Upside down wall plugs

[Midpack]

You learn something every day (at least I try to).

While the ground down "happy face" has been the norm (and many plugs/devices are designed that way) and outlets are depicted in that orientation even in lots of electrical training and reference materials, from what I can gather most manufacturers and professional trades actually recommend ground up for the reasons others have noted above. Reason being, if anything metallic, especially a metallic cover should fall on a partially removed plug the first thing it will contact is a GROUND, not 'hot' and 'neutral.' Hopefully that will prevent a shock by tripping the breaker or opening the fuse. Electrical cover plates, not normally found in residential, are the primary but not the only reason. People have been shocked not only due to metal cover plates, but picture hanging wires, antenna/speaker wires, paper clips and even "nun's rosaries" are seemingly part of installers lore.

To add to the confusion, it's not specified in national code, but it's specified ground up in some local code, and ground down in others. I looked at the Levitan site (manufacturer) and they seem to show residential down and commercial up!

Good thing it's so easy for homeowners to flip them if so desired.

 

[Socal Tom]

I've seen them mounted ground up when they were switched circuits, but usually ground down

 

[Sittingduck]

Mine are not up or down - they are sideways! I have surveyed the house and found that some are to the left and some to the right - no discernible pattern. Seems to have worked for 30 years... I guess i'll put this in the "Oh Well" bucket.

 

[Ronstar]

I installed all of mine ground down and the inspector approved it, I don't remember seeing any mounted upside down anywhere.

 

[aaronc879]

aaronc879, could you check your wall plugs against the pictures of the inverse? It looks like a picture is flipped. The wide blade should be on the other side.

Mine have the ground on top but, unlike the picture, the wide blade is on the right.

 

[jimbee]

You learn something every day (at least I try to)To add to the confusion, it's not specified in national code, but it's specified ground up in some local code, and ground down in others. I looked at the Levitan site (manufacturer) and they seem to show residential down and commercial up!

Yep, it's described here. NEMA connector - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[ls99]

Of course. That is the natural and proper order of things, as explained here: http://currentconfig.com/2005/02/22/essential-life-lesson-1-over-is-right-under-is-wrong/

Of course any decision can be made more complex by offering more choices. If the roll is hung vertically, should the flap be to the right or to the left? Or if it isn't hung at all, but merely placed on a nearby shelf, does it matter which finger the roll is hung upon to unspool it or which hand is used? The Absolute Right Way to Hang Toilet Paper. Maybe

Being retired means you have time to research and contemplate the universal significance of such important questions, setting aside such trivial irrelevancies such as whether the Republicans or Democrats or both are idiots.

IIRC Maybe twenty years ago Oprah actually did a whole show on the proper way to mount toilet paper. From the women's perspective. You know she was short on material those days.

 

[ERD50]

... from what I can gather most manufacturers and professional trades actually recommend ground up for the reasons others have noted above. Reason being, if anything metallic, especially a metallic cover should fall on a partially removed plug the first thing it will contact is a GROUND, not 'hot' and 'neutral.' Hopefully that will prevent a shock by tripping the breaker or opening the fuse. ...

To be clear, some of that info is not really accurate. The first part is correct:

Reason being, if anything metallic, especially a metallic cover should fall on a partially removed plug the first thing it will contact is a GROUND, not 'hot' and 'neutral.'

But it does not follow that:

Hopefully that will prevent a shock by tripping the breaker or opening the fuse.

When a metallic cover touches the ground or neutral, nothing will happen. That's the point. They are all near zero voltage potential, there is no shock hazard and the circuit breaker/fuse will not trip - no excess current is flowing.

The cover would need to touch the hot spade and either neutral or ground (maybe through its screws) to trip a breaker/fuse.

As an aside, a GFCI will protect against electrocution - it is triggered by very small differences in current between hot and neutral (meaning the current is going somewhere else - like a human body to ground). But a fuse/breaker won't protect against electrocution - the current that kills is far less than any breaker rating. Fuses/breakers are to prevent fires.

-ERD50

 

[target2019]

I would remover the cover plate, unscrew the outlet, rotate 180 deg., and re-assemble.

Most days I'd probably turn off the power to that leg before doing this...

 

[nvestysly]

The outlets in our house have the ground wire up. When I've pulled off the cover plates in the past and looked at the outlet/socket it was clearly marked with up (or top I don't recall for sure).

Hmmm... maybe these were commercial outlets, or maybe the person who installed them was from a commercial rather than residential background.

I've left them in that orientation because it's too difficult to change them in my house. The wiring is old and I don't want to risk cracking the insulation. We do have a few appliances and other corded devices that would be easier to use if the outlets were oriented with the ground under the hot & neutral.

 

[calmloki]

The National Electrical Code, which is commonly but not exclusively adopted by local authorities having jurisdiction, specifies that three-prong outlets should have the ground facing up in certain circumstances -- particularly hospitals. As for commercial and residential applications, however, there is no such requirement in the NEC. The reason for hospitals is that it is safer to have the ground on top in case a plug is partially pulled out and something metallic, like a paper clip or pen, falls across the prongs.

Just so. Also, when pulling out a plug, note that when it is installed ground down that the hot and neutral prongs pull out first, allowing you to get your finger in for a shock.

Even knowing that, and having managed to get self or other conductive surface in on the prongs, I've wired a dozen or more places ground down. Why? See QWERTY vs. Dvorak.

