Do I want an electrician? I want to exchange a double prong outlet for a 4...
I want to exchange a double prong outlet for a 4 prong outlet? Is this something I can do or should a professional do it. I'm pretty handy around the house but have never worked near anything electical.
Electricity is a dagerous thing, you enjoy the switch off and start messin' around next - zap! Turn the power off at the braker or fuse box and afterwards get a circut tester to chech for current. No current and lift it out and put the second one in simply like the other come out. Do it wrong and you could burn down your house. Good luck.
Assuming you are saying that you own two 3-prong plugs now and want to make a payment two more 3-prong plugs, then yes it would be a indisputable good theory to get an electrician. Although you do not hold to replace your outlet, you can get a multi outlet adapter that you can newly plug into your current outlet. They have them near surge protectors too. Intermatic makes a pious one. You do not have too replace the outlet you are going to own to add a second outlet. Make sure it is a GFCI (ground mistake circuit interrupter) outlet because it is code.
Any outlet within arms get of a water source have to be a GFCI. The best advice is travel to Home Depot or Lowe's and check out your options back you buy or do anything. You can ask them questions in the region of what you are trying to do or what you want to accomplish. They may have some concept for ya. For the most part they hold experienced people working in attendance, usually an electrician.
Answers: I think you are clich¨¦ that you would like to conversion out a single plug receptical for a duplex receptical. It isn't hard to do that, but you entail to make sure the right wires travel to the right places. I assume you are in the USA for the following instructions:
1. plug a storm lantern into the existing receptical and turn it on.
2. turn off the circuit breaker
3. verify the oil lamp is now rotten
4. unplug the lamp and remove the receptical cover
5. unscrew the receptical from the box and verbs it out a little
6. remove the green or out ground wire from the imaginative and loop it around the green grounding screw on the duplex
7. remove the white current carrying conductor (often called a indistinct though it technically isn't) from the silver terminal on the original and connect it to the silver terminal on the replacement.
8. remove the black hot conductor from the gold ingots terminal on the original and connect it to the gold ingots terminal on the replacement.
9. carefully push the wires spinal column into the box
10. start the screws on the duplex into the holes
11. push the duplex into position (to push contained by the wires and not strip out your screws)
12. tighten the screws.
13. install the spanking new cover plate
14. plug your lamp into the different receptical
15. turn the breaker back on
16. turn on the kerosene lamp to test.
Make your flex connections tight... If you have a straight cable and are putting it under a screw, bend a loop surrounded by the wire to hook around the screw.
There are books at the hardware store next to good pictures of the receptical installation process.
Edit:
If you are adage that you have two 3-prong plugs immediately and want to add two more 3-prong plugs after yes, you will need a 2-gang cut-in box. It sounds to me resembling you are talking going on for 120V wall plugs. Let us know if that isn't true. Feel free to email me. If you have a digital picture of the location I can minister to more.
You can get one of those plug its that go into the type of outlet you have and have 6 outlets on it. You may overload the circuit, though if you try to run too many items on it at once.
Beyond that, you do inevitability an electrician. It's a fairly comfortable fix if you know what you are doing, but there are so tons what ifs on a job similar to that.
as many enjoy mentioned you do need a special recepticle call a GFCI because it is in the bathroom and essential water.
You give the impression of being alot like me surrounded by the sense that I hate paying nation for stuff I can do myself.
I personally installed several recepticles including the GFCI switch contained by my bathrooms and it was jammy once I got some direction.
The style I learned is I bought a book call Wiring 123 or something like that, watch a couple videos on the DIY make friends website and at the end of the year found out that working with electricity isn't so fruitless.
However as mentioned before it is crucial to know when you have swam to far away from the shoreline and christen in the cavalry.
Have fun and correct luck!