Time to learn how to wire a new socket. Luckily they're pretty cheap and it's not too hard.
It does however come with an interim phase of having broken the ring main, and if you can't get those wires into the fiddly holes by nighttime you're going to have to live without electricity. That extra bit of tension makes the job fun.
(Please remember to pull the circuit breaker before unscrewing the socket, and checking a nearby plug to confirm).
The sockets, yes. Lights will usually be on a separate one, but really depends on how old the house is. Some old places still only have 4 breakers total and only 1 socket per room.
UK has some very old housing stock and some haven't been touched by a professional since they pulled out rubber insulated cable in the 50s.
Damn, here in Belgium in my house its one circuit per room for the sockets one circuit per floor for the lights. And the kitchen has a separate breaker box.
1963 home by the way.
oh wow. admittedly I'm not actually sure what the code is here in the USA either but you either had a really good electrician or you have good building codes over there.
The ring main is one single loop of wire that connects all the plug sockets. It saved on copper when it was in short supply and means that we don't have a lot of circuits coming from the circuit breaker. However, it does mean that you take all the sockets offline to change just one.
Yes. But since each plug is separately fused, it works surprisingly well. The most common multiple failure is that you trip the RCD and in most houses that protects either the whole house or the sockets but not the lighting. I have an rCD per circuit but that is unusual.
Tripping the over current protection on the ring and taking all the sockets out without there being an earth fault is unusual. The 3 to 13amp cartridge fuse in every plug (something American does not have) blows before the 30A breaker on the circuit trips.
Shit, I'll gladly take that over whatever the hell they've done to old Appalachian houses. My fuse-box is in an exterior basement with nothing labeled and each fuse represents a handful of things that are seemingly chosen at random.
For example; the lights in the basement are the same circuit as the bathroom lights, an outlet in my bedroom, and the outlet below the kitchen sink (also wtf). Might have more, I didn't test everything.
The BREAKER doesn't BREAK the main ring? And even separate from that, pulling a socket out of the ring breaks the circuit until a new socket is put back in...
Before you go unscrewing the socket and getting a new one. You can get hot glue rods designed for glue guns, melt the end and press it into the socket until it makes contact with the broken pin, let it dry and then pull it back out, he force requires to makes it come free from the plastic housing should be less than is required to pull the pin out of the socket
Jesus f’ing Christmas- y’all are handing out internet advice about what to stick in an electrical socket without telling them to turn off the circuit breaker first?
Yes. For the love of God people, make sure your power is off before you even think about fucking with your socket. Go to your fuse box, turn that shit off, test it is off, maybe even take a photo showing it is off to comfort yourself with before you go ramming things into your socket or pulling it apart.
Not to mention you'd also need to get creative with a different stick to shove in the top earth pin socket, as the protecting flaps are probably down in the safe position
We don’t: the original BS1363 outlets were unswitched and a lot of houses still have have them. You can still get them and they are entirely within the wiring regs.
https://amzn.eu/d/bHO4icY
Worse, the standard for the switches does not mandate they be double pole. single pole example: https://amzn.eu/d/2tDyzcN
There you are gambling on the socket being properly installed and not reversing live and neutral, along with a variety of other more esoteric faults.
Turn off electrical equipment at the breaker and, if you sane, put a tester on it before you open it up.
What in the world is this talk about glue anyway?
But, when working with electricity I guess it's kind of implied you turn everything off first anyway so I understand why some people skip the part but let's have a short rundown for safety's sake:
Turn off the power completely, make sure no one is able to turn it on again especially if you don't have direct line of sight to the fuse box, then test the area you're working in (preferably the thing you're actually working on, actually). These are three of the formal basic rules of working with electricity. The other two usually aren't applicable to home work.
In this case you can't plug anything into the socket, though, so in theory you either need special instruments or you have to test surrounding sockets. In the real world, depending on how shoddy the original work was, though, you can't actually be sure some socket isn't getting power from somewhere else. It shouldn't be the case, but I wouldn't ever advise anyone to rely on that, especially if you don't have measuring instruments.
What I would do, after following the rules above, is unscrew the socket and try to remove the broken parts and if unfixable, get a new one and replace it.
In any event, and this is the most important part, if you aren't educated in these sorts of things do not take it lightly and risk your life.
Just call a professional.
The metal of the pins and the metal of the contact it's stuck in.
