The plug from my phone charger just broke. How do I get the metal prong out of the socket?
Asked by
occ (
4176
)
January 18th, 2010
I unplugged my phone charger and one of the two metal prongs from the plug is stuck in the electric socket. It might not even be that stuck, but I didn’t want to try touching it for fear of the electric current. How can I safely nudge the metal piece out of the socket? (side question: will Verizon replace a charger that broke? I don’t think it has a warranty).
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12 Answers
If you know nothing about electricity, then DO NOT touch it. You could get hurt.
With plastic. Use a plastic fork and try to pry it out. If it is struck in deep, you may have to flip the breaker to that plug. I would turn the breaker off anyway.
where would one find the breaker to the plug?
Do not touch the metal prong, it will electrocute you. wait until the electricity is shut off before making any attempt at its removal. call someone that has experience in electricity.
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I think I better not try to deal with this myself – not worth the risk. If I call an electrician, do I pay for that, or does my landlord? Should I ask my landlord if he has an electrician he uses? This is a small apartment building so we don’t have a super.
It is something that can be easily fixed in a minute once you turn off the breaker. Your landlord probably has a handyman that can deal with it. Until it gets fixed I would suggest staying away from the outlet.
@occ: You should be able to find the answers to your last questions in your lease.
If you are in an apartment, the breaker is probably in the utility room or near the AC unit. It is very easy to do once the breaker is off. Call your landlord in the morning, he or she will probably send someone out without charging you.
Better safe than sorry, or dead, or severely wounded, in this case. If you don’t even know where your breakers are, I don’t think you know enough to do this thing safely, no insult intended. Call your landlord, if you rent or an electrician if you don’t.
I would wear very thick, well-insulated, rubber gloves and be sure to grip only the rubber portions of a good pair of pliers then proceed to pry it out myself, but I think that the suggestions regarding erring on the side of safety are much better than my crazy plan.
Personally, I would turn off the circuit breaker (I own my house) and then use a screwdriver to remove the cover plate. That will give you easy access to the prong stub.
If you can’t turn off the circuit breaker, you could still remove the cover plate without touching the stub, and when you have a longer stub to work with, pull it out with an insulated pair of pliers.
If you live in an apartment, let the landlord or maintanence crew take care of it.
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