I bought a lamp from IKEA and assembled it, only to find it has some funky plug that does not fit into a standard electrical socket. Instructions say it is a polarized plug, and I need a polarized outlet. ??? So I assume I need to buy an adapter somewhere, but where do I get one, and what are they called?
2007-04-20 04:09:02 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
Not only is it polarized, it is a weird size, about 1/4 the size of a regular outlet.
I just got back from ACE and Home Depot and neither one had an adapter. They both told me I must have bought a foreign lamp and my only option is to cut off the end and replace the plug.
That's ridiculous. IKEA shouldn't be selling customers lamps that they can't use in this country!
2007-04-20 05:45:56 · update #1
in the good old days, any plug fit into any socket; there was no such thing as polarized.
Now, it just means that one side of the prongs is slightly wider than the other, so you can only plug it on to a polarized socket, and in only one "direction", of that makes sense.
I am sure there's some government excuse for safety or some such non-sense. I'd love to see the stats on how many people were injured before polarized came along and saved the day. pfftt ...
Whatever.
2007-04-20 04:17:17 · answer #1 · answered by Natalie M 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
For the outlet to be polarized, this means that it is a DC powered plug. AC has no definitive polarity as the terminals change polarity at 60Hz.
AC plugs do have a Hot and Neutral connection, but while the device is powered by AC, the plug will have no positive and no negative connection.
Most later versions of AC outlets have a smaller slot for the hot. Your device should still work in an older outlet though.
2007-04-20 04:29:06 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yahoo! says you're in OZ; my experience is U.S. Having said that: around here, many 50 year old houses were wired with "BX" cable, which has steel armor around the hot and neutral conductors. The armor is clamped into the main circuit panel, as well as the steel outlet box. The armor is a good grounding conductor, so the steel box is grounded. The outlet mounting screws do provide an electrical path between the ground socket and the steel box, but I don't think it's a very good connection. I like to connect a short bare copper wire between the green screw on the outlet, and a screw terminal threaded into the box.
2016-05-19 21:37:15 · answer #3 · answered by odilia 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most outlets nowadays are "Polarized". That is... one blade of the plug is slightly wider than the other so that it can fit into the outlet only one way. It's easy enough and not at all expensive to replace an outlet with the newer polarized type.
2007-04-20 04:21:32 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
home improvement store and it would be a polarized outlet.
Is this the US or England?
To me, a polarized outlet is a three prong plug and three hole recepticle, with two long slats, one shorter than the other and a round ground hole.
2007-04-20 04:19:27 · answer #5 · answered by Fordman 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The quality of the advice from Home Depot never fails to amaze me.
2007-04-24 00:42:57 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
You're o.k.
Click on this and look down to the Polarized section.
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=electrical%20outlet
There's LOTS here...you could spend a whole week on this!!
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2007-04-20 04:20:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Any hardware store will sell you a suitable electrical outlet that you can use to replace your existing outlet. It shouldn't cost more than about $5.00.
2007-04-20 04:13:33 · answer #8 · answered by cottagstan 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