How to Repair a Broken Meter Socket

A broken meter socket can cause many inconveniences. However, you can always fix the problem yourself. A word of caution, though: electricity is something that you don't want to work with without any prior experience. If you think that you aren't skilled enough to handle electricity, don't even think about attempting to undertake the task. Leave the fixing to the professionals. If you are confident enough, though, fixing a broken meter socket isn't that complex.

Find the Problem

Before you change any socket, make certain that it is the socket that's faulty. There are instances when it's the appliances or the wires that are faulty. It could also be the electric current that's causing the problem. Check to see if the wires are intact, or if they haven't come off of the sockets yet. You can do that just by visually checking. Try plugging your appliances in at different parts of the house to see if the problem just isolated in one section, or occurring all throughout the house.

Blown Fuse

Each meter socket is attached to a circuit breaker for safety purposes. The circuit breaker shuts off the flow of electricity to any of the sockets attached to it when there is a power surge. Sometimes the initial problem lies with the circuit breaker and not the socket per se. See if your circuit breaker has blown or tripped. A tripped circuit breaker will prevent the flow of electricity going to your meter socket, so when you plug something in it won't power it. If the circuit breaker has indeed tripped, you may need to replace the blown fuse with a new one and then reset the circuit breaker. If you do this, your meter socket ought to function correctly.

Check the Wiring

If the fuse in your circuit breaker isn't tripped, you might have a loose connection. To resolve this problem, turn off the circuit breaker and unscrew the socket. With the use of a voltage tester, check to see whether the wires are indeed dead. When you're positive that there is no more electricity flowing through the wires, check to see if the ends are still tightly connected to the socket's terminals. If they're loose, refasten the wires and screw the socket back in.

Check what your meter socket's wires are made of. Wires made of aluminum have a tendency to expand and then contract. These are also prone to corrosion. You may have to apply a rust remover and an anti-corrosion compound on aluminum wires if you see that they're in the process of degrading. If you want to save time and money from doing all that maintenance work, replacing your aluminum wires with copper ones is a viable option, although an expensive one.