ECN Electrical Forum
Discussion Forums for Electricians, Inspectors and Related Professionals

That's too funny!

Reno:

I was going to use your line of not beating a dead horse on this, but.....

Hubbell duplex receptacles, with an internal shutter over the slots, have been around for a long time. I do not have any factual info with dates, but I haven't slipped into dementia just yet.

As to if they were marked 'tamper resistant', or TR you possibly have a home run with that. They were special ordered thru a Hubbell distributor when they were specified on my jobs.I know I never referred to these devices as 'so called 'safety' devices'.

As to you stating "unenforceable" the 'spec/comm'grade designations are specifications called out by the design professional, and on many jobs the 'design professional' has been known to check devices for compliance.

As to the terms being 'meaningless' are you saying that ALL 'spec' grade devices are not equal? Or are you saying that 'spec' grade is non-existant.

I am well aware that various devices have been around for decades; there was simply no code reason to require them, nor was there any standard that they were held to. Every firm was free to follow it's own desire.

None of the devices fulfil the current code requirements, as they lack the "TR" marking.

Building plans require many things- the vast portion of which are not enforceable by the inspector. There's no law that says you must paint the bedroom walls pink, to cite one recent job I was on. The customer is free to purchase (specify) what he wants. As indicated by the various types of receptacles - there must be hundreds of ordinary duplex 5/15's available- customers want all manner of things not required by code.

As for "spec" grade .... or any other 'grade,' for that matter .... the terms mean whatever each manufacturer says they mean. While there has been SOME uniformity in the use of "spec" to refer to a particular Federal specification, one must read the fine print to be sure. Other terms - 'commercial' and 'industrial' are two that come to mind- don't have even that hook to hang from.

Go ahead, beat that dead horse .... that's what neigh-bors are for!

While I agree that those plates being recalled are crap, the NEC only requires that the receptacle be marked as TR, not the wall plates. So, with that being said, I don’t see why those crappy plates couldn’t be used in an existing building, if you weren’t going to be replacing the actual receptacles, but simply replacing the receptacle wall plates.
If you replaced the receptacles, then of course, they should be brought up to current code with TR receptacles, at least if you’re under the 2011 NEC anyway.

Kjay:

The installation of the'safety' plates as 'replacements' would not be an 'inspection' situation here, as there would be no permit required. (Rehab Codes)

As I mentioned, the issue was that the male cord caps were not fully seating, causing/resulting in overheating issues.