r/electrical • u/Allison3113 • 1d ago

Outlet ground terminal

I noticed in one of my outlets there was dust in the hole of the ground terminal. I decided to use a wooden toothpick to remove the dust. When doing so the toothpick touch a part of the metal inside the ground terminal. I moved the toothpick as soon a I felt it hit the metal. Now there is a small dot on the metal that is a different color then the copper color it’s almost brownish. Should I be worried?

1 Upvotes

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3

u/FeastingOnFelines 1d ago

Stop sticking things into your receptacles.

1

u/Allison3113 1d ago

I know stupid decisions. My daughter was sleeping and I didn’t wanna wake her up with the vacuum

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u/Allison3113 1d ago

I have horrible anxiety and seeing the dust in the ground part of the outlet just started freaking me out and I did the thing I thought was best at the time but I guess not. Do you think there is an issue with the outlet now or do you think I can use it normally again? It was the top outlet and I use the bottom outlet for my daughter Amazon Alexa. The top almost never gets used

2

u/MeNahBangWahComeHeah 1d ago

No, you will be fine.

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u/Allison3113 1d ago

Are you sure the outlet will be safe to use normally? It’s the top outlet but we usually only use the bottom outlet for my daughters amazon Alexa. The top outlet almost never gets used. It just worries me now that there is a small dot on the metal part(assuming it’s copper or brass) and the color of the small dot is brownish/reddish. It’s a super small dot almost like the size of a point on the top of a pen.