Electrical – How to cover an open/exposed wire fast and safe for a long period

electricalreceptaclesafety

I have a 3 pin socket on the wall that is broken and I'm going to fix it. And while at that, I also want to fix the wall (re-cement it and paint it again). After I dismantle the socket, the 3 wires will become exposed. Is there any special tool to cover it? I search in the web but found no such thing or even if there is I don't know what it is called. I'm imagining something like a non electrical-conducting clip that's sold cheaply so that I can buy as many as I want and cover every exposed wire when I'm working my thing. The reason I what such thing is:

  1. I don't want to power off the whole house electricity because I
    might need to use some of my electrical tool (corded drill etc from
    another power outlet).
  2. Using insulation tape (not sure if this is the right word) is time
    consuming (wrap and unwrap it) and will lead to sticky hand.
  3. There are kids/people in the house and I might need to get to the
    store in case I need to buy something.

I'm thinking of creating it myself by getting an unused tyre tube. Cut 2 pieces of 1cm x 1cm from it. And then glued each of it to each of the jaw of a plastic clip used for clothes hanging.

So my question is, do such thing exist cheaply for mass/bulk buying? If it doesn't, is the one I'm trying to create myself is safe enough? I lack science understanding and I only know that rubber doesn't conduct electricity. Also I'm very scared when doing electrical stuff because even using a test pen to test for electrical current sometimes I can feel heat or static. Thanks.

Best Answer

What you want to do is terminate the wires in the junction box using Wire Nuts. Simply thread them on to the end of the exposed wire, and you need not worry about live wires touching, kids getting zapped, etc. You should turn off the branch circuit in question (via a circuit breaker or removing a fuse) while removing the outlet and putting on the wire nuts.

If you need to have the box open for a more extended period of time, get a flat cover plate for the junction box (put on the wire nuts, tuck the wire back in the box, attach the cover plate).

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