Plugs and Switches

Here is a post that I should have done a while back but never got around to writing.  When we moved into the house almost a year ago all of the plugs and swiches were the original cream colored switches from the early '80s.  The twist was that the cover plates had been changed to  white covers.  This looked quite tacky.  Also, after talking with my colleague who is an electrical engineer he said that the rough lifespan of the outlets is about 20 to 25 years. It was about time to change the outlets.  We were fortunate enough that the wiring in the house was copper wires.  It was common practice in the '70s in Alberta to use Aluminum wiring.

I had never changed a plug before, but on standard wiring there is two insulated wires which go to the two terminals and then there is the bare copper ground.which has a green terminal.  I was not too worried about it, considering A/C power is more forgiving than D/C. 


I had a plug tester, so after I turned the breaker I pulled the plug out.  I came to find that the wires on the original plugs were inserted into the holes of the plugs rather than using the screw terminals.  From my research this was also common during the 70s and 80s.  The problem with doing it that way is that the connection is spring held and over time the spring can fatigue and fail leaving a potentially dangerous situation.

The install was pretty simple, I cut the wires off the plugs and stripped them so that I could use the screw terminals.  We upgraded the plugs to use the Decora plugs and both the plug and the cover will be matching white. 

The switches were pretty much the same story except for the 3 way switches.  3 way switches have an extra terminal.  Because this is an existing house I couldn't tell which were the Travellers and which was the Common Wire.  Below is a diagram showing the circuit of how it works.  If you are building a new house it might be a good idea to label the wires in the box for people in the future or at least to follow some convention of what color wire to use.

 Just remember to respect electricity and beware of the path to ground and make sure that you are not apart of it.  Also, do not be afraid of electrical work as you are basically creating a circle with it.

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