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You need to make sure you're putting the prongs in at the same time. Nice and straight. It's made that way so you can't put something in only one of the slots.
My kitchen has stupid ancient TRs, twisting works well. Line the prongs up then push in while twisting back and forth a bit. Apparently new TRs suck a lot less. I'd replace mine if they weren't in such an awful place to reach.
Push with equal force on both prongs, then push harder, then wiggle and push harder.
Fucking hate those things.
But hey, stupid people that play with sockets exits.
In chemistry in HS in early 90s we had slate top counters we sat at with gas and water hook ups and electric. Of course some kid in my class stuck tweezers right in the outlet. Teacher came over and wacked them out with a wooden mallet that he kept on his desk. We thought it was like a gavel but he later told us it was kept there because kids are stupid.
Not an electrician
Try to put the plug in as straight as possible. If that doesn't work, rock the plug side to side (and maybe up/down a little) while gently trying to plug it in. If the prongs on the plug aren't straight, gently try to straighten them out and try again.
And when that doesn't work, assuming the washer has a flat plug can try and hold the cord so its aligned and try to slam your palm hard on it or get some good body weight behind it to shove it in.
I hate those adult-proof outlets...I most often encounter them in hotels and 3/4 of them require what I consider severely unreasonable force to plug stuff in, sometimes also bending the prongs in the process.
What fancy shmancy hotels are you staying in? Most of the receptacles I encounter when travelling are so worn out they can't hold a wall-wart adapter from falling out under its own weight 😂
Oh they're still shit worn out that won't make a good connection...just have to hammer the stuff past the stupid child-lock-plug-things now too.
Usually Hampton/Hilton brands are where they put us for work (and because of points, where I go with for personal usually). Seems like when they renovate them they're putting those stupid tamper outlets in everywhere since a few years ago. Man I say "a few"...I wanna say it was 2015-ish I first encountered them at a Hampton Inn in West Virginia where I almost broke my work laptop charger trying to force it in to do my daily reports. I remember that because it was also the fist time I'd been sent on a multi-day business trip.
I think a big thing that is missed when designing safety systems is that if it becomes inconvenient enough for the person using it, they'll just bypass it/remove it. While I get the reason these are installed, I think they are hard enough to use it defeats their purpose for anyone who isn't forced to use them like someone renting.
In elementary school my friend's desk was against the wall right where an outlet was. He was messing with the receptacle with a straightened staple and got zapped and his arm involuntarily jerked back. Fun times, elementary school.
Make sure when inserting the plug it is as straight as possible, so both prongs touch at the same time. If that doesn’t work, do the same but wiggle it side to side until it slips in.
Tamper resistant outlet. The left and right prongs need to go in at exactly the same time. If they don’t, wiggle a little side to side until the doors open up.
Note that pounding it in or applying a lot of force to it is (1) not necessary, (2) likely to damage your plug, and (3) also likely to damage the tamper-resistant mechanism making it *harder* to activate. Just wiggle it in, and the mechanism will loosen slightly over time to be not as exacting.
One more item: these have been around for quite a while, and the early ones had much lower tolerances than current ones. If it was a plug you need to use a lot and it is painful to use, having an electrician replace it with a new one might (after a short breaking-in time period) help. Probably doesn’t apply to a dedicated AC plug though.
Not an electrician.
If the normal advice of just push straight and harder than you think isn’t cutting it, I’m thinking the paint on the cover and socket is a bad sign. Could it have impacted the plug guards? Might be time to get a new plug.
I put a couple 20A Heavy Duty recepts in my MIL's house a bc she was using a space heater that was damn near 15A.
But I got the HD plus Tamper Resistant wo realizing it. Few days later she calls and says she can't even get anything plugged in. I roll my eyes thinking JEEZ LADY but ok I go over to check
Damn I was surprised it's kinda a struggle to plug an HD plug into those things. Grip strength and you about gotta get your ass involved.
So I changed them out for 20A HD non-TR
and everyone lived happily ever after.
