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Elect outlets; ground prong top or bottom ?

4897 Views 17 Replies 16 Participants Last post by  Zebrafive
It's a mix around here. I can see arguments for both ways.

Whats code ?
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Pete may know the "code" but 'round here its mostly down. Just looks funny any other way also IMO.
I don't think the code specifies which way is up (and I'm referring outlets, not the code in a general sense :laugh:). I'll toss out a "this is electricity not electronics" caveat here though.

Now I have heard that when the 3 prong grounded outlet was introduced, the intention was that the ground pin be up. That way, some wire sliding down the wall would hit ground and not hot. But there was an uproar because the "little face was upside down", and so now the default is outlets all in their places with bright shinny faces and the ground prong down.

I have some LED night lights, and they are designed so that the ground is down. Gratuitous night light photo posted to make Randy happy (he likes pictures). You can see where the LEDs are in the top, and they sorta point down. Side note: I've got about 20 of these, and a 3.5 years of operation 3 are dim enough they need replacing. LEDs only have 100,000 hour life if they are properly heat sunk.

In my house, I put the ground down so I wouldn't have to explain to everyone why it's up.

Pete

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I was doing electrical construction work when the ground was added to the receptacle or at least when it gained wide spread usage. The debate started immediately. Electrical Construction and Maintenance, a trade magazine, did a series of test to determine which position was better, up or down. The article concluded, by a miniscule amount, that if there was a better way, it was ground up.

Back then, all ground fault receptacles were labeled on the device in such a way that it had to mounted ground up or the writing (Test and Reset) on the receptacle would have been upside down. That's not the case anymore.

The vast majority are mounted ground down.
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When we bought our house, we had an electrician inspect the service box and he stated it was code here for the ground to be up. I had never seen it before this house! They are still up after I changed all the outlets and switches. Do what you want or like.

Edit: On my new GFI outlet in the bathroom, it is labeled both ways.
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I don't think the code specifies which way is up (and I'm referring outlets, not the code in a general sense :laugh:). I'll toss out a "this is electricity not electronics" caveat here though.

Now I have heard that when the 3 prong grounded outlet was introduced, the intention was that the ground pin be up. That way, some wire sliding down the wall would hit ground and not hot. But there was an uproar because the "little face was upside down", and so now the default is outlets all in their places with bright shinny faces and the ground prong down.

I have some LED night lights, and they are designed so that the ground is down. Gratuitous night light photo posted to make Randy happy (he likes pictures). You can see where the LEDs are in the top, and they sorta point down. Side note: I've got about 20 of these, and a 3.5 years of operation 3 are dim enough they need replacing. LEDs only have 100,000 hour life if they are properly heat sunk.

In my house, I put the ground down so I wouldn't have to explain to everyone why it's up.

Pete
I to had herd the same thing as Pete about a wire or unintended object making contact with hot side of a outlet, Also every mobile home I have been in though it has been a long time,:unknown: come prewired ground up.
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My .00002 cents worth, I think they look dumb with the ground up.:soapbox: All of the outlets I've recently installed had the writing on them as to have the ground down.:read As to the theory about something (wire etc.) falling on an outlet that would have caused a short, when was the last time you've seen that? For me, never.:boredom: All of the outlets in my home are installed "upside down". As I get around to it, I flip them over, but who really cares?:mocking: I guess I do:laugh: But it's just a personal preference, not something carved in stone. To each their own:thumbup1gif::flag_of_truce:
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Around here the custom is ground is down, except on switched outlets where the ground is up to indicate which receptacle is switched.
Here is a link to the Mike Holt NEC (National Electric Code) website with discussion on the installation of 15 or 20 ampere, 125 volt receptacles and comments from guys in the industry. Interesting discussions - I think consistency and installation in workman like manner are keys....

http://www.mikeholt.com/technical.p...ptacles - Ground Up or Ground Down? (9-23-99)

:dunno:
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Interesting read. I guess it doesn't really matter. Go with what you like:thumbup1gif:
Ground up vs. ground down; R1 vs. R4; HST vs. gear, and so on ad nauseum.
Ground up vs. ground down; R1 vs. R4; HST vs. gear, and so on ad nauseum.
Couldn't have said better myself. Really summs it up.
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Just adding my observations, due to a few medical issues over the last few years, I have started to see the inside of a lot of hospitals & Dr's offices, labs, etc. I have noticed that the ones I have been to here in Md. all have the ground pin pointed up, I happened to talk to one of the building engineers & he had said that it was done for safety as already mentioned above, that is if something conductive was to slide down the wall and hit the plug it would hit the ground pin and not the hot.

My son-inlaw it a building maintenance person at a Nursing home, and the code/rule there is to install them ground pin up too.

Also the electrician that wired my garage / woodshop installed them the same way, & he said that it was permitted either way by code & that he favored it this way, as the local inspector in our county liked them this way too.:bye:
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Probably doesnt matter much. I have a couple ground up recepticles in my house that I want to switch because I consider it abnormal. I wasnt paying attention when I installed them.

But anything like most walll mount powersupply is designed to be mounted in a ground down plug. Some of them are quite large and the weight if hung upside down will pull away from wall.

I have security in my house and there are a couple sirens that are wireless and plug into a receptacles. They wouldnt work if it was ground up.

Only argument I have heard is if something falls onto a plugged in device like a metal ruler and hits the top it will be hitting ground and not have a 50% chance of hitting the hot terminal.
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I to had herd the same thing as Pete about a wire or unintended object making contact with hot side of a outlet, Also every mobile home I have been in though it has been a long time,:unknown: come prewired ground up.
I'm another one that has read or been told that. So,ground up.

Greg
The garage and work room are ground up, most of the rest are ground down, and nightlights are almost always made for ground down, as I have discovered. :laugh:

Andy B.
I worked at a YMCA camp for a couple of years. The head of maintainance insisted ground up. When I asked why he said if any of the younger kids tried to pry a plug out with metal silverware they would hit the ground at the top. His camp, I did it his way.
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