Introduction

Replacing a damaged plug is easy, but for safety you have to follow proper wiring rules, especially when wiring a polarized plug. A polarized plug has one wide and one narrow blade.

There’s nothing worse than going to turn on a light and nothing happens. The first thing to do is check and make sure the light bulb isn’t burned out, but if that’s not the case, you may have another issue to address. A damaged lamp cord  could mean your light won’t work when you need it. Worse, damaged and frayed cords are dangerous. But you don’t have to toss it; here’s how to fix a lamp cord.

Buy a polarized replacement plug, if needed

Damaged plugs and nicked, frayed cords are a safety hazard and need to be replaced. Putting a new plug on is straightforward, but there are a few basic rules.

To prevent shocks from the metal parts of a light, lamp cords and two-wire extension cords are always polarized. This means the plug has a small blade for the hot wire and a wide blade for the neutral wire, and the wires feeding those blades should not be reversed when you put a new plug on. Always use a polarized plug for a lamp, extension cord or any other cord that’s polarized to begin with. Don’t ever use a nonpolarized replacement plug with same-size blades to replace a polarized plug. (Nonpolarized plugs are often found on double-insulated tools and some appliances.)