Last week my spouse commented that a garage outlet was sparking when plugging or unplugging. That's not an issue if it's rare, but it was happening fairly often. It sparked three times when I went out to check. In addition, the top outlet was a little spongy when plugging in a cord.
I decided it would be a simple case of changing the receptacle and putting spacers on the top screw. I knew I had a receptacle, purchased many years ago, but hadn't used in a previous house. Fortunately, I had a idea where it was and found it. I also knew where the spacers were that I purchased about 5 years ago. Then, I turned off the circuit breaker, which I had marked over 20 years ago. Upon taking off the wall plate, I noticed electrical gang box was not flush with the wall, and recessed about 1/2", making it not in code. As luck would have it, I had purchased box extenders to correct such an issue about 5 years ago and the items were in the same location as the spacers. It took me about an hour to diagnose all the issues and find the relevant parts, which avoided going to the hardware stores or ordering online
Back to actual fixing the issue. One I had all the part, it took about 30 minutes to take off the old receptacle, wire the new one, add the box extender, and attached the new receptacle and reattached wall plate. Now we have a safe outlet.
The feel good element is that:
- I remembered I had previously bought all the parts for other projects.
- I could find them, partly because I had labeled the containers previously.
- I had all the tools,
- I had the knowledge.
- I could execute quickly, since I had experience.
And it only took about 90 minutes. Without any help from AI.😎
This is not financial nor DIY advice. Please consult a professional advisor.
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