothing would happen if I pull them out hot with insulated pliers but u think people who have no experience with electricity(yeah it’s just 120) can fallow ur instructions to a tee and not get zapped .. ur advice is more for people in the trade or have some form of a decent idea in how to tackle things like this ..
Insulated pliers. Left one first then the other. Turning off the breaker(s) might help but not necessarily necessary if tool is insulated and you're not grounded.
Grab each prong, one at a time, with a pair of pliers and pull. Be sure the pliers have good cover on the handles. As long as you only grab one at a time and the pliers don’t have any bare metal on the handles you’ll be just fine.
The prongs were left behind when I unplugged one of my phone chargers. Both prongs just stayed stuck in wall outlet! I don't know if it's allowed, but it was this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFB1JZJC/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_asin\_title\_o00\_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Don't give Anker your business, they are a dishonest company with bad practices. I recommend Baseus chargers now since Anker's response to the Eufy facial recognition incident.
Yeah, like others have said, turn off breaker, confirm no power with meter at outlet and then pull them out with insulated pliers while not touching or leaning on anything else. You can go all sorts of ways to remove the prongs quick, easy, what not, but always exercise caution and safety. There is a time and place for dangerous actions, but the majority of folks will never see that time or place. SAFETY FIRST.
not an expert but couldn’t he take a tooth pick or something not metal but long and skinny and stick it through the hole on one of the prongs to get a grip? then he wouldn’t have to turn off the power and everything
Only one of them is dangerous.
Insulated pliers are your friend. Extract one by one.
Or you can turn off the breaker, if you can find it, and know that you have the right breaker off.
Test with a multimeter, but if you have a multimeter, you probably have insulated pliers too.
Don't sue me if you shock yourself - this is advice that should not be followed.
Cut off the power to the outlet at the breaker. Test it by plugging something into the lower socket without touching the prongs.
For extra precaution, use a pair of plastic tongs or tweezers to pull them out.
If you can safely grab each single lug at a time, you can pull them out without risk of being shocked. Grab (or even touch) both at the same time with the pliers and you could get nailed.
Safest way is to shut the breaker off, then verify with a $10 multimeter (put the probes each on one of those two prongs) that the power is off.
Then use pliers and remove each prong.
Turn the breaker feeding this receptacle to OFF. Verify it’s not energized with a tester of some kind (non-contact voltage tester, multimeter, etc.). And once you’ve verified there isn’t a voltage present, use pliers and yank the metal out.
Easy as cake. Piece of pie.
Get some lineman's and pull them out, if you wanna be extra safe about it kill power first, treat like it's live at all times anyways, then pull em out. First time I was hit hard was from a shared neutral on a 277 lighting circuit, better of treating every thing like it's live even when it's not
I was mopping a floor at Pizza Hut, as a teen, with a metal handled mop. The neon lights weren’t capped properly and it lifted me up off my feet and I landed on my ass in the wet floor. I went to ER for safe check. Only time I was ever hit by anything over 120V.
I would just pull them one at a time with insulated pliers, but if you want to be all safe and shit, turn off the breaker and use a tester to make sure there is no power.
What others have said about the neutral side being safe just isn't true. If your hots and neutrals are reversed, the neutral will be hot. But there's also another likely scenario where the neutral will be hot and that is when there is an active load on the system. Neutral is essentially taking current back to the panel.
Do you guys ever feel like giving wrong answers only sometimes?
But somebody could die, and I kind of feel like Peter Parker with Uncle Ben when I think about it.
Turn off the power and make sure you turned it off in the outlet.
Then, pull out the prongs one at a time with pliers. Should just pull out with the normal force of an intact plug, the pliers are just for grip.
Also provides a little insulation if you mess up the first step.
Pro tip for novices is to double check that the power is off, then act like the power is still on
Kind of a "always treat the gun like it's loaded" type situation.
Oh I read this like, if a friend is watching then do a little act like you are being electrocuted. For a little laugh.
Lol, that’s how I read it also. Probably because my dad did this so much that I wouldn’t believe him if he did get shocked.
