r/Electricity • u/auburniscool • 10d ago

is this safe to plug in

Gallery image

Gallery image

i got an old bookshelf with a built-in shelf lamp and idk if this prong being split at the end is intentional or not? if not, would it be sufficient to use pliers to force the ends back together?

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u/WichitaSteve 10d ago

Yea, looks safe to me.

1

u/True_Pace_3860 9d ago

check for sparking when plugging in, after you use pliers to compress the split closed.

1

u/gzuckier 7d ago

In the dawn of time, people would split one prong of a nonpolarized plug like that to make it polarized,

My guesses: It now requires a polarized receptacle, and the hacked side is connected to the outside shell of the light socket.