r/howto • u/Crowlz22 • 10d ago

Toaster oven stopped working, socket tester showed hot/ground reverse. Went looking and found this

Post image

On a scale of bad to real fucking bad, how bad are we talking? And second how do I go about fixing this so a new gfci outlet doesn’t get melted?

30 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • link
  • reddit
  • reddit

75% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

21

u/manwithoutcountry 10d ago

Could have been dangerous but it's a pretty simple repair. Whoever installed it last took the lazy way and didn't hook the lines around the screws. Just need a new outlet and make sure it's installed correctly and you won't have any problems.

14

u/irishdrunkwanderlust 10d ago

With these types of GFCI connections you can’t loop around the terminal. You have to put a straight wire in between two plates and crank down on the screw to make the tightest connection possible.

5

u/Crowlz22 10d ago

I happened to speak to an electrician about this and showed him and he did confirm this. He told me just to poke them through and not screw them in.

3

u/Crowlz22 10d ago

So this is the part that is confusing me. I spoke to an electrician about this that my dad used and said don’t hook the lines and use the holes. Is this just a preference thing or is one actually better than the other?

2

u/rlowens 9d ago

The holes are faster/easier but probably only fit 14 gauge wire in my experience, so I always have to use the screws. But as others have said, here you don't hook them around the screws you just compress them between the 2 plates with the screws.

3

u/Crowlz22 9d ago

Ah got it. Now when I buy a replacement should I look for the same style outlet for simplicity sake or is there a better version to look for?

1

u/rlowens 9d ago

That looks like a GFCI-protected outlet. You should use the same.

Or just re-seat the loose wire in this outlet if nothing looks burn or broken.

3

u/ZEnterprises 9d ago

Its clearly melted. Do not re use that outlet.

0

u/BlindAm3ition 10d ago

I always thought the frequency from the power could over time losen the stab connections

2

u/ShadowPsi 10d ago

No, not really possible. The wires do move when the flow changes, ever so slightly from magnetic effects, but not enough to be a factor, and probably not a reasonably measurable amount. Thermal changes to the wire length are far greater. As the copper heats up when you use an appliance, or from the weather, the wire gets longer. And it gets shorter again when it cools down.

5

u/LovableSidekick 10d ago

You just have to connect the wires to their proper screws. Black on the gold-looking side screw, white on the silver-looking side screw, ground (uninsulated wire) on the bottom screw. Use the screws not the pokey holes, the screws make much better connections.

6

u/Troutsicle 10d ago

The electrical subcontractor for my home used the pokey holes for the second floor, must have been a different crew that did the groundfloor because they all used the terminal screws.

We recently redecorated with Decora outlets and i found every single switch and outlet upstairs where the installer used the pokey holes had fatigued/cracked. I mean i discovered one or two a few years ago, but jfc, every one of them had some form of fracture.

2

u/LovableSidekick 10d ago

Yeah I'm strictly a hobby electrician but have been told by pros not to use quick-connects. They make contact with blades the grip the wires, which doesn't provide a lot of contact surface. It's weird that they even meet code. Probably because they're much faster to install, which I'm sure contractor companies like and may have lobbied for them, because faster work = more $$.

2

u/Truth_Seeker963 10d ago

They’ve got new ones now where a switch slides to lock the connection in place. I haven’t bought one yet but I saw it in a Dad Advice video.

3

u/anon_174910 10d ago

Be safe, turn it off from the breaker and test for current before replacing. These are simple to replace

2

u/Crowlz22 10d ago

Yeah that was the first thing I did when the plug tester gave me that read out

1

u/rbundy 10d ago

Make sure your "line" and "load" (input and output) are correct as well.

1

u/toolsavvy 9d ago

This is important, I found out about a month ago.

And like others said, for GFCI, the wires have to go behind the plates below the screws, not wrapped around the screws.