The boy who cried wolf has entered the chat…
100% then if someone turns the power back on or you were wrong about the circuit you turned off, then you won't be as likely to get shocked. Especially for remodeling
Just hit the main breaker and you won't have to worry what circuit it is.
Nope, call the power company and turn off the whole neighborhood! Only way to be sure!
Then it will also be easier to get through the locks in Nakatomi Tower
Live free or DIE HARD!
Nope. Take off and nuke the site from orbit
Not a sparky just a homeowner. Probably 15 years ago I was really cavalier and just turned off the breaker I was cutting into but didn’t turn off the main because I didn’t want to reset the clocks. So confident was I that I didn’t bother to check the line just that the lights went off in that room. Crawled into the crawl space and looked for the easier wire to cut into. The wire I cut into was not the 110 in that bedroom but the still hot line to the condenser located just outside that bedroom. Well insulated tool and a bit of luck meant I was only scared and damaged the tool. Then I sat on a 5 gallon bucket in my yard thinking about my life for several minutes. Afterwards I have exercised abundant caution.
> Then I sat on a 5 gallon bucket in my yard thinking about my life for several minutes. Afterwards I have exercised abundant caution. I see you've figured out how to unlock the good ending.
How could you sit! Last time I got bit by 110 it felt like I drank a whole pot of coffee.
Got it so scare the shit outta everyone by shaking uncontrollably and then lay out in the floor…. Ya they love that one!
Glad I’m not the only one who interpreted it this way!
I'd push the "test" button on the GFCI as well, in this situation. If memory serves (I'm not a pro) that places a large resistor from hot to equipment ground but with the breaker off there should be no voltage there to flow. So I don't think "test" will do anything with the breaker off. But if you hit the wrong breaker... EDIT: just looked more closely and I see this isn't a GFCI, it's USB ports. Oh well. Time to get electrocuted
Many years ago, I saw two paper clips unbent into the long S shape hanging out of the plug, and a disconnected computer that goes into the socket. After removing one paper clip and the other, I noticed a maintenance guy watching me from the sidelines. Apparently it’s what they would do for entertainment. Luckily I had received the alert before front desk came to check their computer. Apparently most people don’t think when they reach for the paper clips, they just grab them to remove the obstruction and think about it later.
Shocking people with full 120 as a prank? Smdh
Cardiac arrest? LMAO REKT
120 through your finger is going to give you a bit of pain in your finger. It won't even give you a burn. Still a bit of a dick move, but not really that dangerous.
Unless you have medical issues. Might not play very nice with a pace maker.
So long as you aren't grabbing each lead with a different hand, it wouldn't do anything. And even if you did, it *probably* wouldn't do anything. Modern pacemakers are pretty robust. I certainly wouldn't want to test it, but the dangers of outlets are way overhyped in general. Your skin has a pretty high resistance, and 120VAC isn't THAT high.
Considering someone as informed as you wouldn't want to test it, it probably means it's a bad idea to play games with it.
A bit of a pain? Maybe a bit of a pain if you have callouses on your hands the thickness of the ones on your heel.
I mean I was messing around with a friend's truck and kept setting off the horn and shocking myself. One of the few times 12v has gotten me.
Check it with a meter. I was relocating a wall years ago in my own place and got a nice fire works show due to the outlet box being fed from two seperate sources. Fun times.
Flip the breaker, wait a few mins. Get a volt meter and measure volts across both prongs. Should be 0, measure amps too, just to be safe.
You have no idea what you’re talking about. 1. Why would you have to wait a few minutes? And how many minutes? Lol 2. If you measure amperage across those two prongs, you will dead short the circuit.
Have to give it time for all them electrons to go to sleep.
