Follow the instructions listed below to be safe with electrical wiring.
Before you begin working with electrical wiring, make sure the power is turned off. To test a receptacle, insert the leads of a circuit tester into the slots where the plug goes. The circuit is on if the tester's bulb lights. If it does not, this may mean only that the tester's leads were too short or too thick to go in far enough for good electrical contact; it does not mean that the power is off.
Check further by removing the receptacle's faceplate screws and mounting ears at the top and bottom, gripping the ears and pulling the fixture straight out, being careful not to let its terminal screws touch metal. Now touch one lead of the tester to a brass screw terminal where a red- or black-insulated wire is connected, the other to a silver screw having a white-insulated wire. If the circuit is off, the tester's bulb will not light. Check also between the brass/black (or red)-wire terminal and the terminal where the bare or green-insulated grounded wire is connected and between the silver/white-insulated wire terminal and the grounding-wire terminal. If the tester's light glows in either case, the power is still on.
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Make sure the power is turned off before you begin working with electrical wiring.