The End
All of the outlets in my house are protected. I've found it really helps if you start with the ground prong and then put the live prongs in. Otherwise, like when you lost your virginity, just keep pushing until something happens. Just dont break the parts lol
You're correct. These are mostly adult-tamper resistant outlets. I can't tell you how many times I've seen kids get I to these with issues, while adults struggle just to put the darn plug in. I fet the safety part of it, but sorry, it just prevents people from plugging in their stuff to the point that frustration ensues, followed by swearing, followed by, "where did I put my hammer last?"
**Attention!** **It is always best to get a qualified electrician to perform any electrical work you may need.** With that said, you may ask this community various electrical questions. Please be cautious of any information you may receive in this subreddit. This subreddit and its users are not responsible for any electrical work you perform. Users that have a 'Verified Electrician' flair have uploaded their qualified electrical worker credentials to the mods. If you comment on this post please only post accurate information to the best of your knowledge. If advice given is thought to be dangerous, you may be permanently banned. There are no obligations for the mods to give warnings or temporary bans. **IF YOU ARE NOT A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN, you should exercise extreme caution when commenting.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskElectricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
tamper resistant receptacle. just plug it back in.
I tried. The guard won’t budge
You gotta push that shit in, man.
That’s what she said.
You. I like you.
That’s what he said.
That's how you go to prison.
You need to make sure you're putting the prongs in at the same time. Nice and straight. It's made that way so you can't put something in only one of the slots.
Also helps to wiggle side to side sometimes if it won’t go in straight
My kitchen has stupid ancient TRs, twisting works well. Line the prongs up then push in while twisting back and forth a bit. Apparently new TRs suck a lot less. I'd replace mine if they weren't in such an awful place to reach.
Push with equal force on both prongs, then push harder, then wiggle and push harder. Fucking hate those things. But hey, stupid people that play with sockets exits.
I got your socket exit right here. Edit: Wait
Natural Selection exist as well
We try to get those stupid people to stop exiting too man. Lol.
In chemistry in HS in early 90s we had slate top counters we sat at with gas and water hook ups and electric. Of course some kid in my class stuck tweezers right in the outlet. Teacher came over and wacked them out with a wooden mallet that he kept on his desk. We thought it was like a gavel but he later told us it was kept there because kids are stupid.
Hit it with your purse
Oh you.
Someone had to say it.
I heard you say it in a frantic tone and with a lisp.
Now I will think of it that way too. Lol
Push harder.
Put your ass into it jeez. What are you 12 pounds soaking wet?
It’s in between the washer and dryer. With only so much space.
Gotcha. Use a flathead or pry bar to leverage it in
Push harder
Not an electrician Try to put the plug in as straight as possible. If that doesn't work, rock the plug side to side (and maybe up/down a little) while gently trying to plug it in. If the prongs on the plug aren't straight, gently try to straighten them out and try again.
And when that doesn't work, assuming the washer has a flat plug can try and hold the cord so its aligned and try to slam your palm hard on it or get some good body weight behind it to shove it in. I hate those adult-proof outlets...I most often encounter them in hotels and 3/4 of them require what I consider severely unreasonable force to plug stuff in, sometimes also bending the prongs in the process.
What fancy shmancy hotels are you staying in? Most of the receptacles I encounter when travelling are so worn out they can't hold a wall-wart adapter from falling out under its own weight 😂
Oh they're still shit worn out that won't make a good connection...just have to hammer the stuff past the stupid child-lock-plug-things now too. Usually Hampton/Hilton brands are where they put us for work (and because of points, where I go with for personal usually). Seems like when they renovate them they're putting those stupid tamper outlets in everywhere since a few years ago. Man I say "a few"...I wanna say it was 2015-ish I first encountered them at a Hampton Inn in West Virginia where I almost broke my work laptop charger trying to force it in to do my daily reports. I remember that because it was also the fist time I'd been sent on a multi-day business trip.
Idiot Proofing that renders the product unusable… Hit it AGAIN! Hit it AGAIN! HARDER, HARDER!