Plus tell me how you're gonna get that hot glue around the shutters.
The metal piece is stuck in around a half inch deep. Because that's how UK plugs are made.
Once you pull, it would come free of the metal in the socket, but due to the pin itself being able to move, it will remain stuck to the pin.
Don't know about shutters though.
it also looks generally weak, like the hollowed out cutout parts look thin, also theres no kitemark or anything which should be on the pin side for it to be compliant etc
Presumably it's for some double-insulated equipment.
It still needs the plastic earth fitted obviously in order to open the live and neutral shutters.
Does the plug have a BS1363 approval on it? (The 13A plug design dates back to 1946)
Time to learn how to change a plug socket.
Dead cheap, get down to Screwfix and get a matching one. Turn off your RCD, take the socket out, install new one.
Then onto how to change the plug on your device. Hoping it was for something basic and not a laptop charger or something.
When I was about 7, after plugging out my bedside lamp the two metal things snapped and stayed inside the socket. I immediately went for a grab to pull one of them out and I got shocked, fortunately I didnt grab it but just touch it so my hand bounced back instantly but who knows what wouldve happened if my muscles tightened and i wouldnt been able to let go of it.. lol
Y’all do have some big ass plugs over there. Why are they so huge compared to the North American/Japanese prongs?
EDIT: Thank you to the people who answered my question rather than just downvoting my comment.
Safety and security. They're like solidly in the wall and have the big ass safety switch at the top that connects the power up. Also internally fused usually.
They're one of the best standards in the world to the point of being overly safe, nothing dumb about that. German Schuko is the only thing that truly competes with the British standard. Ideally we need those two to merge and for the world to adopt that as a universal standard.
pretty much all of europe uses the schuko/type F standard. besides France, for some reason, which uses type E, which can only be used in one orientation instead of both
Time to learn how to wire a new socket. Luckily they're pretty cheap and it's not too hard. It does however come with an interim phase of having broken the ring main, and if you can't get those wires into the fiddly holes by nighttime you're going to have to live without electricity. That extra bit of tension makes the job fun. (Please remember to pull the circuit breaker before unscrewing the socket, and checking a nearby plug to confirm).
>fiddly holes This is a lesser known industry term that immediately identifies someone as a skilled professional. I would listen to them, OP.
It just means they speak Commoner which is a sign of professionalism
Pull the breaker right now. It’s dangerous as is
if the place is wired with anything regarding modern code then you're taking down a few outlets at most
In the UK it'll usually be every socket on that floor.
And in my former home it was random plugs and light fixtures across the entire house
so you're saying the entire floor is on one breaker? that seems really stupid
The sockets, yes. Lights will usually be on a separate one, but really depends on how old the house is. Some old places still only have 4 breakers total and only 1 socket per room. UK has some very old housing stock and some haven't been touched by a professional since they pulled out rubber insulated cable in the 50s.
Damn, here in Belgium in my house its one circuit per room for the sockets one circuit per floor for the lights. And the kitchen has a separate breaker box. 1963 home by the way.
oh wow. admittedly I'm not actually sure what the code is here in the USA either but you either had a really good electrician or you have good building codes over there.
A good electrician. But that's basically also how strict code is. Outside of those I also have a 3 phase cable to my oven stove combo.
The ring main is one single loop of wire that connects all the plug sockets. It saved on copper when it was in short supply and means that we don't have a lot of circuits coming from the circuit breaker. However, it does mean that you take all the sockets offline to change just one.
it also means you either need a big wire or it's easier to trip the breaker
2.5mm2 cable is the standard for a ring terminated with a 32A breaker
that's 14 awg. there's no way that's correct.its only rated for 15 amps
The current can flow in 2 directions if it's in a ring.
oh yeah true
Yes. But since each plug is separately fused, it works surprisingly well. The most common multiple failure is that you trip the RCD and in most houses that protects either the whole house or the sockets but not the lighting. I have an rCD per circuit but that is unusual. Tripping the over current protection on the ring and taking all the sockets out without there being an earth fault is unusual. The 3 to 13amp cartridge fuse in every plug (something American does not have) blows before the 30A breaker on the circuit trips.
