Calling On Electricians - Not Car Related

[Jay Bee]

Hi. Nine years after moving in, an outlet at my kid's house stopped working. No voltage present and the fuse was okay. I found the problem to be as pictured and we went through his spares until one made the connection. Yes, they were all screwed in as far as they would go.

So, can I safely remove that blue plastic "spacer" with no adverse effects? It doesn't come just out, it'll have be broken into pieces. If there's more in his panel, should they be removed too?

I'm concerned that since the connection was "iffy" to the point of failure that it'll happen again. More so that it might even begin to arc. TIA

John

[dodj]

Electrically you will have no adverse effects as long as you use a proper size fuse. That plastic ring is only to make sure you don't put a higher amperage rated plug fuse in there.
The colour of the ring matches the amperage of the fuse. IE 15 amp is blue. 20amp is orange, 30 is green etc.
If they are not in the panel...some people are tempted to 'temporarily' put a higher amperage fuse in there while they go get a proper replacement...then 'forget' to replace it with the proper size. Potentially leading to overloaded wiring.
If you choose to remove it...that centre button is live..kill the power. Pull the mains first with a flashlight handy

[Jay Bee]

Thanks dodj. Next time I'm there I'll show him your reply and let him make the decision. It'll be a forever mystery as to why that connection failed from inside an undisturbed electrical panel. And just to add, the first good spare fuse we tried didn't work either.

[7E-Bodies]

Freshly retired from 35 years in the electrical world, although not a residential guy and never had to delve into the code books. I was a high voltage guy, mainly in power generation and substation/power line protective technologies (a "Protective Relay Tech"). However, I did wire several new construction homes and a couple remodel houses and panel upgrades. I'm going to concur with @dodj on his reply, even though I've never seen the blue plugs. Your concerns are valid regarding arcing, especially if there's a decent load on it (ie: air fryer, hair dryer etc). You may want to look into getting the old fuse box replaced by a breaker panel in terms of future planning.

[Jay Bee]

You may want to look into getting the old fuse box replaced by a breaker panel in terms of future planning.

They looked into that when they bought the house. I don't know why they didn't follow through. Thanks 7E-Bodies for chiming in too.

[dodj]

Freshly retired from 35 years in the electrical world, although not a residential guy and never had to delve into the code books. I was a high voltage guy, mainly in power generation and substation/power line protective technologies (a "Protective Relay Tech").

I dabbled in the distribution end from time to time. Helping out guys like you. We called your type "VARheads". My forte was machine control PLC's, limit sw's lvdt's etc. Guys like me were called milliwatts.