Wiring a New Plug for Dummies

Replacement 3-prong male plug

Of all the online pleas for DIY help our research staff encounters in a normal day, simple electrical repairs seem to be among the most common -- and among the most frequently "answered" by dumbasses who have no business doing so. Just take a look at "electrical" or "electricity" in our list of DotD awardees by topic if you'd like to see the wall of shame. Well, today we add a new dumbass to the list: three-time winner Kurt Schanaman, who already won once for electrical stupidity, and his post "How to Wire an Electrical Three Prong Plug"¹ at Hunker.com.

Schanaman, as always, displayed his ignorance almost immediately. First, he never bothered to explain why a power cord might have a three-prong plug (electrical ground... duh!), then he lied:

"If the three-prong plug is molded plastic, the entire cord must be replaced with one of identical power ratings..."

Duh. No, Kurt, it doesn't. People can buy all the replacement plugs they want – they just need to know how to wire the new one correctly; which, we fear, escapes you. Schanaman went into lots of detail – almost a thousand words!!! – for what is actually a simple DIY task. And when he did talk about the simple part of the task, he did a lousy job:

"Unscrew the internal wire mounting screws from the wires in the old plug, paying close attention to which wire colors go to which screw mounts in the plug so that you can easily wire the new plug with minimal difficulty. If necessary, draw a simple diagram on a piece of paper, annotating which color wire went to the upper-left prong, which wire color went to the upper-right prong and which wire color went to the lower third grounding prong." Ummm, Kurt? If you knew what you were talking about, you'd have said that

1. The black (or perhaps red) wire goes to the brass screw
2. The white wire goes to the silver screw
3. The green wire goes to the green screw

It's that simple: no pictures, no diagrams, no magic markers... Schanaman's claim that

"It is important to use this method because wiring colors used in newer homes are different than wiring colors in older homes..."

...made no sense, since you're not wiring an outlet; you're wiring a power cord. Confused much, Kurt? Oh, and by the way, Kurt: if you're replacing a plug on an extension cord, you could also replace the female plug...

As for replacing an entire cord that's been damaged or is "too short"? Good luck with that, people. Given both his history and the history of eHow, it's a pretty safe bet that Kurt miscopied or misinterpreted some of the information he cribbed in that section. Since he'd already qualified as the Dumbass of the Day, we didn't bother reading any farther. We suggest anyone who runs across this post stop before they start.

¹ The original has been rewritten for Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was   ehow.com/how_6224938_wire-electrical-three-prong-plug.html

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DDIY - WIRING