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Replacement Vacuum Plug Problem

I have a 2 prong vacuum cleaner (hot/neutral). One of the prongs broke off, so I went to HomeDepot to get a new plug. Came home, cut the old one off and went to wire this one on. Black to gold, white to silver, all is fine. Although, the new one is not polarized. The old one is.

I went back to the store, and looked, but ALL of the replacement 2 prongs are non-polarized! I know the non-polarized plug reverses the hot/neutral on the switch when its plugged in the other way. But what am I supposed to do?

It still works fine, but I do want to follow the "electrical rules".:thumbup:

Should I worry about it or not? If so, what should I do?

Quote:

Originally Posted by seansy59 (Post 765948)

There's not much you can do about it with that replacement cord. Even if you ensure that you correctly wire the plug to the appliance, there's no guarantee that the plug will always get inserted into the receptacle in the correct orientation since it is not polarized. If it really bothers you, you can do either of these:

Order a replacement cord directly from the appliance manufacturer. It's likely to be polarized in the same manner as the original cord.
Use a 3-prong (grounded) replacement cord (and just do not connect the ground wire to the appliance). This would ensure that the plug could only be inserted into the receptacle in the correct orientation.

You have most likely heard the phrase "Double Insulated".

Quote:

A Class II or double insulated electrical appliance is one which has been designed in such a way that it does not require a safety connection to electrical earth (US: ground).
The basic requirement is that no single failure can result in dangerous voltage becoming exposed so that it might cause an electric shock and that this is achieved without relying on an earthed metal casing. This is usually achieved at least in part by having two layers of insulating material surrounding live parts or by using reinforced insulation.
In Europe, a double insulated appliance must be labelled Class II, double insulated, or bear the double insulation symbol (a square inside another square).

Good chance that vacuum is double insulated....hence, the plug is fine.

[QUOTE=BeverlyS;1021787]You really need to choose the compatible plug for your vacuum cleaner in order to work, but on this case, all you need to do now is to start consult for a technician to also check and diagnose your vacuum cleaner.

This thread is old........I bought a 3 prong plug for the vacuum, and it worked fine.

A month later, I jammed the motor. Since then, I have had 3 new vacuums.......

Repairing a vacuum nowadays is not worth it, since they are so cheaply built, and are almost disposable.

Beverly, probably not her real name, bumped this post just to get her web site link on here.