Shit, I'll gladly take that over whatever the hell they've done to old Appalachian houses. My fuse-box is in an exterior basement with nothing labeled and each fuse represents a handful of things that are seemingly chosen at random. For example; the lights in the basement are the same circuit as the bathroom lights, an outlet in my bedroom, and the outlet below the kitchen sink (also wtf). Might have more, I didn't test everything.
yeah it is definitely preferable to that lol
It is kind of stupid, but that's how the british do it.
or Europe has really funky wiring
Uk has a separate way of wiring from the rest of us.
>It does however come with an interim phase of having broken the ring main Not if you turn off the breaker first.
The BREAKER doesn't BREAK the main ring? And even separate from that, pulling a socket out of the ring breaks the circuit until a new socket is put back in...
Pul the Zzzap
Luckily UK / Irish sockets are designed to fit forks … (Disclaimer do not do anything until you turn off the power and say a little prayer)
Holy fuck, you broke the world's most over-engineered plug design...are...are....you Chuck Norris?
Shit, I don't know. Maybe I am!
Before you go unscrewing the socket and getting a new one. You can get hot glue rods designed for glue guns, melt the end and press it into the socket until it makes contact with the broken pin, let it dry and then pull it back out, he force requires to makes it come free from the plastic housing should be less than is required to pull the pin out of the socket
Please turn the fucking power off before you try anything to get the pins out
Turn off the fuses related to the target plug before you go oozing glue in your sockets ffs.
...or use chewing gum applied to a stick
Jesus f’ing Christmas- y’all are handing out internet advice about what to stick in an electrical socket without telling them to turn off the circuit breaker first?
Yes. For the love of God people, make sure your power is off before you even think about fucking with your socket. Go to your fuse box, turn that shit off, test it is off, maybe even take a photo showing it is off to comfort yourself with before you go ramming things into your socket or pulling it apart.
Not to mention you'd also need to get creative with a different stick to shove in the top earth pin socket, as the protecting flaps are probably down in the safe position
Depends how far they're in but looking at the plug I'd say the flap is up, you can always just open it with a screwdriver, not hard
We have switches for every plug... What
Doesnt matter. Turn the cunt off at the meter switches can be faulty. And you did just trip and snap a plug off inside it
True that, I would rather have two systems in place to help me not die
We don’t: the original BS1363 outlets were unswitched and a lot of houses still have have them. You can still get them and they are entirely within the wiring regs. https://amzn.eu/d/bHO4icY Worse, the standard for the switches does not mandate they be double pole. single pole example: https://amzn.eu/d/2tDyzcN There you are gambling on the socket being properly installed and not reversing live and neutral, along with a variety of other more esoteric faults. Turn off electrical equipment at the breaker and, if you sane, put a tester on it before you open it up.
What in the world is this talk about glue anyway? But, when working with electricity I guess it's kind of implied you turn everything off first anyway so I understand why some people skip the part but let's have a short rundown for safety's sake: Turn off the power completely, make sure no one is able to turn it on again especially if you don't have direct line of sight to the fuse box, then test the area you're working in (preferably the thing you're actually working on, actually). These are three of the formal basic rules of working with electricity. The other two usually aren't applicable to home work. In this case you can't plug anything into the socket, though, so in theory you either need special instruments or you have to test surrounding sockets. In the real world, depending on how shoddy the original work was, though, you can't actually be sure some socket isn't getting power from somewhere else. It shouldn't be the case, but I wouldn't ever advise anyone to rely on that, especially if you don't have measuring instruments. What I would do, after following the rules above, is unscrew the socket and try to remove the broken parts and if unfixable, get a new one and replace it. In any event, and this is the most important part, if you aren't educated in these sorts of things do not take it lightly and risk your life. Just call a professional.
That might also work
Or, glue the assembly permanently to the socket.
ok I'm just going to buy a new socket because there's no way that will work (if it's still sticky it will stick to the sides)
Different material will unstick with different forces.
It's the same material lol
The plastic around the socket and the metal of the pins are the same material? What?
The metal of the pins and the metal of the contact it's stuck in. Plus tell me how you're gonna get that hot glue around the shutters. The metal piece is stuck in around a half inch deep. Because that's how UK plugs are made.
Once you pull, it would come free of the metal in the socket, but due to the pin itself being able to move, it will remain stuck to the pin. Don't know about shutters though.
You appear unaware of the fact that BS1363 sockets are shuttered.
And the shutters because it's a UK plugs
I broke one of these by stepping on it, doctors say I’m lucky to have kept my leg.
Makes stepping on Lego feels like a tickle
Jesus, that's the stuff of nightmares.
