Do you know the socket covers you get ?

Question

Got some for our house, my partner says they are pretty pointelss as you can't electrocute yourself with a plug hole cos you'd need to get all fingers in all 3 of the holes then turn it on.

Was just wondering if this was true or not!

We're still using them for our baby, just curious!

Jessica - good try hun but I'm in the UK where all appliances have 3 prongs.

We are using them, just lookin to settle and argument LOL!

Answer 1

He might be right but it's true that junior might decide to stick other stuff in there. I always thought that it would be easier, more effective and less costly just to tie the baby up rather than child-proof the house lol That IS a joke BTW!!!

Answer 2

No, you don't need to put things in ALL 3 holes there!!!
All you need to do is complete a circuit.
The top hole is EARTH and that won't do anything at all.
The right is NEUTRAL and this makes the circuit from the positive.
The left is POSITIVE or LIVE.
Pop something into LIVE and you also become LIVE.
If you now touch anything that has an uninterrupted link to EARTH (that's mother earth!) then the charge will travel through you.
And you will get burnt by the friction of the charge.
If the charge meets with resistance at places like bone joints - there may be explosions causing massive injury.
Certainly if the shortest route to earth involves passing near or through internal organs there can be irreperable damage and of course the electrical charge can disrupt the heart/vagal nerve...

...And then it's goodnight.

Best keep the caps on, especially if you've already got them!

Answer 3

It isn't *easy* to electrocute yourself in an electrical socket. You'd have to get a finger (or something attached to a finger) into one of the two top holes (the third one is ground). But the socket is *always* turned on--do you ever turn one on before using it?! However, a baby could get a paper clip, metal crochet hook, or any other thin metallic object and put it into the holes on the plug. You'd be amazed at how creative a baby can be!!

Answer 4

Use them! A three pin socket is designed so that the plug is only accepted once the safety flaps are raised. This happens when the earth pin ( the top one) activates the flaps.It does this because it is slightly longer than the live and neutral pins.Your partner is right but if baby pushed something in the top hole this would open up the live and neutral enabling anything to be put in them.Doesn`t bear thinking about does it ?

Answer 5

Your partner is full of it! No offense! I know for a fact that you CAN get shocked, painfully, by just sticking your finger on one of the holes hard enough! I did it as a child and remember well! The covers are an excellent idea. I have had them for years and my youngest is 6. Kids will not worry about what they can not get to...that means less worries for you! Use them! Do not listen to people who do not know what they are talking about either. You might point out to your partner that ALL 3 holes ARE active and if the child decides to use something METAL to stick in the hole, that would be a major hospital bill and maybe minus one child! PLEASE DO NOT STOP USING THEM!!!!!! Good luck!

Answer 6

Not true. You only need the botton two, at once. The top is an earth, not neccessary to electrocute yourself, though it does operate a slide, opening doors on the bottom two holes to allow a plug in. That slide is the metal bit you can see, in the top hole.
HOWEVER, as a parent, my daughter, now 16, as a todler, did push a pair of metal scissors into the bottom two, at once (being scissors, and having 2 metal prongs, handily adjusting to fit in the holes) and there was a big bang (fuse) and a heart stopping moment. (for us!!) Sounds implausible, but its true. Obviously the failsafe plates inside the bottom two holes CAN be forced, and scissors are ideal for this! This plug fascination faze does pass increadibly quickly, good luck!

Answer 7

Ask your partner to pick up a hair pin or paperclip (which can be found dropped around the house) ... and then stick it in one of those holes. He may get shocked... then again, he may not. Will he take the risk?
Socket covers are $1.99 for 20 pcs. Better be safe than sorry!
You MUST take every precaution with children. I'm guessing yours is not walking about. Just wait until your baby starts getting curious. You'll be surprised how much they love those outlets.

Answer 8

It is nearly imposable to electrocute your self as The top pin needs to be pushed in before you can get to the two dangerous connections. On the other hand it would be very easy for a kid to put a stick in the socket and the poke fingers in the other holes. I would keep them covered better safe then sorry.

Answer 9

It all depends on where you are from in the UK it's almost impossible to insert anything into a socket other than a propper plug. In other areas I don't know.

I do know that you only need to hit the live connection and zammo, in the UK you get 240volt backed up by 30 amp up your armpit and that hurts bigtime. You can also get a good shock from the neutral wire if the circuit is live.

Answer 10

Sorry to say, but your partner is wrong! My earliest memory is electrocuting myself! It was on my 3rd birthday and we were eating cake and my brother told me to stick my fork into the socket. Well...silly me, being 3 and listening to my older brother, I stuck a prong of the fork into ONE hole in the socket and took a nice ride backwards across the room. It is ENTIRELY possible to shock yourself without getting something into all 3 holes! Glad to hear you are going to use the covers!

Answer 11

That is not true, he doesn't know what he is talking about because I got shocked when I was 6 years old from putting one finger in the socket. Ask an electrician. They also protect you from your baby sticking things in them, which if it was metal could really hurt him and maybe even death.