I plugged a indoor floor lamp outside using an indoor extension cord not realizing it was going to rain (i know – stupid!). Now I am afraid to unplug it, as everything is wet. What can I do to disconnect without getting electrocuted – I have kids. I need some help.
Electrical Safety – How to Safely Unplug a Wet Outdoor Extension Cord
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Related Solutions
First off you do not want to hang the light by the socket that you purchased. With the poke in holes for the wires this is NOT an acceptable mounting system for your lamp - heavy glass or not.
Next note that the wire used to hang lamps is a special type that has strengthing cord built into the cable.
The conventional hanging lamp fixture has a two piece socket assembly that has a top part that slides up on the cord. The cord is then knotted with a special electricians knot that puts equal tension in all the conductors and fibres in the cord. The ends of the wires then attach to the lower portion of the conventional socket via screw terminals. Finally the top and bottom parts of the socket firmly snap together to hide the knot inside. The hanging lamp assembly pulls against the knot to transfer the weight into the cord from the ceiling.
Lamp cord typically comes in 18/2, and 16/2 varieties. Neither of which has a grounding conductor. If the lamp...
- is intended to be used indoors
- will connect to the electrical system through a cord-and-plug attachment means
- Does not have any exposed metal parts
you should be fine using a 2 wire attachment cord. However if the lamp...
- will be used outdoors
- will be hardwired
- has exposed metal parts
then you should consider using an attachment cord with a grounding conductor, and connecting the grounding conductor to the grounding conductor in the fixture.
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Best Answer
If the outdoor socket has gfci protection through another (indoor) outlet then you can turn that gfci outlet off.
If you know which circuit the outlet is on you can turn off just that breaker.
The nuclear option is to go to the main breaker and shut that off.
After the power is shut off you can safely unplug the extension cord and then turn the chosen shutoff back on.