I am being forced by my apartment manager to move my kitchen range 3 feet back to its original location. In the course of starting this process I pulled the cord some so the 220 plug is pulled slightly out of the outlet at a slightly canted angle.
I was able to relieve the stress on the cord so it’s no longer pulling at the plug. I need to unplug the range to finish moving it. I** do not have access to the breaker box so I can not turn of the circuit or the mains.** I need to have this moved by tomorrow morning so I want to finish tonight.
Even though this is a 220v circuit instead of a 120v, this is still just pulling out and then later re-attaching an electrical plug into a live circuit like we all do with lamps and computers, etc. all the time, right?
I plan to wear leather gloves while I unplug it but I know that leather doesn’t completely insulate you from electricity.
For reasons that I won’t go into here, I am a bit screwed if I can’t get this done and have to ask for more time and/or for the apt. to turn off the circuit.
Question is: is this dangerous or should I just go ahead and do it without worrying.
And yes, I would really appreciate a quick answer if I can get one.
While I still would love getting an answer to this I realize it is kind of a tough one to answer because it’s a bit like asking for serious medical advice. Because if someone offers the opinion that it’s no big deal and then I proceed to electrocute myself then that poster might regret giving that advice (even though it wouldn’t be his/her fault).
So I’ll rescind the “need answer fast” part and also say that no matter what anyone opines here I am not going to act solely on your opinion. I’ve decided to not unplug it at all, but to move it where it goes, then use a piece of dry lumber to push the loose plug back in.
Presumably if this is a 30A supply if it’s powering a cooker.
Even so, there shouldn’t be any significant risk of arcing or anything like that. The UK has 240V mains since before switched sockets were common - devices were just unplugged to power them down. If the cooker is not actually drawing power when you unplug it, there shouldn’t be much risk.
The biggest risk, IMO, given the situation you describe, is that the plug has somehow become damaged and that in the act of unplugging it, something breaks and you accidentally contact a piece of live metal.
I’ve seen damaged plugs come away in such fashion that the top comes off leaving the bare pins stuck in the live socket*, or that the cable was damaged in such fashion as to expose some bare conductor at the point where it enters the plug. Watch out for those risks and you should be fine.
*in this particular case, I watched it happen and had to shout a warning because the instinctive reaction of the person who pulled the plug was to reach toward the brass pins as if they were going to just pull them out.
IANAE. I Am Not An Electrician. So take this with that in mind.
I often do this when I repair ranges & dryers for my extended family. Leather gloves are overkill, but if they make you feel safer, use them. Just check them for any kind of holes, or splits.
Switching off the breaker would be better & safer.
Leaving a situation where “the 220 plug is pulled slightly out of the outlet at a slightly canted angle” is the dangerous part.
i basically am an electrician. make sure your oven is off & just unplug it. you may find that the connection is tight & you have to kinda work the plug back & forth. no big deal though. just unplug it.
Thanks for all the replies. I’ve actually gone ahead and plugged it in fully (it was already mostly plugged in). So I skipped the whole unplugging part. I’m somehow still alive so if a moderator wants to close this thread that would be fine by me.
Same in Australia (even though the plugs have a completely different shape). Most power points have switches, but even so most people will happily unplug an appliance without switching off the power point. I haven’t heard of anyone being hurt, or of an appliance being damaged.
Building/electrical codes would not allow an unsafe plug to be used on range, dryer, etc. I have to say I am a little nervous plugging and unplugging such things, the plugs and prongs are large with enough space to accidentally let even my fat fingers to slip in and the plugs are tight in the outlet, but only reasonable caution is needed.
220V (240, really) is a little different in the US. 220 in Europe is a single line with a neutral and ground. 220 (single phase) in America is two 110v (120) lines, a neutral and a ground. It’s no more dangerous, but that configuration is pretty much confined to large appliances in the home, such as the clothes dryer, air conditioning and the stove, which draw significant amperage. As such, the plugs are large and can look a little intimidating for a non-electrician.
