How to Replace a Worn or Faulty Small Electrical Appliance Plug

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By Cherst1031
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If you have a perfectly good electrical appliance, such as a lamp or sewing machine, but the plug has gotten frayed and worn, you can replace it yourself and safe yourself the cost of a repair shop or new appliance.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

New Plug
Wire Stripping Tool
Screwdriver, Phillips Head
Scissors

Step 1

These things always say BE SURE DEVICE IS NOT CONNECTED TO ELECTRICITY BEFORE BEGINNING THIS PROJECT. That is very important, but the reason to do this project is because the device is not able to be connected to electricity, so it is a pretty safe project.
Step 2

Gather the supplies

Go to your local home improvement or hardware store and purchase a residential two prong plug. They are available in different colors, to match the electrical cord you have, and there are also various shapes, look for one that is similar to what you are removing from your lamp, sewing machine, whatever device has the problem.
Step 3

Open the plug

Using a Phillips head screwdriver, remove the screw and open the plug. You will see two screws inside. One will be silver and one will be brass. If your stripped wires are both copper, the color of the screws is not important, they are that way for other kinds of wires.
Step 4

Remove old plug

Using the wire cutter part of the stripper tool, cut the old plug off the wire and discard. Use a pair of scissors to start a small snip in the plastic insulation, between the two sections of wire. Carefully pull the two wires apart to a length of about 2”. If they don't pull apart easily, very carefully, using small snips, cut with the scissors.
Step 5

Learn how to use a Wire Stripper Tool

Looking at the wire stripping tool, you will see there are grooves with numbers next to them, these are gauges of the wires that can be cut. Put the wire into the grooves until you find one that it fits, carefully clamp the tool closed over the wire and gently pull the insulation off. It is helpful to start with a short segment of 1/4” at first until you get a feel for it. Check to be sure you are only pulling away plastic (tube shaped) insulation. If you see any pieces of copper wire in the piece you pulled off, then you used too small of a gauge, use the next size larger and see if that strips more cleanly. Strip away about 3/4” of insulation off both strands of copper wire.
Step 6

The wire twisted and shaped like a letter U

Notice that these strands of copper wire are actually many very fine wires bundled together. To make them easier to work with, twist them tightly so they look like a rope. Use rounded needle nose pliers (from your handy jewelry making supplies, for example) to bend the “rope” into a U shape that will hook over the screw in the plug. See the photo for an example.
Step 7

Hook the twisted wires over a screw, hold in place, and turn the screw until it has tightly secured the wire in place. Repeat with second wire. (They should hook around the screw in a counterclockwise direction, for example if the beginning of the wire is at 3:00 then it should hook up towards 12:00 and down again the other side toward 9:00. )
Step 8

Run the wires through the channels on the plug, so that it can now be closed. Replace the first screw that was removed and tighten to secure the plug.
Step 9

All fixed and working again

To be safe, turn off the power (at the circuit breaker or fuse) to the electrical outlet you are going to use. Plug in the appliance and then restore power at the circuit breaker and see if your appliance works – tada!