How to connect a 3-pin plug with 2 wires (Guide)
Connecting a three-prong plug with two wires is not very difficult, it is a problem that electricians have from time to time. You can complete the whole process in a few minutes. You don't even need any experience and I'm going to walk you through the whole process. If you find yourself in a situation where you have a three-prong plug and two wires connected to an extension cord and want to connect power to an electrical extension cord, then this guide is for you.
You don't need to spend money on buying a new 3-pin plug extension; you can easily connect two wires to a three prong plug and power your power strip or any other device connected to two wires.
Quick Overview: To connect a three-prong, two-wire plug, first strip the terminals to expose the bare wire. But if two wires are connected to a two-prong plug or any other device, cut the wires to disconnect them from the two-prong plug. Then unscrew the three-prong plug to expose the positive and neutral pins, twist the terminals of the two wires and screw them to the terminals - positive to positive and neutral to neutral. Finally, close the three-prong plug and tighten the cap. Restore the power supply and test your plug!
Safety measures
With any electrical wiring or repair, the rule of thumb is to turn off power to the area you are working on. You can do this on the breaker block.
Once you have disconnected the power, you can use a voltage tester to be 100% sure that power is not running through the wires or circuit you are working with.
The next precaution is to wear protective gear. Protect your eyes with protective goggles. (1)
After you have done all this, you can start wiring.
What does each wire do?
It is extremely important to understand the polarity of the 3-pin plug. The wiring harness is as follows:
- living pin
- Neutral contact
- Ground contact
The polarity of the contacts is indicated in the diagram below:
Connecting a three-prong plug with two wires
After you have set the polarity of the three-prong plug and turned off the power, you can proceed to connect it with two wires. The detailed steps below will help you with this:
Step 1: Remove the insulating coating from the two-core wire.
Using a stripper, remove about ½ inch of insulation from the terminals of both wires. You can use pliers for this. Please note that if the two wires belong to a 2-pin plug, cut off the head of the 2-pin plug first before stripping the wires. (2)
Step 2: Unscrew the plug
Unscrew the 3-pin plug, including the wire retainer, and remove its cover.
Step 3: Connect the two wires to the three prong plug.
First, twist the stripped ends of the two wires (not together) to make them more compact. Now insert the twisted ends into the screws of the three prong plug. Fasten the connection with screws.
Note: The two terminals where you connect the two wires are the neutral and active plugs/screws. The third plug is in the ground. In most cases, the wires are color coded and you can easily distinguish between the neutral, hot, and ground wires.
Step 4: Repair the 3-pin plug cover
Finally, restore the three-prong connector cover that you removed while installing the two wires. Screw the cover back into place. Check out your new fork.
Take a look at some of our articles below.
- How to crimp spark plug wires
- How to plug electrical wires
- How to check the car ground wire with a multimeter
Recommendations
(1) goggles - https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/lifestyle/best-safety-glasses-goggles-1083929/
(2) insulating layer - https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/
engineering / insulation layer
Video link