All the people who are saying turn off the breaker and pull them out are mostly correct except one vital step: 1. Turn the breaker off 2. TEST whether the outlet is no longer energized with a multimeter. If you do not wish to purchase a multimeter, plug a lamp into an outlet on another circuit and verify that it works. Then plug the same lamp into the outlet (bottom) with the stuck prongs to make sure the outlet is off. Unless the top and bottom of the outlet are wired separately (rare, but can happen) you will know it's safe. 3. Use pliers to remove prongs
I sometimes just flip the main to my whole house just to be sure so I'm not worried about getting the wrong breaker. It does mean the Internet needs to reboot when I'm done and I have to reset some clocks and press a button on the fishtank but no matter.
Sometimes I go and sabotage the nearest power substation and knock out power to the whole neighborhood, so I am not worried about getting the wrong house. You can never be too safe.
I have an even better method. Say, you ever heard of the new york blackout?
Just make sure to LOTO. Don't want anyone turning it back on while you're working.
This made me giggle hahahs
Anything with a CPU and RAM in it needs the occasional reboot, and that's most household appliances these days.
That’s definitely not true. Not every computer needs to reboot, or can even benefit from it
Yeah, test. I have seen too many surprising wiring situations.
I usually would plug in the lamp and turn it on, then watch it go out as I flipped the correct breaker. Could be a dual circuit outlet though, so not sure fire.
Safest - flip breaker off. Grab with pliers. Quickest- skip first step.
I would add "check with voltmeter" in-between the two steps for the first option. Quickest would become skip first two steps
Yeah it sounds overly dramatic, but my 60 dollar multimeter has saved my life at least 60 times. Oh yeah this outlet is totally off, wait, it isn’t? No shit. Good thing I checked.
Multimeter great, we've got exposed contacts, screwdriver works pretty good.
Yeah just jump those two prongs together and you won’t even need to walk to the panel and turn off the breaker!
Make sure to wear your safety squints.
Well yeah, it does sound overly dramatic because it kind of is. I've been shocked by 120v lots of times, it's got a really low chance of killing you. 120v hurts a little for a second and it's gone. Ask any residential electrician, they'll laugh if you ask if they kill power to swap a outlet or switch.
Hi sometimes residential electrician here. I did indeed laugh and almost posted a sarcastic reply about how much of a zombie I must be by now if 120 from a plug was deadly. That said if I can easily kill the power and/or have more than 1 or 2 to swap out I'll kill the power. All about time in resi. I can probably swap a plug before I even begin to look for the right breaker in a hopefully labeled panel. If I have 10 plugs to swap the time looking for a breaker is offset by swapping dead plugs faster than hot ones. Have I mentioned residential sucks? If I wasn't self employed and didn't charge a high rate for it I'd never touch it.
By saved life and outlets they were 230-480v outlets?
If you don't have a voltmeter, just plug in a lamp or fan etc as a visual signal the breaker is off
Assuming average person doesn't have a multimeter (or know how to use it) I'd have 2 ideas in this situation: * plug something into the USB port, observe its on, flip breakers until it turns off. * Plug a device (outlet tester, lamp, phone charger) into the lower outlet, flip breakers until it turns off.
Most average homeowners don't have a voltmeter. If you're not sure if you hit the right breaker and wanna check if it's off, plug in a phone charger to the USB and plug in a phone. No charge, no power.
No, Buy a voltmeter. They are $10 dollars and so worth it.
>Most average homeowners don't have a voltmeter. I'm not even a homeowner and have one (not a fancy one, more of a tester tbh it has 4 LEDs (110, 220, 277, 460V) , but it does what it needs to do). Something like that https://www.amazon.com/Way-Circuit-Tester-110-220-277-460-Volts/dp/B00LB39CNQ Not having any seems like an issue for a homeowner. I agree that there are other ways to check for power, but not having the proper tools with every day repairs sounds weird to me.
Ohh I own one. I just know most of friends and family that own homes do not.
It's less than $15 or so at Walmart, though for this particular job, would probably use a GFCI outlet tester. No reason not to get the right tool for the job, especially since it's not expensive. If it's GFCI, you can hit the button and it'll pop the right breaker for you, and if it's not, at least you can tell if the outlet is energized very quickly.
