Home Repairs: Changing out a 120 volt receptacle

I go into a lot of people's houses to do something insanely simple for one reason: They are afraid of electricity. You should be, as not knowing what you are doing can cause damage, pain, and in some cases even death. However, with some basic precautions you can safely save yourself almost $100 to change out a faulty receptacle.

Why change out a receptacle? What needs to be wrong with it to let you know it's time to change it out? The number one reason we get for receptacle change outs is cosmetic; older homes used a lot of dark brown or ivory "devices" (i.e. switches and receptacles) and many people want to switch to white during a remodel. Another reason is that the receptacle has become loose, and when you plug something in it doesn't remain in the receptacle firmly. If your receptacle is discolored or burnt, it is definitely time to change it out.

I'm going to go over the steps you need to perform in order to safely change out a basic 120 volt receptacle, but first let's get some knowledge about receptacles. There is some confusion between 110 and 120 volts. When the utility company provides power to your house it comes as 240 volts on 2 "legs" or wires. Each of these wires goes into a a lug on your panel, or into a main breaker or fuse, where it then feeds 2 different bus bars, or large metal plates in the center of your panel. The breakers or fuses draw their power from these two bus bars, as either 120 volt or 240 volt power. If you've ever looked inside your breaker panel and seen a double-wide breaker that has a piece of metal/plastic connecting the two breaker handles then you are looking at a breaker that pulls 120 volts from each of the two bus bars to provide something like a range or hot water heater with 240 volts.

Some people call the power 110 volts, some people call it 120 volts, but at the end of the day it is the same. The utility company's transformer supplies the voltage within a range, the higher end being around 120 volts. So whether you see something labeled 110, 115, or 120 volts it is the same. The only exception is incandescent light bulbs; if they are rated for 120 volts and your house is receiving 121 volts they will blow more often.

Your basic household receptacles operate off of 120 volts, and if the circuits in your panel aren't labeled then you can either use a voltage meter to determine which circuit it is, or you can use the simpler method of turning off the main breaker in your panel which will kill power to your house. If your panel doesn't have a main breaker, then just turn all of the breakers off. At that point you should be safe, but since electrical installations are often done by inexperienced people with zero knowledge we will still be treating the circuit as if it were live.

For your own safety, do not do this barefoot in your bathrobe. Wear shoes, clothes, and safety glasses. Why wear safety glasses? Just because you turned the power off doesn't mean the circuit isn't live. It's like unloading a rifle and looking down the barrel; don't take the risk.

The first step is to unplug any items currently in use and to take off the cover plate, which is usually held in place by a single flat head screw in the center of the cover. Completely remove it and set the screw and plate aside. The receptacle it's self will be held in place, top and bottom, by 2 flat or phillips screws. Remove these two screws and gently pull the receptacle out of the box. Be sure not to scrape the wire against ay rough edges on the box if it is made of metal. Metal boxes were common in older constructions, and are still used in some situations today. In newer homes the box will be made out of pvc.

Check the receptacle's sides; between each set of screws should be a small metal plate that connects the plate beneath each screw. If you see one between the silver screws and not the copper screws then you have a switched receptacle. If you don't feel comfortable with anything more difficult than a basic receptacle change out then it is time to call an electrician. I will be making more articles on more complicated change outs later.

You will notice that the receptacle has two screws on each side. One set is silver and one set is a copper color. If the house was wired by an electrician then the silver set is your neutral wires which will be white. The copper set is your hot wires, which carry your 120 volts of power. There is also a green screw on most receptacles, on the same side as the silver screws. This is the ground wire, which usually has no protective insulation on it, or may have a green sheathing. Disconnect this wire first and bend it back out of the way.

The wires should be stripped and formed into a J shape, with the lower curl of the J oriented exactly as the letter is so that when the screw is tightened it will grip and pull the curve of the wire tighter instead of pushing it out.

If that is how the wires are formed, then grip the receptacle by the metal tabs at the top and bottom and use the appropriate screw driver to loosen one screw at a time, removing and bending each wire back towards the wall and away from themselves. Sometimes removing the wire from under the screw isn't easy, and you may need to completely back the screw out. It will turn pretty tough, but the screw will back out and either fall away or you will need to remove it. Let go of the receptacle so you aren't touching any possibly grounded metal and, touching only the one wire, simply remove the screw with your fingers.

With your new receptacle in hand, place the J shaped wires back under their respective screws, one at a time, tightening each one before moving on to the next. When your neutral and hot wires are securely under the screws of the new receptacle you can put the ground wire back on. If your wires aren't shaped like a J then you will need wire strippers or needle nose pliers with correctly form them.

If everything went as described, you can carefully put the wires back into the box and screw the receptacle in. Replace the cover on the receptacle, turn back on your breakers, and you are done.

If for any reason you encountered something different than what I have discussed here, then you will need to call an electrician. There are too many people with zero knowledge about electrical installs trying to "jack-leg" their own work ( that's Kentucky for "$#@&-up their house"), and there are more scenarios you could run across changing out a receptacle than I can probably write articles about. I have been doing this work for 7+ years, and there are times when I will sit there scratching my head for a few minutes. If you don't understand it, don't touch it.

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