 

[HFWR]

Code nuances not withstanding, as long as you have "black-to-brass" on all receptacles, it should be okay. Electricians (and helpers) should know this, but in an effort to finish a job quickly, there may have been a mistake. Easy to check with one of these:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=...yPxtFnbTQI_TcB4ATY-5lcOA&ust=1394722356021679

 

[BTravlin]

Ours were right side up until last week when the new backsplash was installed. Now we're wrong side up. They still work though and that's the main thing.

 

[gromit]

My home had every outlet with the ground on top. After a number of years of putting up with it, I finally rotated all of the outlets, except for a couple that are behind very hard to move furniture (china cabinet, etc). In every case, the wires to the outlet were long enough to just rotate the plug without having to remove the wires. It was a pain to change them, but it did eliminate the annoyance when using electric devices (like co2 detectors) that are designed for ground down outlets.

 

[LeavingOhio]

As was said, just turn them the right way.

All of the outlets in my house (except the GFI ones in the bathrooms) were put in upside down. I discovered this when my daughter got a lava lamp night light when she was little...the thing would only plug in upside down, so I turn off the power, took off the cover and turned it 180 degrees, put the cover back on and presto, change-o everything was as it should have been.

 

[M Paquette]

Mine are not up or down - they are sideways! I have surveyed the house and found that some are to the left and some to the right - no discernible pattern. Seems to have worked for 30 years... I guess i'll put this in the "Oh Well" bucket.

I generally install outlets ground up, and for the sideways ones, neutral up!

This all came from old Navy training, plus electrical work as a teenager apprenticing for my dad, and the exciting experience of seeing a metal outlet plate with a loose screw drop onto the hot pins on a couple of plugs. *BANG*

 

[samclem]

I'm installing new circuits/outlets and also replacing our existing two-prong receptacles with three-prong ones. I'm putting them with the ground down, though I see the cited advantage of the other way. Maybe I'll install those in my shop and garage (hanging metal tools, etc) with the ground up.

No metal faceplates.

Back wiring: I'm now a fan after many years of insisting on the around-the-screw terminals. But, the poked-in wires must be secured by a screw, not by some spring-loaded cheapo prong. If tightened down with a screw the wire is clamped firmly in place and seems to be very secure. Doing things this way is a lot faster. Or maybe I'm just getting lazy.

And while we're on the subject: A pox on electricians who won't leave enough wire in the box to get the device in and out with room to work.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

All mine are ground up, which is a PITA. DW doesn't like them because the xmas decorative nightlights won't work.

I've heard the arguments for doing this before and was inspired to search the NEC for the "requirement" and found none.

Just too much trouble to "correct" IMHO. If I ever have a house built this will definitely be one of the details I specify, along with the bathroom light switches being arranged with the light near the door and the fan away from the door, not the other way 'round or with each bathroom different. (or is that another thread?)

 

[sengsational]

My home had every outlet with the ground on top. After a number of years of putting up with it, I finally rotated all of the outlets...

Every one in my house has ground on top too, and when I finished the basement, I put them all in ground on top...I figured they knew what they were doing...I sure didn't!

 

[NW-Bound]

Same as some earlier posters, I have only seen the ground prong "down": in all the homes and commercial places such as hotels that I have been to. I have stayed in a couple of local hospitals, and if the ground prong was installed "up" in these places, I am sure I would have noticed.

So, what gives? Do we have different standards on different sides of the Mississipi?

However, the above does not bother me as much as the following.

Gonna try turning the wall plug... but... in your picture....
Note that the correct/wrong pictures both have the wider part of the prong on the left... If it were just put in upside down, wouldn't the wide part of the plug prong be on the other side?

+1

I didn't notice that, poor choice of pictures on my part. But aside from the picture, are your wider prongs on the "wrong side?" If not, you can just flip them as described.

Do they really make outlets with the wider neutral prong on the right-hand side when the ground prong is installed down? That was shown in the above photo! With such "reverse" neutral prong, one could not follow the wiring standard as shown in the post quoted below.

I have never seen such "reverse" wide prong outlets, nor appliance plugs that would match that!

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

Grounds?!!--we don't need no stinkin' grounds!!
My house was bulit in '59' and was all 2 prong outlets. I've replaced several over the years, and the wiring installed was 3-wire, so I've been able to ground all the new installs. Problem is, guy who originally wired house cut the grounds real short to keep them out of the way, and I only have enough room/wire to hook the ground up if the receptacle is upside down.

 

[Walt34]

And while we're on the subject: A pox on electricians who won't leave enough wire in the box to get the device in and out with room to work.

My father was a electrician and that was one of his pet peeves as well. He worked full time for the power company but did small side jobs for what he called "beer money". When someone wanted a new ceiling light put in for example, he'd leave a few feet of extra cable in the attic in case they wanted to move it later.

I went with him as a helper on most of those jobs. The first dollar I ever made was pulling cable in a space he couldn't fit into.

 

[FireBug]

Flip your house over.... problem solved.

 

[davemartin88]

In our house, the grounds are on the bottom. When I built my workshop, I installed the plugs with the grounds up because I thought I might be more likely to drop something across a cord that was partially pulled, etc. Both ways passed inspection.

 

[Hermit]

I put one of these surge protectors in the wall behind a 55 inch plasma monitor in a home theater several years ago. I installed it "upside down" because the writing for the surge protector would have been upside down if I turned it over.