Having a good tool always comes in handy. You never know when you’re going to need it.
Man or woman – we need to get our hands working to fix or build things. Especially at the height of the pandemic, most of us learned to do things on our own.
One of the trickiest things to work on is electrical wirings.
The danger it entails can be fatal with major consequences. In fact, 37.14% of electricity-caused injuries are through electrocution, wherein 78.06% of these are in the household.
Faulty electrical wirings are also one primary reason for household fires.
In the United States alone, 51,000 home electrical fire incidents happen in a year damaging $1.3 billion worth of property. These numbers also resulted in almost 500 deaths and more than 1,400 injuries in a year alone.
But we’re not here to scare you about doing electrical stuff at home!
On the contrary, here’s a handy tip and life hack that you might or might not have known before.
Did you know that your power outlet has two useful tools on it?
Yep! The YouTube video at the end of this article will show you those two tools and how to use them.
One: a stripping gauge.
At the back of your power outlet, you can see a long thin gap or hole on one of its edges. Its purpose is simple – it shows you have long you should strip the wire for side-wiring. It’s very simple, yet very useful.
The other tool may come as a shock for you.
Did you know that your power outlet has wire strippers?
Yes, it’s this piece of metal on one end of the outlet. It has two slots: the left one for 14-gauge and the right one for 12-gauge wires.
So, how can you use this tool? It’s simple.
After measuring the length of the wire to strip on the stripping gauge, slide the wire into the slot. Then, rotate the outlet back and forth a couple of times. Doing so cuts through the insulation of the wire.
Next, push the wire stripper while pulling the wire.
Viola! Your electrical wire is stripped and is ready for the next step for side-wiring.
You might ask – why and when would you need this?
Sure, it is not your go-to tool when stripping wires. There are proper and better wire strippers out there, after all. But you’ll never know when you will need a wire stripper, and you don’t have one at your disposal.
Want to learn more about how to use this handy tool? Watch the video below!
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