Hey guys, I apologize for pulling the proverbial pin on this grenade. I needed in my twisted way something to smile for at that time. It was solely meant for some electrician humor. Hope it did not upset anyone....

All kidding aside. My take came for my previous employer. He was adamant unless it put undue stress on the cord, the prong goes down when it is vertical and to the right when it was mounted horizontal. His explanation made the best sense of all I have heard in the past.

The ground prong on a plug is slightly longer then the blades in order for first make, last break when inserting or removing the plug. If the receptacle was wired properly wired and as time goes by, the tension wears off when the plug can dip down, pulling the ground prong out before breaking contact with the blades leaving the once protected equipment, unprotected. If the ground prong is mounted downward, the blades would break contact first before the ground prong thus maximizing safety.

In the horizontal configuration, if the plug would start to fall out, the ungrounded prong would likely pull out before the ground or grounded prong, again maximizing safety for the end user.

So being the wise guy, I asked him, "well, what about when the owner is too lazy crippled to bend over and pulls or pushes the plug at an upward angle?" his was reply was, "All we can do is show them how to use them properly by going straight in and out with the plug. we are not responsible for how they use them."

"Live Awesome!" - Kevin Carosa