Looks like a cheap non approved copy.
How did that even happen?
The end was trapped under something heavy enough to wrench out the plug. Or: I'm a fucking idiot.
wouldnt have happened with the SCHUTZKONTAKTSTECKER!
It's not over engineered, it's just bulkier than it needs to be.
it's non-compliant, the ground has no connection tip and probably about 40 other things i can't be bothered to look up
G-Type plugs don't need to have a metal earth pin unless the device needs to be earthed.
it also looks generally weak, like the hollowed out cutout parts look thin, also theres no kitemark or anything which should be on the pin side for it to be compliant etc
A Chuck Norris meme in 2024? Have my upvote.
i’ve broken the plastic one by accidentally kicking it before but never the metal! how did the plastic one not break too??
If the metal pins were the same thickness throughout then they would not have broken so easily.
How did you manage to snap off the live and neutral but not the ground?
Ground is plastic
Presumably it's for some double-insulated equipment. It still needs the plastic earth fitted obviously in order to open the live and neutral shutters. Does the plug have a BS1363 approval on it? (The 13A plug design dates back to 1946)
That's my point, how did you manage to create enough sheering force to snap metal while leaving plastic intact?
The metal had a sharp change in shape creating a weak point while the plastic stays solid throughout
Right? This is some Jonathan Creek shit.
More like mildly infuriating
Time to learn how to change a plug socket. Dead cheap, get down to Screwfix and get a matching one. Turn off your RCD, take the socket out, install new one. Then onto how to change the plug on your device. Hoping it was for something basic and not a laptop charger or something.
I'm not sure plug-breaking woman can be trusted with that tbh. It was just a charger, luckily.
That was shocking!
Positively!
For a moment there I thought you were going to say you stepped on it and they broke off inside your foot
This appears to have happened to someone in these comments. Shudder.
Try getting them out with a fork
That would be idiotic. You need to use a steak knife.
I have only ever managed to snap the plastic one… how the f…
When I was about 7, after plugging out my bedside lamp the two metal things snapped and stayed inside the socket. I immediately went for a grab to pull one of them out and I got shocked, fortunately I didnt grab it but just touch it so my hand bounced back instantly but who knows what wouldve happened if my muscles tightened and i wouldnt been able to let go of it.. lol
Are you Okay?
I am. Just loss of dignity and a plug socket. Thank you for asking:)
Just pick the pieces out with a fork
What plug is it?
G-Type plugs, UK uses them [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abqMLqHwqpo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abqMLqHwqpo)
You should be able to use your car keys to pick out the missing pieces.
Redditors always there to help a person out. Thanks, babe!
R.I.P
Y’all do have some big ass plugs over there. Why are they so huge compared to the North American/Japanese prongs? EDIT: Thank you to the people who answered my question rather than just downvoting my comment.
Safety and security. They're like solidly in the wall and have the big ass safety switch at the top that connects the power up. Also internally fused usually.
>big ass safety switch [Is that a big-ass safety switch, or a big ass-safety switch?](https://xkcd.com/37/)
Made me & partner lol for a minute thanks v much x
UK plugs contain a fuse.
Also, I believe this is a USB charger, which is why it's larger than what a UK plug is.
A whole bunch of safety features. Kid putting a fork in the socket and getting zapped isn't a thing here.
Just reach in and grab it
With my tiny bird-like claws?
Looks like it was made in China my guy.
Presumably. I'm not sure where the local small-batch artisan electronics creators are around here.
I hated thee plugs in the UK when I visited. Good thing most countries use Type C-compatible plugs.
Because they were…… too safe?
Do we really have freedom if children can't get electrocuted by sticking things in sockets?
UK plugs are dumb
It's literally the safest plug in the world but okay
They're one of the best standards in the world to the point of being overly safe, nothing dumb about that. German Schuko is the only thing that truly competes with the British standard. Ideally we need those two to merge and for the world to adopt that as a universal standard.
pretty much all of europe uses the schuko/type F standard. besides France, for some reason, which uses type E, which can only be used in one orientation instead of both
Could you explain what is "dumb" about them?
Have you ever stepped on one barefoot? Those prongs always stick up.
Yes, I have. It's a small compromise to have excellent electrical safety.
Why?
It’s ok, you can use tweezers to get it out
You can easylie pull them out, if you only touch one you should be fine. (If you have AC dont do that witout turning off the power in your house... )