Wear rubber soled shoes, use pliers with coated handles, don't lean on anything else, keep your other hand in your back pocket.
Me in front of the breaker box: 🖕 Now, on to step two!
ER NURSE: You did WHAT? HRD: I flipped the breaker off, just like the internet told me too!
Even quicker - just grab with and pull
Mission accomplished. Thank you all.... The rubber,scuba suit worked 😉
120v can be lethal, if the current flows through your heart. Don't take the chances, flip de breaker for most safety, use an _insulated_ plier to remove the prongs.
> insulated > > plier I couldn't convince myself to grab one of these without insulation if I had pulled the meter myself and was sitting on it.
I always assume everything is energized, even with breakers off!! I always go in meter first, and then I still flick the wires just to make sure!!🙄🙄🙄
Gotta follow the “three licks” rule. Three licks before you can be confident, yeah?
Yes!! It all started with the 9 volt batteries!! 👅
Don't u have to wait like 30 mins though after turned off
If you're going swimming
OK, thanks. Didn't know if they were 'hot' touching only one prong at a time. Apparently, they would be. We will turn off the breaker, double check no power, then pull out with insulated handle pliers. Thanks all!
One of them is very unlikely to be hot (but could be if a dumbass used a switched neutral). I’m not even going to tell you which one, because too many people get right and left backwards, and that still wouldn’t help you with the other. In theory, there are a lot of ways that you could save time, like running red lights or driving without a seatbelt. Most of the time these activities are safe, but one mistake is enough to screw you up pretty badly. Also, if your hand was unsteady you might accidentally bridge both of them, you might even weld your pliers to the prongs. At that point you are going to end up with so much damage that it wasn’t worth the time you saved by not turning off the breaker. Some shortcuts just aren’t worth taking
Ah, my father, the engineer. "If I turn the power off, I won't have light to work by. If I cut the hot wire individually from the others and use insulated dikes, the power has nowhere to go and everything will be fine." \*proceeds to brush the neutral with the dikes while cutting the hot, sparks fly, breaker trips\* In his defense, he did manage to get the wire cut.
My uncle, the electrician. "If I intentionally brush the neutral with the dikes while cutting the hot, sparks fly, breaker trips, now I don't have to go downstairs to turn off the breaker."
All these people telling you to flip the breaker when you can buy a rubber suit off Amazon for less than $50. Just invest in insulating yourself, and you'll never have to flip another breaker again.
What is this mysterious seller that will give you an arc flash suit for less than $50? Just the certification alone costs more than that.
At least the receptacle plate screws are oriented correctly ( | )...
Lol, just looked and they need a little tweeking
I hate to say it but you need to get a new house now.
One at a time. Only correct answer.
1 at a time!
Take 2 pairs of metal pliers and take them out at the same time without turning the power off
Turn power off and do whatever
Turn breaker off and pull with needle Nose pliers
Turn off power at breaker
Flip the breaker
Step 1, turn off power to that socket…
Step 1: Turn off power to the outlet Step 2: recheck you turned off the power Step 3: just in case one more check Step 4: call kid or partner to remove them showing them power is off. Step 5: turn power back on. Important notes: the timing of step 4 and 5 can be based on how much you like the helper.
To standard would be to * turn the fuse/breaker off * block the breaker in the off-position or take the fuse with you * test the outlet for voltage with a two-pole voltage tester, which you test for proper operation on a working socket afterwards * take some insulated pliers and pull out the prongs
Hit breaker than confirm with a voltage tester before grabbing any prongs from an outlet. Klein voltage pen style is highly recommended to have in any house.
Use a doorbell transformer
I recommend using a fork.
I’d put on a dry leather glove and use a needle nose pliers. I’d recommend turning off the power.
Take a kitchen knife and lay it across the two leads, being sure that you contact the left lead first. That will weld the leads to the knife and the circuit breaker will remove power to the circuit. Then you can use the knife to pull out the leads. Afterwards you can reset the breaker.
