Outlet covers turning black?

[amrijane128]

I just pulled out an outlet cover and realized that the plastic prongs are starting to turn black... is this a fire hazard or normal? Anyone experience it? Thanks!

[TheGirls]

It sounds like you might have sparks happening in your outlet.  This is very dangerous, and you should have someone take a look at it to be sure all connections are tight and there are no exposed wires in there.  I had two of these outlets in my home, it's scary! 

On the plus side it's likely a VERY easy fix.

[beebalmmama]

My experience has been that with old wiring/old houses this seems pretty normal. If it is a newer home I think I would be more concerned.

[PiggyPiggyOinkOink]

You need to have an electrician come out to your house tomorrow and check them out. Also, shut off power to whatever room that's happening in. We just had a similar problem happen, and when DH (a contractor, btw) discovered it, it started sparking and arcing, causing him to freak and shut off the breakers. The next day an electrician friend looked at it and said the wiring was loose in that one outlet and DH was able to fix it very easily. Please please please get this checked out. We could have lost our house if DH hadn't found that outlet. It was very close to catching on fire.

[Agatha_Ann]

Definitely get it checked out. We had this happen in our old house and the outlet did start on fire.

[amrijane128]

Wow, thank you for the advice, everyone! Now to find $$ for an electrician :(

[dayiscoming2006]

I had that happen. We own an old house. Hubby is good as an electrician (specialized in it in his Romanian high school) and was able to fix it. The wires were connected poorly, etc. 

[dayiscoming2006]

Other thing I will mention about the outlet covers - they are kind of unnecessary. Hubby explained the only way a kid could get hurt is if they had something metal that could fit into both outlet holes. So If you don't leave forks or paper clips laying around, you should be pretty safe. I use a big fence to cut off part of my house to the kids for their safety. It's still safely containing my 4 and 2 year olds. I bought it on amazon for $100. They get the living room and a bedroom to play in. The rest of the house is off limits unless mommy and daddy say it's OK. For example, my oldest just says potty if he needs the potty and I'll open the gate for him to go. HTH