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Thread: Upside down receptacles?

  1. #91
    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Hintz View Post
    As far as I can tell, the NEC has never specified location of ground, neutral, or live lugs... sounds like an electrician's wive's tale that just keeps getting passed down from generation to generation.
    I worked with guys who practically memorized the NEC and anytime anyone did anything in violation of the NEC, they were right there correcting them. Never was there any mention of orientation of the receptacle. Hospitals did it one way and everyone else did it another. You learn "the right way" to orient them when you're an apprentice and that "right way" is the way nothing more than a local preference.

    For all the countless conversations we've had on the jobsites about how to do something the right way (and I've been on jobs with as many as 250 electricians), there has never been one about receptacle orientation that lasted more than a few minutes. They always ended with, "That's our standard here (Chicago and the surrounding areas) and that's how we do it." The NEC was never cited.

  2. #92
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    You should be around a group of professional painters of various ages sometime, Julie. You would hear lots of very different versions of "the right way". Of course, for the vast majority of paint application, there is no codified "right way". For me, the person signing the check is usually the one who determines "the right way", unless they're paying me to make that call, too. Life got a lot less stressful once I figured that out years ago.
    Jason

    "Don't get stuck on stupid." --Lt. Gen. Russel Honore


  3. #93
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    I hated the Chicago area the Electricians were the worst. On CVS jobs they would come late and leave early only would do something when it benefited them and said stuff like this is Chicago you can't do that here when you suggested a better way then when you were gone they would do it that wayand try to take credit for what was in the installation book to begin with. Ha one complain because I took my light bulbs out that they were supposed to supply. Almost got caught by OSHA for plugging into one of the electricians cords that didn't have the ground pin good thing I checked they ended up getting fined.

  4. I have been working with electricity for 50 years and have always installed my receptacles ground up. The NEC does not specify an orientation and this is the reason that you see them installed in both directions. As an old timer, I prefer to install them ground up for two reasons. 1.) If the plug and cord pull downward, the ground pin is the first thing that is exposed. 2.) The ground pin is typically round and is more stable to the forces that gravity imposes on the plug to pull out. Think about the other two pins, they are flat and oriented in a vertical direction. (15 Amp)The resistance to bend of the ground pin will also press the other pins into their sockets providing a better connection for the power to travel.
    Remember, the National Electrical Code does not specify and the opinion of myself and others is simply that, an opinion.

  5. #95
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    The attached link has the correct answer to this question of proper outlet orientation.
    http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/Secti...?section=47035

  6. #96
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    Honestly, I have never seen receptacles with the ground up. Is it a Chicago thing? I have worked and lived in several states from coast to coast and have always seen the ground on the bottom (with a few outliers that would stand out from the rest of the receptacles in the room.

    From a safety viewpoint ( and that is what I do professionally ) the ground should be at the bottom. You want the ground connection to be the last thing that breaks if the plug starts to pull down and out due to gravity. Look at GFCI receptacles an example. For those GFCI with the push to test buttons in the horizontal position, the text is usually oriented to be read with the ground in the bottom position.
    No, the sky is not falling - just chunks of it are.

  7. #97
    Quote Originally Posted by Pat Barry View Post
    The attached link has the correct answer to this question of proper outlet orientation.
    http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/Secti...?section=47035
    It looks like they didn't do a ground connection. I didn't listen to it - just looked at it on mute - so maybe they have the ground connected to the box and that connects to the ground through the screws that hold the outlet in the box.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  8. #98
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    It looks like they didn't do a ground connection. I didn't listen to it - just looked at it on mute - so maybe they have the ground connected to the box and that connects to the ground through the screws that hold the outlet in the box.

    Mike
    He used an outlet with a clip at the mounting screw for the ground and said the incoming wires were grounded at the box. So you're assumption is correct.

    I did an inventory of my house outlets. It will NOT be mistaken for a hospital anytime soon,

    And will this thread ever die? It.... hertz.

    -Tom

  9. #99
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Stenzel View Post
    And will this thread ever die? It.... hertz.
    Most viewed SMC thread ever... at 60 viewings every second
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  10. Quote Originally Posted by Patrick McCarthy View Post
    out here on the west coast, at least in a residential setting, they are installed ground down. However, if the outlet is controlled by a wall switch, they are put in ground up - - - but I understand it is for a visual clue rather than a code requirement. Will take a look next time I am in a hospital . . . . . hope not too soon though.
    That's not necessarily the case, I've had electricians who came in and installed them ground up, I went back and reversed them later. I prefer them ground down because it's easier to keep plugs from falling out of the socket. If you slightly bend the prongs out, they stay more securely. I guess in the end it's all personal preference.

  11. #101
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dan Hintz View Post
    Most viewed SMC thread ever... at 60 viewings every second
    The activity in this thread has seemed to come in three phases.
    Jason

    "Don't get stuck on stupid." --Lt. Gen. Russel Honore


  12. #102
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    We can kill the thread now, we hit over 100 posts. All over one stinking little pin. What else could be possibly said? That being said, I have seen a thread on "are you a thread killer" go on for years and nearly 10,000 posts and over 200k views over at irv2.com.
    Last edited by Ole Anderson; 01-27-2015 at 7:50 PM.
    NOW you tell me...

  13. #103
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jason Roehl View Post
    The activity in this thread has seemed to come in three phases.
    The differences in opinion provide a large 'delta', but I'm not sure 'Y'...
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  14. #104
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    I have developed an alternating opinion regarding the receptacle orientation.

  15. #105
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    At least it's a well grounded discussion.

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