The best way to change an electrical plug socket   

Obviously, the best way to change an electrical socket is to hire an electrician who can do the job for you! But if you don't want to hire one or anybody else for that matter, you could change an electrical plug socket yourself. In the grand scheme of things, it's a minor job. But that minor job can become a major fiasco if it's not handled properly because electricity can be very dangerous. So here is a guide you can follow to safely change an electrical plug socket.

Remember that safety is the most important concern here. Before you do anything at all, make sure that you turn off the power to the socket you are going to change. Go to your main circuit breaker box and trip off the breaker that gives power to that particular socket. You can only do this and select the appropriate breaker if your main breaker box is properly labeled, otherwise if you do not want to test each breaker until you find the right one, you will have to turn off all the breakers to make sure. Now go to the socket in question and test for power. Just plug an electrical appliance such as a vacuum cleaner to check whether the power is still on or use a multi-tester if you have one. Multi-testers are supplied with operational manuals so anyone can use one.

Proceed only when you are absolutely sure that there is no power to the socket you are going to work with. Now, use a screwdriver to remove the screws holding the face plate and then pull off the face plate. Remove the screws holding the socket to the receptacle box. Pull the socket as far as it can go out of the receptacle box taking care not to touch any wires.

Now, take note of exactly how the wires are connected to the socket because you will need to reconnect them later into the new socket. You should see two or three wires attached to the socket and they are usually colour coded. The brown is the live wire, the other 2 are for neutral and ground. If you wire them up exactly the samw way, you don't need to worry about the colours. This is very important. A multi-tester will be invaluable here if you get stuck.

Unfasten the wires from the old socket. Check your notes and reconnect the wires into the new socket’s terminal. Tighten all the screws and ensure that no wire with a different colour is touching each other. When all the wires are properly fastened into place, push the socket back into the receptacle box and secure it with the screws you had taken out earlier. Then replace the faceplate. Switch on all the breakers in your main breaker box and plug an electrical appliance into the new socket to check if it is working.

Congratulations. You've just learned how to successfully change an electric plug socket.

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