I’m one of the most conservative posters here on electrical safety and I wouldn’t worry about this as long as I took the usual precautions: make sure there’s no moisture/dirt/grease around, the plug and wire are in good shape, etc.
Yea, I’m not really sure what the big deal is. Assuming you’re grounded, accidentally touching one of the prongs on dryer or oven receptacle is no more or less dangerous than accidentally touching one of the prongs on a regular ol’ 120 VAC outlet.
Same goes for the wires that are coming into your house; accidentally touching one of them (and more precisely, the conductor in the wire) is no more dangerous that touching the hot wire on a 120 VAC outlet.
Not that I recommend coming in contact with live voltage… you should always take safeguards to keep from getting shocked.
The big safety measure, if you think you are at risk for touching a bare electrical conductor, is to verify that you’re not grounded: wear rubber-soled shoes, don’t be standing in water or holding a plumbing pipe/fixture, etc., and if you’re pulling a plug from an outlet, just use one hand.
If you’re not grounded, and you touch a live 110V wire (this would include one leg of a 220V split-phase residential system, as in the OP’s case), you’ll get a tingle, but you’re not likely to get a dangerous amount of current passing through your heart or brain.
If you’re the OP, pulling a plug from an outlet, and you happen to touch one of the two hot legs AND the ground pin with that hand, well, the current path is restricted to that particular hand. You’ll get a bitchin’ jolt there, but the current still won’t be flowing through your heart or brain.
If you happen to touch both of the two hot legs with that hand, it’s going to be a double-bitchin’ jolt - but the current still won’t be flowing through your heart or brain.
The vast majority of electrical shock/electrocution cases occur when a person is grounded and touches a hot wire. My point is that a lot of people think the wires going into their house from the utility pole - or a 240 V receptacle - are somehow “more dangerous” than a regular ol’ 120 V receptacle. (This assumes a split phase system like we have in the U.S., not single phase 240 V like they have in Europe.) In all cases, the grounded person is touching 120 VAC[sub]RMS[/sub], so they’re all more-or-less the same in terms of the magnitude of “danger.”
Seems like the OP is a bit paranoid here (but around electricity, that’s maybe better than being too blase). It’s not really much different from unplugging your cell phone charger, or any other item. Just that the plug is bigger, and likely not plugged/unplugged as often. Don’t touch any of the bare metal prongs while plugging/unplugging & it should be fine.
I do agree with the advice to make sure you’re not grounded, and to use only 1 hand. Good safety precautions.
But I would question the leather glove. Most leather gloves are stiff & fit loosely – there’s a chance they would slip when trying to unplug this. It might be better to use a latex or rubber glove that fits tightly over your hand – those are slightly better insulators than metal, anyway.
My only argument with this is that the line from the pole is carrying the full amperage of whatever is operating inside the house. But yeah, volts is volts.
nitpick. a 220 volt circuit doesn’t use a neutral.
a 220 volt load only requires two ‘hot wires’, it doesn’t & can’t use a neutral, or grounded, conductor (white).
the only 220 volt circuits requiring a neutral are 110/220 volt loads. it’s needed for the 110 volt loads within the appliance (in ranges the 110 volt loads are the controls, fans, … everything but the bake/ broil elements. in dryers the 110 volt loads are typically the motors & controls, the heating element circuit is the 220 volt load).
this is for the u.s. I’m not sure regarding any other countries.
Not sure what you’re pointing out with the first sentence. A heavy service line to your house that’s carrying 150 amps (at 110V) is no more or less of a shock hazard than an 18-gauge cord supplying your table lamp, with the lamp switched off (so, zero amps). The amount of current being carried (or that could be carried) by the conductor is not a factor in its electrocution hazard (at least not until the conductor is so tiny that it can’t possibly supply lethal amperage).
so if a moderator wants to close this thread that would be fine by me.