Basic Electricity Knowledge Saved Us Money and Time

 Every Wednesday is laundry day for me. I've put in the detergent in the water but when I turned the timer knob of the washing machine, it did nothing. I made sure plug was plugged and still nothing. There is this extension cord and I made sure it also plugged to the other extension cord. That other extension cord is working because the fan is on. So I'm pretty sure that the culprit is the extension cord where the washing machine is plugged into.

I chatted with my husband about it so he can decide what to do about it. He asked me to fix it instead because he has no budget to buy a new extension cord. I said I do not have a tester. He suggested that I just wing it. He's the one good at winging it, not me. I need logic to get things done.

Anyway, I climbed up a chair just to get the extension cord released from the hooks he had set for safety and stability. (That's another thing he's really good at.) Then I tested the cord using another power source. It really isn't working. It's about four meters long. If I cut in the middle, two meters is just too short.

I checked the wiring on both ends. They're good.

I ran my fingers on the cord to check for any rough spot. I caught a few but very shallow, a foot long  towards the plug. So I decided to cut away 1.5 feet just to be sure.



I spliced about 1.5 inches to show the stranded wire, twisted for safety and stability. I thought, if I already attach the plug and it did not work, I'll have to remove it again. So I bent the exposed wire and made sure both terminals will not touch each other when I plug them. WARNING: DO NOT DO THIS WHEN YOU ARE CLUMSY OR HAVE CHILDREN NEARBY. 

It worked! So I attached the plug, making sure to wind the wire around the screw clockwise to go along the direction of the screw when driven tight.



I made sure everything is safe to handle and tested it again.



It worked. So my laundry is now ongoing.

At times when my husband is home, he does these kinds of repairs. When he's not, he knows I can handle it. It really saves money and time and unnecessary purchases.

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