Whether you are presently living a brand new house or celebrating and enjoying your home’s jubilee year, there are probably a few electrical issues or minor electrical repairs that require your attention.  Though some of the electrical problems might need a professional electrician, while others can be handled by anyone even if you are a person who pays close attention to details and has a DIY electrical tools at your disposal.

Yes like any other work, electrical work has a few home-wiring quick fixes that are safe and simple to follow by homeowners.  Quick fixes like this will not only save you on expensive repairs, but they will also help you to know any further problems that need professional assistance.

Below are simple electrical repairs and quick fixes you can handle yourself.

   1. Electrical Repair For Insufficient Power Outlets in your home

While many modern homes feature far more power outlets, which are also known as electrical receptacles, older homes often have only one or two power outlets within a room.  If you have this issue of insufficient outlet in a room, how can you handle this?

For a low-cost quick fix, buying extension cords and power strips are the quick way to solve such a problem.  Nevertheless, any cords and cables you decide to use should be able to safely handle the electrical loads you place on them.

To ensure that this is accomplished, use a lower number gauge of wire (which will be a thicker wire) for your cords and power strips.  We recommend at least you use 14-gauge cable.

Although, extensions and power strips are a very quick fix for not enough power outlet in a room. It should only be applied for private rooms with low foot traffic or any place with low traffic, using this fix tip is fine, but for larger rooms with a high number of visitors extension cord and power strips is very likely to become an eyesore.  So adding additional electrical outlet receptacles is what we recommend which is ideal. Adding a new receptacle in your home should only be done by a licensed electrician near you to ensure that your house wiring system remains up to date with the update code of wiring.

Of course, new wiring will need to be run, and additional holes will be created into existing walls to fix electrical pipes and boxes, that is why you always need to contact a professional electrician near you.

  2. Electrical repair  Tips when Plugs Fall Out of Existing Outlets very often

With so many USB-powered devices, it’s not a bad idea to upgrade to an outlet which includes a USB ports.

As your home electrical sockets age, the metal contacts inside becomes loosen due to repeated use of it.  This always becomes an obvious electrical problem when plugs slide out of sockets simply because of gravity.  This often results in incomplete connections, switching off electronics and it also leads to failure in the charge cycles for phones or batteries that were plug.

Some of these loose connections can also result in excess carbon accumulation inside the socket due to arcing between the metal contacts in the sockets; which could even result to fire hazard.  For these reasons, a loose and sagging plug simply shows that there is a need for you to replace your outlet and they plug if bad. It is a quick electrical repair you can fix if you pay attention to details

The truth is that replacing an electrical outlet is much simple and easier than installing a new one, and can be done with a simple DIY electrical repair technical guide using your DIY tools.

With numerous USB-powered devices around are homes today, it will not be a bad idea if you go ahead to upgrade your power outlet to those which include a few USB ports so that you can always use them to power your USB power devices.

watch this video below to see how this can be done

                                                                                      video credit: Ultimate Handyman

   3. Electrical Repair Tips when Overlamping occurs

Whenever a light fixture maximum load requirement is exceeded due to the wattage of bulb use problem of overlapping occurs. While it is true that your house electrical wiring system may fully be capable of handling the higher wattage demanded by a particular bulb you are using, if your light fixture or socket is rated for a certain power, for example, 20watt and you use a bulb of 40watt  the power drawn by the light bulb exceeds the rating of the light fixture, it can cause overheating which may result in burnt insulation or a melted socket that can lead to fire hazard.

Due to how dangerous overlamping can be when it occurs, and because it is a code violation, it is indeed a type of electrical repair that you should fix immediately.  A quick fix of this electrical problem is if you observe that the light fixture, socket, or even the light switch you use is becoming excessively warm, you need to check the power rating for those components. Which is usually in wattage (watt).

The simplest and cheap way to fix this electrical problem is to replace the light bulb in your fixture with a low wattage bulb.  If your light fixture uses multiple light bulbs, ensure that the total wattage of all the bulbs is at minimum when compared to the maximum rating for your fixture.

Finally, if you prefer the intensity of illumination produced by higher-wattage bulbs you should consider buying a new light fixture or socket with a higher wattage rating to handle the load demand of your bulb or switch to more energy-efficient lights such as CFLs or LEDs.  So when the total wattage consumed by the bulb is low when compared to the rating of your light fixture such a problem will not occur again. Everything will be fine.

 4. Electrical Repair Tips when Flickering Lights Bulb is Observed in Your Home

Flickering lights may be because of many problems, although some of which are simple and easy to fix while others may require expensive electrical repairs.  Some of the more often faults that cause flickering light are as follows:

• Bad or Aging Fluorescent Ballast– the ballast inside a fluorescent light regulates the amount of electrical voltage or current flowing to your lights. As the ballast becomes old, it becomes less efficient at functioning better, which can result in flickering lights and reduces lamp lifespan.
• Faulty Switches – light switches that are loose or dimmers can cause incomplete connections or faulty current pass to your lights.
• Bad Wiring – Flickering lights can also be an indication of a faulty wiring system or loose terminal connections in a particular unit in your wiring. If the origin of the flickering lights is not easily seen, we recommend you contact a professional electrician near you to examine your home’s electrical wiring system to confirm that there is no other damage or lose connection fault in your wiring. Bad wiring can cause hazards so it should be handle as soon as possible.
• Bad drive– if the drive inside your light bulb that regulates the amount of voltage and current a bulb receive is bad the light bulb. It may cause the light bulb to flicker. This is common in CFLs and LEDs bulb. If this is the cause of your light flickering. Just replace the bulb with a new one.

While these five electrical repair guides are fairly simple for you to carry out, if you encounter any electrical problem which you cannot comprehend, we strongly recommend you contact a professional electrician near you

   5. Backstabbed Wiring

Another minor electrical problem at home, which you can actually handle the electrical repairs when it comes to that, is when backstabbed wiring is done at your home in your entire electrical outlet. If anything goes wrong with this outlet, it will require a physical inspection first.

This is because some outlets are installed with wires pushed into simple slots in the back of the receptacle.  While there’s nothing wrong with this system of wiring, vibration, heat expansion, and aging can cause these types of wiring connections to slide out over time.  It is a very simple and quick fix to simply pull the wire-free of the terminal and use the more traditional screw-terminal for added security.

For more Tips, regarding electrical problems and safety measures check out:

>COMMON FAULT WITH LIGHT FIXTURES AND POWER OUTLETS

>12 ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES SAFETY TIPS AT HOME   

>The 10 most important Electrical Safety Tips for Your Home

>10 Most Occurring Electrical Problems