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Old 12-17-2010, 01:32 PM
 
Location: The Keystone State
276 posts, read 977,859 times
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I had my house painted recently. Turns out I think they plugged in through blue painters tape that was covering the outlets to keep them clean, as there was some blue tape inside the prong area. I tried to fish it out with a piece of plastic but could not get it. Now it's inside. Is there any real risk with a small peice of painter's tape (paper I guess) inside an outlet?
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Old 12-17-2010, 03:18 PM
 
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
8,307 posts, read 38,661,783 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WiseWords View Post
I had my house painted recently. Turns out I think they plugged in through blue painters tape that was covering the outlets to keep them clean, as there was some blue tape inside the prong area. I tried to fish it out with a piece of plastic but could not get it. Now it's inside. Is there any real risk with a small peice of painter's tape (paper I guess) inside an outlet?
I think it would be possible to create a condition where heat builds up that way, but the good news is that flipping the breaker to attempt extraction is pretty simple and if extraction is not possible or the outlet is damaged in the process a new one will be about $1.50.

*EDIT* FWIW, that would nag at me enough to be unable to ignore it but you probably don't have a giant, imminent, deadly danger on your hands.

Last edited by jimboburnsy; 12-17-2010 at 03:30 PM..
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Old 12-17-2010, 09:11 PM
 
Location: The Keystone State
276 posts, read 977,859 times
Reputation: 260
Quote:
Originally Posted by jimboburnsy View Post
I think it would be possible to create a condition where heat builds up that way, but the good news is that flipping the breaker to attempt extraction is pretty simple and if extraction is not possible or the outlet is damaged in the process a new one will be about $1.50.

*EDIT* FWIW, that would nag at me enough to be unable to ignore it but you probably don't have a giant, imminent, deadly danger on your hands.
Thanks. I agree.

I am trying to ask around, as I have no idea if other outlets have more painters tape inside since they were doing this unbeknownst to me. The amts I have found were very small and most of them I was able to remove (on prong area) but the one I referred to as I tried to remove it, it was pushed in and no longer visible.

Still hoping for an electrician might see this and answer.
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Old 12-17-2010, 09:22 PM
 
Location: Visitation between Wal-Mart & Home Depot
8,307 posts, read 38,661,783 times
Reputation: 7184
Quote:
Originally Posted by WiseWords View Post
Thanks. I agree.

I am trying to ask around, as I have no idea if other outlets have more painters tape inside since they were doing this unbeknownst to me. The amts I have found were very small and most of them I was able to remove (on prong area) but the one I referred to as I tried to remove it, it was pushed in and no longer visible.

Still hoping for an electrician might see this and answer.
Not an electrician (though there are some here) but I think the danger in a piece of paper (like painters tape) getting pushed into the contacts of an electrical outlet is not that the paper will ignite due to a spark or anything like that, but rather due to interfering with the connection between appliance and house power supply in a way that could create unintended electrical resistance or arcing and could conceivably generate enough heat to damage the outlet or possibly start a fire.

Not terribly likely to happen, but with all of the available remedies being so inexpensive and the worst case scenario being so horrible, I wouldn't be able to ignore the tape in the outlet.
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Old 12-18-2010, 06:14 AM
 
Location: Knoxville
4,705 posts, read 25,186,006 times
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You can use a wooden toothpick or shish kabob stick to dig the paper out. The amount of tape that will get into the outlet is pretty small, and so is the risk.
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Old 12-21-2010, 10:44 AM
 
Location: Cincinnati
3,336 posts, read 6,910,782 times
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the worst case scenario i can think of is a plug might not work. i don't see any way the tape could cause a fire or shocking hazard.
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