My friend is a hair dresser and her hair clipper's electrical plug is coming loose in the wall outlet.
The outlet is about 4 feet off the ground, so the clipper's cord comes out of the outlet, drops down a few feet and then go up to the clipper without touching the floor. IOW, it forms an U shape and the constant movement of the clipper and the weight of the cord eventually loosen the plug.
It would be easy to attach the cord to the wall a few inches away from the wall outlet, so that movements of the clipper would not reach the plug. However, she needs to be able to unplug the clipper and move it to another station/chair easily.
I temporarily bend the prongs on the plug to make it stay more firmly in the outlet, but this is only a temporary solution. What's a good long term solution?
*Replace the electrical receptacle with a commercial grade model. The cheap residential grade models get loose over time as a result of frequent plugging and unplugging.
Get an outlet extender that turns one outlet into three that's got the new child proof shutters. It takes great force to get plug blades in and out because they are pushing aside an internal plastic cover. Stopped a similar problem for me.
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But be forewarned - the above may not be childproof as their stock changes and I can't lay my hands on the invoices at the moment but a trip to Wal*Mart or TruValue will find some that are. She might have to move the tap and the clipper together, but the tap is small, and it doesn't involve any electrical work. The shuttered outlets really do hang on. They are cheap enough the whole shop could be so equipped for under $20.
*What is there to keep the extender from falling out? This accessory will not alleviate the real problem and may aggravate it instead. A loose receptacle can cause arcing which generates heat and sparks. Adding a 3-way extender provides the opportunity to add more of a load to the receptacle which would contribute to the arcing. I agree that the safety shutter will make a plug fit tighter, however he can change the existing receptacle to a tamper resistant type to get the additional grab.
An electrical supplier can sell you a hospital grade receptacle made of nylon or polycarbonate that is pretty much indestructible. They are expensive but have been designed to resist the power cord from a floor polisher being ripped out at an angle and keep working despite abuse. ^_^
Replace the socket, and buy the good one that costs $2.79.
I have similar problems at church, with the sockets in the hall. They need the vacuum cleaner plug to stay in, but need to vacuum here or there.
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The outlet is about 4 feet off the ground, so the clipper's cord comes out of the outlet, drops down a few feet and then go up to the clipper without touching the floor. IOW, it forms an U shape and the constant movement of the clipper and the weight of the cord eventually loosen the plug.
It would be easy to attach the cord to the wall a few inches away from the wall outlet, so that movements of the clipper would not reach the plug. However, she needs to be able to unplug the clipper and move it to another station/chair easily.
I temporarily bend the prongs on the plug to make it stay more firmly in the outlet, but this is only a temporary solution. What's a good long term solution?
Your concerns are duly noted but the extender doesn't fall out because it's also got a ground pin. I've rarely seen a clipper that has one. That's a lot more surface area and friction to hold the extended outlet's plug in place than a simple two prong plug alone. Especially a badly made one.
As for arcing, there's no mention of a faulty outlet. The issue is crappy stuff from places with $1 a day labor costs. Lots of new gear comes with simple flat prongs that don't hold well in ANY outlet. Better plugs have dimples or even spring blades to maintain outlet contact.
Outlet extenders are UL approved, as are three outlet extension cords, so they're not worried about arcing or overloading, so neither am I. From what I've seen at hairdressing shops, during the initial wiring they anticipate multiple hairdrying and curling iron loads and have lots of outlets. Mine even has duplex outlets wired to both sides of each workstation.
There's no guarantee even a good receptacle will grab onto a bad two-prong flat blade plug but the plastic shutters exert considerable extra force resisting the plug pulling out. I guess, but I don't know, that the owner's not even in this chain of events yet. The best solution to this problem really depends on the quality of the plug and of the existing outlet. Does the clipper plug fall out of other outlets? Do other items stay plugged into the outlet the clipper plugs into? At a $1.49, there's a low buy in cost for my solution. (-:
I suspect there are hundreds of dollars cost difference between our two proposed solutions. That could easily be an issue because I believe a commercial shop needs a commercial electrician. You and I could change out a crappy outlet in less time than it took for either of us to type these posts. Hopefully we would both first make sure the replacement actually DOES hold the plug snugly! I am not sure if I owned a hairdressing shop I could do that legally. It probably depends on where you live.
