ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Receptacle ground up or down?

If you step on the cord the hot will disengage first and that's why I prefer to the right. I guess you have to decide if a cord is more likely to get stepped on or something fall off the wall above the recept. Also if something falls off the wall what are the chances it will fall straight down the wall and land on the prong vs land on the cord and pull it out of the recept. Just a thought.

Steve,

I see there's 2 sides to that too. I see your point. I always thought about the plug getting somehow partially disengaged and exposing part of the top prong to contact.

Bill

I don't give any less merit to that idea than what I posted. Let the coin decide

I like the white on my right and the grounding prong up.

The major reason for this is when plugging in a cord below eye-level (the usual), I need to see all three prongs at once. If the ground is down, it is harder to see.

The next reason is gravity. Gravity will pull a loose plug downward. I would rather that a ground or neutral were exposed than a hot or hot and neutral. I've seen a lot of loose plugs. If the plug is properly designed with a slightly longer ground prong, then the ground prong won't lose contact before the hot does.

It seems that most manufacturers, especially of right angle plugs, but also of other appliances made to hang from the receptacle, are designing their products as if grounding prong down is the only way. Oddly enough, ground-prong up should make for a more esthetic right-angle plug.

Note to sparky66wv: I think that table lamps and night lights should have polarized plugs. If they don't, that is bad. But with a two-prong plug, up or down doesn't seem to matter.

Hot on the right is an anachronism.
For 120 V, neutral ("wide" prong) should be on the right.
Black goes on the left.
For 220 V red goes on the right.

It makes it all very easy to remember too.

I have the killer argument now.
Ground should go up. When it is down, receptacles looks like faces and that invites small children to play with them.

Grounds Up. But it's hard to convince customers of the benefit. They're used to seeing it 1 way ("You put them in upside down")

I am waiting to see an enumeration of the benefits or pros and cons.
What exactly do you say to your customers?

lately, i just ask em' how the'd like em'

I like the ground up for safety, but the customer wins because of the "Golden Rule".
He who has the Gold, makes the Rule.

I will relay a story about receptacles, and the direction they face. I was working in a building in the City of Houston as an apprentice, and the "building standards" required that all receptacles be placed in the "baseboards" horizontally (back before ADA). So, I was going to install a receptacle with the "grounded" conductor (neutral) in the up position. The journeyman that I was working with at the time stopped me, and had me install it with the hot in the up position. Naturally, I said, "Why?" He responded, "We install, and remove lots of plugs around here, and when I remove one from a "J" box, I want to be able to see the "hot" as it is coming out of the box. "Good point," I thought. He was looking out for his own safety, and the safety of the other electricians in the building. Was it bad for the customer? I would say, "Maybe, maybe not."

HMEL #688

I tell our customers that there's a greater likelihood of something falling across the energized prongs with the ground down. Here in So CA, we have quakes that move appliances, pull plugs out, knock things off walls, etc.(but things still fall down, not up)
Through this whole thread, the best argument for the grounds down has been the asthetic or smiling face, which is not too strong.
Don't get me wrong, I put 'em in how the customer wants, but unless there's a reason not to,they go in grd up. The customers rely on us to guide them through the electrical safety issues, and our personal opinions count for something, whether it impresses a CMP or not.

I feel that the best argument goes back to the devices designed for ground down recepts such as 90 degree angle appliance cords, wall warts, night lights, CO2 detectors, etc.

These things tend to fall out of the wall with ground up. My old boss insisted on ground up, but I got alot of his old customers when I became a contractor and most of those were very unhappy with it.

I'm all about pleasing my customers, because quite frankly, I like to eat.
(My old boss drove a Ford Fairmont... as recently as '98! I drive a 89 Nissan truck... the sparky's who could care less about code drive new Dodges... there's a pattern here...hmmm)


Which is exactly my point...


[This message has been edited by sparky66wv (edited 04-25-2001).]