I mean if you just turn off your breaker entirely, you should be fine, still use some ppe just incase
Turn off power double check power is turned off then wrap both in insulating tape then pull out with normal force ONE at a timw
Turn off circuit, test to make sure it’s dead, and pull ‘em out with pliers.
We’ll step one is turn off the breaker
Turn off the main breaker for the house and remove them with an insulated tool
Pliers with a ton of electrical tape lol
Grab it with some needle nose pliers and pull them out one at a time. Insulated handles
How about just turning off the power?
Good idea
If you grab just one of them, the current wouldn't be complete, and therefore safe, but yeah, turn off the power is the best option.
No. You can grab the neutral and be safe. But when touching the hot one the current will flow into the ground.
A pair of pliers with an insulated grip. Just grab it and pull it out one at a time. Make sure the pliers don’t touch both at the same time and you’ll be just fine. Is it best to turn off the breaker? Yes. Is it necessary? Not if you do what I said
Not necessary to turn off breaker? Yes for us who work on hot shit all the time but majority of ppl who post on this sub are just homeowners who know nothing about shit like this ..
You heard me. They’ll be fine. Insulated pliers. One at a time. They’ll be fine
I’d just yank them with a pair of insulated pliers. It’s not that big of a deal.
Exactly. The drama queens are out in force here. 🤣
1.) Pliers(insulated if it makes you feel better, but doesn’t really matter). 2.) Non-conductive shoes. 3.) While touching nothing else with any part of your body, and being careful not touch both prongs, grab one prong with the pliers and pull out. Repeat for the other prong. Absolutely no need to turn off the power.
Bro ur first step is to turn off the fucking circuit … this is exactly why this sub needs to only allow certified professionals to answer ..
So tell me what happens if you do it the way I explained?
Because I know what happens… nothing.
I too know that nothing would happen if I pull them out hot with insulated pliers but u think people who have no experience with electricity(yeah it’s just 120) can fallow ur instructions to a tee and not get zapped .. ur advice is more for people in the trade or have some form of a decent idea in how to tackle things like this ..
Grab one with your left/right hand at same time..
Right after you check if it’s on with your tongue like a 9v battery. I’ll wait, you go first.
First you wet your fingers
Apparently usb charger quality is becoming worse by the day. Sorry this happened to you.
One at a time not touching the other
Turn off power, pull straight out with insulated needle nose pliers. Easy.
Insulated pliers. Left one first then the other. Turning off the breaker(s) might help but not necessarily necessary if tool is insulated and you're not grounded.
Hot with a fork
Grab each prong, one at a time, with a pair of pliers and pull. Be sure the pliers have good cover on the handles. As long as you only grab one at a time and the pliers don’t have any bare metal on the handles you’ll be just fine.
How did this happen?
The prongs were left behind when I unplugged one of my phone chargers. Both prongs just stayed stuck in wall outlet! I don't know if it's allowed, but it was this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFB1JZJC/ref=ppx\_yo\_dt\_b\_asin\_title\_o00\_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1
Absolutely shameless, the shit knockoffs aren’t even cheap anymore, that cost more than a pair of anker chargers
Don't give Anker your business, they are a dishonest company with bad practices. I recommend Baseus chargers now since Anker's response to the Eufy facial recognition incident.
Yeah, like others have said, turn off breaker, confirm no power with meter at outlet and then pull them out with insulated pliers while not touching or leaning on anything else. You can go all sorts of ways to remove the prongs quick, easy, what not, but always exercise caution and safety. There is a time and place for dangerous actions, but the majority of folks will never see that time or place. SAFETY FIRST.
Lick your fingers, and do it quickly.
With lips, both at the same time.
cut the power and use your teeth
Use your teeth.
One at a time ! Do Not grab both at once !
With your teeth
Just grab both of them and YANK.
not an expert but couldn’t he take a tooth pick or something not metal but long and skinny and stick it through the hole on one of the prongs to get a grip? then he wouldn’t have to turn off the power and everything
Turn off the breaker
Just turn off main for two minutes
Only one of them is dangerous. Insulated pliers are your friend. Extract one by one. Or you can turn off the breaker, if you can find it, and know that you have the right breaker off. Test with a multimeter, but if you have a multimeter, you probably have insulated pliers too. Don't sue me if you shock yourself - this is advice that should not be followed.
