General > General Technical Chat
Clean/Refurbish Oxidized Electrical Plug Prongs
Boris_yo:
Hello,
I have steam iron and it's hard to connect its electrical plug to wall socket. It appears to have tainted due to oxidation but there is no corrosion. I was looking for a home DIY solution to refurbish prongs. Read mixed recommendations that sanding paper might do the job but needs to be high grade of grits to not cause damage to plating. Also pitting was mentioned that can appear on prongs which sandpaper should take care of. I have 800 grits so it will probably not be a good fit. I don't think there is pitting on my plug prongs. I have IPA 99% though and 70% rubbing alcohol. Wonder if both will help.
There's Deoxit electrical contact cleaner which boasts to be better than other cleaners because it cleans oxides and sulfides. I have none of electrical cleaners either way.
ebastler:
Since a steam iron draws some serious current, I would not mess around with the old plug, but replace it with a new one.
Whatever you could do to the old contacts, they would be prone to oxidize again, probably worse and more quickly than before. And you don't want a high contact resistance for this kind of load: The contacts will run hot, oxidize even more, run even hotter, causing the contatcs in your power outlet to run hot and oxidize as well... creating a real hazard.
It is also possible that the contacts have run hot because of a bad connection between the plug contacts and the cable; replacing the plug will fix that as well. Please be sure to make a proper connection there, using crimped end sleeves on the wires!
The discoloring of the contacts which you describe suggests that they have already run quite hot. It would be a good idea to also check (and possibly replace) the power outlet which you use for the iron. Depending on how comfortable you feel around mains power, and what your local regulations are, this might be a job for a licensed electrician though.
Boris_yo:
--- Quote from: ebastler on June 10, 2022, 07:00:38 am ---Since a steam iron draws some serious current, I would not mess around with the old plug, but replace it with a new one.
--- End quote ---
It seems that earth is pitted too?
AndyBeez:
Your plug is SCRAP.
As @eblaster states, it is unsafe due the the high resistance across the contacts. Buy a new one. I too recommend replacing the wall socket as this is likely to be corroded and an electrical safety FAIL.
Stray Electron:
I don't know what country you're in, or where your iron was made but I've noticed over the past 20 to 30 years that many of the blades on the AC power plugs on appliances sold in the US (most made in a country who's name starts with a "C") have been getting thinner and thinner. On some of the appliances that I have, the plug won't even stay in the socket any longer! The blades on a lot of older us made power pugs were made from a folded over piece of metal that was spring loaded to press outward and they always made good contact. The blades on the newer power plugs are just a single piece of thin stamped out sheet metal. On a high current device such as this you should check your plug and the socket to be sure that blades are a good snug fit and that they have GOOD contact between the blades and their sockets.
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