Yabbut. Consider the source of the question. A hairdresser. Through a friend, at that. She's apparently not the owner or manager. As my Army wife would say, any solution that involved rewiring the shop is probably "above her pay grade."
Besides there's an assumption the outlet is at fault when lately all I see coming from overseas are flat bladed plug without dimples or spring blades to seat fully in the outlet. If the blades are too thin (who ever heard of our overseas partners shaving a few mils here and there? - /sarcasm alert/) even a high quality outlet may have trouble holding a bad plug.
The extender has a ground pin that can be smushed a bit to really fit tightly. The internal slot covers of the outlets on the extender have to be pushed aside by the force of insertion and that really acts to lock the plug in place - even the lousy thin, non-dimpled, hole free, spring-blade free cheap overseas junk that passes for a line cord plug these days. I use this setup with a Craftsmen heat gun with a funky plug. No more trouble.
The problem is we have no pictures and not many concrete facts. When I get my hair cut I'll ask the manager if I can look at his setup. I tend to believe the wet nature of a hair salon requires a better grade of outlet than the Home Depot truckload kind, but I only have the NEC highlights book. Maybe a sparky here knows for sure.
Overall, I still think that a "purchase safety slot outlet extender for under $2" solution is the right one considering who has the problem. I can think of some people here, who, if they owned a salon, would fire a hairdresser who suggested that their salon was wired with cheap junk. (-: A lowly hairdresser suggesting an expensive rewire probably *should* get the stinkeye from her boss. She might consider herself an expert in salon management as well as commercial electrical wiring, too.
FWIW, I agree wholeheartedly that saving a hundred buck wiring a house with crappy outlets is just asking for trouble. Unless you're flipping it and long term reliability isn't your problem. (-:
Hmm. They teach commercial electrical rewiring at cosmetology schools now?
The solution needs to be appropriate to the situation. For all we know the existing outlet is hospital grade because it's in an area likely to be wet. Not enough facts, too many assumptions.
We do know this isn't the owner manager, but a hairdresser who may not even have her own station. What are the odds she's going to do a rewire or even convince her boss the place needs one?
Another solution would be one of the Velcro strips they use to manage cords and a little strip of Velcro next to the outlet. Attach the Velcro strip around the line cord a little down from the plug and then stick the Velcro loop to a piece of Velcro on the wall. The Velcro connection would absorb the strain of the moving cord and you'd hear it starting to break away.
No hairdresser, nor salon owner, that I know of would ever consider an outlet extender, based on aesthetics alone. These are people who invest tens of thousands of dollars into design and maintenance of every excruciating detail of interior design.
As far as cheap plugs from China, the hairdryers that they use are not from Wal Mart. Hell, the scissors my hairdresser uses are about $250.
Pending Derby Dad's (iirc) simple test to determine whether it's the plug or the outlet at fault, either the dryer (unlikely) or the outlets (more likely) should be replaced. Even at licensed electrician rates, it will be a petty cash thing compared to the frustration and professional embarrassment of having plugs falling out of the wall.
Aesthetics, aesthetics, aesthetics. You're thinking like a homeowner cobbling up a garage solution. Is this salon in Appalachia? You keep talking about making the salon owner happy, and you keep making suggestions that wouldn't fly in any salon within 100 miles of where I live, at least.
The replacing a socket ain't agonna happen and hacking on the clipper cord isn't a very good solution, either, imo...
I think you've got the right idea...give her a strain relief.
First idea would be if she is allowed would be to use one of the pressure-sensitive velcro pads on the wall near the outlet(s) and another matching strip around the cord a few inches from end. All needs is to stick the one side near each outlet used...
If that isn't allowed post back w/ any other constraints...is there a countertop below the wall outlet and if so, how far below the outlet?
Install a little hook on the wall a short distance from each outlet, and attach a small loop on the cord a short distance from the plug. This will serve as a strain relief, and keep the stress of movement away from the plug.
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