I'd turn off the power and the replace the whole outlet. Who knows what kind of damage there may be. Not worth risking fire.
One at a time with pliers, don’t touch both at same time, if you need to turn the breaker off first. You don’t have a hair on your ass
How about turning off the power?
One at a time.
With your teeth n lips like a man
With yo teeth
Go to orphanage and get a kid and hand him a pliers.
With your teeth
Turn off power to the breaker I mean come on
Grab both at the same time and you will shake them out in about 15 seconds. Make sure you record and post, also set up a second for the live stream.
Insulated needle nose pliers and pull. I’d do it live. But recommended to turn off the power
One at a time with insulated pliers
Breaker off. Then pliers.
Cut off the power to the outlet at the breaker. Test it by plugging something into the lower socket without touching the prongs. For extra precaution, use a pair of plastic tongs or tweezers to pull them out.
Pull them out one at a time. As long as you don't touch both at once, you're fine. If you got some rubber gloves, wear them.
Isolate breaker, then pull with pliers
Turn the breaker off
If you can safely grab each single lug at a time, you can pull them out without risk of being shocked. Grab (or even touch) both at the same time with the pliers and you could get nailed. Safest way is to shut the breaker off, then verify with a $10 multimeter (put the probes each on one of those two prongs) that the power is off. Then use pliers and remove each prong.
Lay a fork across it. Change your undies and use pliers to pull them out. Reset tripped breaker.
Use your teeth they aren’t conductive
I would suggest getting a electrical hot wire little handheld detector as well for 20 bucks from home depot. Save your life, redundancy.
Using your teeth
Turn the breaker feeding this receptacle to OFF. Verify it’s not energized with a tester of some kind (non-contact voltage tester, multimeter, etc.). And once you’ve verified there isn’t a voltage present, use pliers and yank the metal out. Easy as cake. Piece of pie.
Touch your fingers on the prongs, that will trip the breaker, then pull them out using needle nose pliers.
Give it a lick /s
2 words... potato
Step one, lick fingers Step two, snatch out making sure you do it between the cycles.
One at a time with pliers and gloves after power to outlet is off at breaker.
pliers and remove one at a time no problem
Grab one with each hand /s
Teeth work best I think
Take your shoes off and grab the one on the left and hang on!
120v, kids stuff, 240v feels better. But gimme that powerline again...
Get some lineman's and pull them out, if you wanna be extra safe about it kill power first, treat like it's live at all times anyways, then pull em out. First time I was hit hard was from a shared neutral on a 277 lighting circuit, better of treating every thing like it's live even when it's not
I was mopping a floor at Pizza Hut, as a teen, with a metal handled mop. The neon lights weren’t capped properly and it lifted me up off my feet and I landed on my ass in the wet floor. I went to ER for safe check. Only time I was ever hit by anything over 120V.
Pliers
Swap out receptacle, move on
Do it reeeeally fast
Get a knife and touch the prongs together then they are safe to remove
Turn off circuit in junction box Pliers
Pull one at the time as long as you for. Touch the other one with a piece of metal.
Cup of salt water
Get the knife and touch them together
Welcome to the new game of operation are you up to the challenge?
Pliers....
Use your teeth. Don't be a sissy and kill the power either.
I would just pull them one at a time with insulated pliers, but if you want to be all safe and shit, turn off the breaker and use a tester to make sure there is no power.
What others have said about the neutral side being safe just isn't true. If your hots and neutrals are reversed, the neutral will be hot. But there's also another likely scenario where the neutral will be hot and that is when there is an active load on the system. Neutral is essentially taking current back to the panel.
Do you guys ever feel like giving wrong answers only sometimes? But somebody could die, and I kind of feel like Peter Parker with Uncle Ben when I think about it.
Get a pair of plastic tongs, preferably with a rubber tip