Mickey7The clueless people are out there among us
TechnusRegardless of where you are, can we all agree that no one’s really perfected the electrical outlet yet?
NA plugs make contact without being fully seated, and can leave their live and neutral pins exposed. Worn outlets just let plugs fall out of them (I have 3 or so outlets in my apartment that are borderline unusable because of this).
British plugs are bulky and turn into caltrops when dropped on the floor.
European plugs have the same problem. And you only get like, one outlet per receptacle? Guess you’re shit out of luck if you wanna plug anything else in the same spot.
Most of the rest of the world just copied Europe or the UK.
I like Denmark’s plug though. Cute lil smiley face.
DaveDoes NA not have insulated pins? Where a half inch of so of the pin nearest the plug head is insulated so when plugging in the exposed part of the pin is inside the hole before the pin makes contact with live power?
RhaedasIt's a right of passage for a kid to learn what a 120 volt shock feels like if they're careless in unplugging something. One pin is just an unforgettable sensation, while both will knock you down. The real mystery is why code requires the outlets installed upside down. Technology Connections did at least one video on the differences of outlets in the world, and his point was that if the ground pin was above the other two, something falling on a partially exposed plug would rest on the harmless ground and not what it can do, short out the two live pins. But then we wouldn't get the cute faces, so...
The real mystery is why code requires the outlets installed upside down.
That isn’t code. 2:25
and his point was that if the ground pin was above the other two, something falling on a partially exposed plug would rest on the harmless ground
His point is that this is incredibly unlikely to ever actually help, and it’s largely an urban legend (7:35).
Power outlets are topsy turvy - but does it matter?
Funnily enough this did happen to me. It was a cat toy that was mostly just a long metal wire. I found it on the ground in 2 pieces and couldn’t figure out how that happened…until I saw the marks around the outlet. Definitely feel lucky that nothing caught fire and no cats were harmed. Not that I’m going to flip all my outlets or anything, but proof it can happen!
Lol a 120V circuit won’t knock you down. You’ll be surprised but that’s about it.
Source: electrician. I’ve been shocked plenty.
You say that, until you get a surprise tickle up on a ladder and accidentally punch yourself in the face. Ask me how i know :)
Glad to see another electrician on here!
Yeah that’s legit haha, been there
<3
Code doesn’t specify the orientation of a standard duplex 15 or 20 amp receptacle. Personally, I’m of the position that they should be ground pin up, for exactly the situation you specified. But, since there isn’t a code mandate, residential customers and the occasional commercial customer will make you flip them because “they look weird upside down” (ground up). I think a lot of this comes from the old K&T days when it was standard practice to place the hot terminal on the right and neutral of the left, assumably because most people are right handed, and they added the ground on the bottom to make the face as it was more aesthetically pleasing. Granted, this last bit is all pure speculation.
The fact of the matter is that since I can’t draw a code reference to ground up, I install residential ground down. On commercial jobs I’ll ask the client directly and explain the hazard, since they’re more liability minded, and they’ll typically go ground up except in reception areas and the like. People are funny.
Thanks for the clarification. I assumed it was code only because I wouldn't know where to look to find out, and you see it everywhere.
No worries. I was actually surprised when I found that out, considering there are plenty of other miniscule things the code is very specific about.