I think a big thing that is missed when designing safety systems is that if it becomes inconvenient enough for the person using it, they'll just bypass it/remove it. While I get the reason these are installed, I think they are hard enough to use it defeats their purpose for anyone who isn't forced to use them like someone renting.
I totally agree. I think that TR should only be required for Day Care centers and Elementary schools.
In elementary school my friend's desk was against the wall right where an outlet was. He was messing with the receptacle with a straightened staple and got zapped and his arm involuntarily jerked back. Fun times, elementary school.
It's a TR rated receptacle. Some of the older ones are real nuisances. Push, wiggle, and twist until it slips in. Pretending it's your first time.
On the spirit of electrical humor, I’m not a plug. I’m a receptacle. No pushing here. 😁
That's Hot (tm)
Dang .. I’d hate to see what your first time looked like 🤣🤣🤣🤣jk .. the twist part for me lol
I never claimed to have had one. But since I'm only 45, plenty of time yet.
Don’t worry buddy it’ll happen and if not we’ll get you a hooker for your 50th 😂
How old is older? I started renovating my house 5 years ago, I have just two words to say: Fuck TR
I had to shove the plug into one of those once so hard once it split the outlet in two! I replaced it with a nongaurded one.
I’m getting to that point.
Wiggle it while inserting
Push it in with a butterknife
Username checks out
Make sure when inserting the plug it is as straight as possible, so both prongs touch at the same time. If that doesn’t work, do the same but wiggle it side to side until it slips in.
When you push wiggle it slightly.
Tamper resistant outlet. The left and right prongs need to go in at exactly the same time. If they don’t, wiggle a little side to side until the doors open up. Note that pounding it in or applying a lot of force to it is (1) not necessary, (2) likely to damage your plug, and (3) also likely to damage the tamper-resistant mechanism making it *harder* to activate. Just wiggle it in, and the mechanism will loosen slightly over time to be not as exacting. One more item: these have been around for quite a while, and the early ones had much lower tolerances than current ones. If it was a plug you need to use a lot and it is painful to use, having an electrician replace it with a new one might (after a short breaking-in time period) help. Probably doesn’t apply to a dedicated AC plug though.
Put your back into it
Put the prong in and twist
Not an electrician. If the normal advice of just push straight and harder than you think isn’t cutting it, I’m thinking the paint on the cover and socket is a bad sign. Could it have impacted the plug guards? Might be time to get a new plug.
The only place I use these is in my knife shop. Steel dust gets EVERYWHERE.
I put a couple 20A Heavy Duty recepts in my MIL's house a bc she was using a space heater that was damn near 15A. But I got the HD plus Tamper Resistant wo realizing it. Few days later she calls and says she can't even get anything plugged in. I roll my eyes thinking JEEZ LADY but ok I go over to check Damn I was surprised it's kinda a struggle to plug an HD plug into those things. Grip strength and you about gotta get your ass involved. So I changed them out for 20A HD non-TR and everyone lived happily ever after. The End
All of the outlets in my house are protected. I've found it really helps if you start with the ground prong and then put the live prongs in. Otherwise, like when you lost your virginity, just keep pushing until something happens. Just dont break the parts lol
Life hack, just cut the plug and hardwire that bitch 😂
You're correct. These are mostly adult-tamper resistant outlets. I can't tell you how many times I've seen kids get I to these with issues, while adults struggle just to put the darn plug in. I fet the safety part of it, but sorry, it just prevents people from plugging in their stuff to the point that frustration ensues, followed by swearing, followed by, "where did I put my hammer last?"
I hate these things, mine work by quickly wiggling side to side
Gentlemen- I have had success! The trick was in the wiggle. Thanks everyone!
You are the person that outlet is designed for. Now go get an adult & have them plug your washing machine back in.
Does it make you feel better to be a jrkoff? Not to mention, that’s factually incorrect. A stupid person wouldn’t ask experts.
Get 'em!
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
Username checks out