It has been a long time since I have been on here looks like I have missed some good stuff. I have a guestion about 120v outlets being installed with the ground at the top not the bottom. Where in code does it say that the ground will be at the top. I have not been able to find it. Thanks for any help that I get.

RJ;

there is no code providations for saying for grounding slot up or down or left or right for that matter as well. this is been debated before many time.

typically commercal buildings have grounding slots up and the home usage the ground down but as i say it not always be the same way at all .

merci, marc

oh boy.

Thanks for the info.

We have a state code here saying ground down on 120 plugs. Perhaps check your local codes, and not the national. Best wishes, Brian.

back when i was an apprentice my 3rd year teacher said the reason the government went to ground up was that the army secretaries when pluging things in at their desks would have their dog tags fallout and (at least once) had the tag land between the hot and neutral. hence the change to grounds up. believe it or not!

Here in Europe with unpolarized Schuko outlets we got almost the same question with "hot left or right". The result of the endless discussion was that there isn't any code reference
Some people recommended putting the hot up on vertically mounted sockets, because if the house were ever flooded the water line would reach the neutral first
As if those 19mm would make any difference...

But if a thin metal object should fall and touch the plug prongs, it will find the hot
prong, and maybe short out to a metal cover plate. So I put horizontally mounted outlets with the neutral up.

texas ranger:

you got that nice words about the outlets too


Here in Europe with unpolarized Schuko outlets we got almost the same question with "hot left or right". The result of the endless discussion was that there isn't any code reference

now that is very simuiar with north american system .

i am not suprised it can become international debate with this regaurdless which verison it have on it. i am sure it will add very instering twist in here

merci, marc

So to solve the problem, why not mount receptacles sideways?

Kill 2 birds with one stone.

GA76Apprentice, sideways is horizontal which is what wa2ise mentioned. In those cases, you are marginally safer to put the neutral prong on the topside and the hot prong towards the floor. The flooding issue seems ridiculous with less than an inch of elevation difference.

In a dwelling unit, ground up or ground down is not going to make a bit of difference 99.9% of the time. (That is an official guesstimate)

1)Very few plugs that will be plugged in at a dwelling unit will have a ground prong, "to guard" the hot from thin falling metal objects.

2)Most dwelling units utilize non-metallic plates, so if a plate does come unscrewed and if it falls onto the prongs no problem.

Seems like we could worry about something really important.

Like "Should the lights go out when all 3 and 4 way switches are in the down position?"

One note on this subject... There is a city I did a residential rewire a while back in & the inspector requested the switched receptacle in each bedroom be turned :ground up:.. I thought this was simply a trade practice, but I did it anyways... flip 3 outlets, get final on the spot... Sounded like a deal to me! But it was the only time I was requested to do so... Usually I'll ask whoever I'm doing the installation for what their preference is..

-Randy

Personal preference

In our steel fab shop, grounds go up. With that much metel in the air, any little bit helps.

switched outlets, ground up, switched outlet on the bottom.

just me.

tw

I was told it was a matter of "first to make last to brake".

If you'll visit the address below, you'll go to the photo section of ECN. Halfway down the page is the device that solves the ground up/down dilemma.
https://www.electrical-contractor.net/ubb/Forum5/HTML/000527.html

With a straight face, ask for one at your local store.

this covers all the bases.

Roger

Something that I never understood about the Hubbel 4-way receptacles: it is arranged so that the _hots_ are on the outside from all sides. It would seem trivial to put the _neutral_ slots on the outside.

The Leviton 4-way receptacle actually puts the grounds 'up' on the top and 'down' on the bottom, and looks something like two of iwire's retouched decora duplex receptacles side by side.

-Jon