Ask an Emergency Electrician: 4 Ways to Deal with Wet Outlets

Mixing water with electricity is a dangerous mixture. If there is water in an electrical outlet around your home, that can be caused by anything from flooding to spilling a water nearby an outlet. You must know the dangerous consequences of mixing electricity with water. You must know what to do when it happens.

Reasons for Water Getting in Electrical Outlets

Water in electrical outlets is dangerous. Thus, you must know when it occurred so that you can dry the outlet and avoid the dangerous consequences. There are several reasons why water floods into the home and passes into the electrical outlet. You must check that whether there is any outlet closes to the window and in the lower areas of the home after the thunderstorm. Small flooding can cause water to come in contact with the electrical outlets. A small leak in the roof can cause water to pool in the home. These leaks affect the roofing but also possible that water gets into the other areas of the home.

4 Ways to Deal When Water Gets into Electrical Outlets

A. Switch Off the GFCI Outlet: GFCI is an automated safety feature that turns itself off when water gets into it. The GFCI part of the electrical outlet is supposed to cut the power. This causes an interruption in the connection. You can manually turn off the GFCI outlet by simply pushing the test and reset buttons simultaneously. This is very easy to perform. These buttons are located on the outlet. You can also use a digital voltage metre to identify if the GFCI outlet is turned off rightly or not. 

B. Shut down the Breaker Box: If the outlet is wet, the right thing you need to do is turn off the entire breaker box before drying the electrical outlet. If you have shut down the GFCI outlet, it is still important to turn off the breaker box so that it is easy to dry the breaker box and avoid electric shock. If you do not know how to tackle the situation, call the electrician and do not touch anything until he arrives.

C. Dry the electrical outlet: The final step of this process is to dry the electrical outlet. It is essential to understand the importance of not directly touching the electrical outlet when it is wet. You can get a severe electric shock. If the water damage is little, it will dry overnight. A blow dryer is a great option to accelerate the drying process in the outlet. It is difficult to dry the outlet If it is filled with ample water. It's time to call the electrician.

D. Complete replacement of the outlet: If the water damage is huge, it is safe to replace the socket or outlet. Make sure a licensed electrician in Melbourne carry out the installation. If you are replacing the entire outlet, you can also upgrade them. Not only a GFCI outlet, but you can also replace the existing outlets with the one having more sockets and USB ports.

Need help for any electrical service in Melbourne? Explore Abba Electrical Services, and get a FREE quote estimate at 0402900686.