The grounding pin of my extension cord broke off in the outlet when I unplugged it.
Is it safe to use pliers to pull the pin out of the outlet?
Will I get shocked?
Electrical – Grounding Pin is Stuck in the Outlet
electricalreceptacle
Related Solutions
I'd pick up one of these at the hardware store:
If you're not in North America, I'm sure there's a local equivalent.
Based on the LED's that light up, you can tell if the circuit is wired correctly. The only thing it can't detect is a ground/neutral swap. But it can detect a missing ground.
It could be bad if other things go wrong as well, or if the circuit/device is miswired. It also prevents you from plugging in other grounded devices, which could be a problem as well. The best thing to do would be to either remove it, or replace the receptacle.
Turn off the power to the circuit at the breaker, and verify power is off. Then using needle nose pliers (or tweezers), try to extract the pin. If you're unable to remove it, have the receptacle replaced by a professional.
Related Topic
- Electrical – How to wire a three-prong extension cord to 110 outlet
- Electrical – Window unit AC get outlet and plug hot
- Electrical – Portable Generator Grounding
- The plug for the laptop is slowly changing colour, is it still safe to use until I get a new one
- Is this normal – Electrical outlet – make hot prong on cable a tiny bit warm
Best Answer
You'll want to turn off the breaker. You should be alright but if the internals of the outlet are damaged or broken, you don't want to come in contact with them when you pull out the ground plug. You might even want to replace the outlet since the grounding terminal shouldn't just break off under normal use, unless the extension cord was really damaged.