3 prong outlet, which way is up?

I installed a GFCI in a bedroom a few years ago and added 3 prong receptacles down stream in that same room.

This weekend, I was painting another room, whose 2 prong receptacles are also downstream of the GFCI, so I decided to replace them also.

After reading this thread over the course of the last few days, I found this interesting, if not a little errie:

The neutral slot on all the receptacles was on the left. In order to just remove the old receptacles and install the 3 prong ones, without twisting any wires - just a simple in and out swap - all the grounds on the 3 prongers ended up - up!

Harry L posted for all of us...

bwaaaa good one!

caution -- that is true for this N hemisphere only. think coriolis effect guys!

Think of the instablity of the planet's orbit if we put the sockets in upside down. Tidal waves, hurricanes, and thousands could die.

Maybe they changed to code again, but as far as I knew it did not matter which way they were installed. I always put the ground on the bottom. They just look stupid the other way. They will work either way. But the code is what dictates....

Jim

Considering that's the way you're used to, AND NOTHING ELSE?

BTW, I think neckties look stupid, and have more supporting evidence than that.

When my Dad was much younger, he was stringing a bare wire in the cellar, and dropped it. By friek chance, it fell across the two blades of a plugged in, ungrounded plug. He said that really made a memory for him. I wasn't there, wasn't yet born. But it left a memory for me.

Put the ground at top, it provides some small protection from the small risk of dropping a metal something across the energized flat blades.

replying to N8N, Bob wrote: All the outlets in my house are ground pin down, and all of the outlets in my house have the little horizontal bar just below the ground pole broken off, as I have been replacing them, I put the ground up so that does not happen

replying to mm, George wrote: There is no CODE (NECA or NFPA) that requires ground up or down.

replying to john, Enzo the shock therapist wrote: the ground should be closer to the ground. shorter distance, less chance of burnt coins.

I was visiting in a hospital last week. It was built about 10 years ago. Every outlet was prong up.

That's the way I was taught as well. The reasoning was that if a plug was not completely inserted, any falling metal objects would contact the grounding conductor instead of shorting the hot and grounded conductors.

replying to PanHandler, Joseph Durand wrote: According to the latest version of the NEC codes. The ground goes on top. However molded plug cords are made for it to be on the bottom.

Cite that please.

The NEC and U/L are both silent on the orientation of a NEMA 5-15r or any other receptacle for that matter.

Excepting new Code forbids face up in counter and some other locations...but nothing about up/down in conventional box.

My understanding is the subject has been raised multiple times but has never had the traction to be enacted.

The face up on a counter thing has been in the code for decades. You can go read the ROP to see proposals about ground pin orientation on receptacles and CMP18 consistently rejects them as not being something the code should address.

On 7/6/2019 7:34 PM, snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: ...

Yeah, but they've added additional restrictions more recently, besides, essentially eliminating at all excepting for special fixtures for purpose.

For years the go to receptacle for a counter without a back splash (Peninsula/Island) was the tombstone. There is also an exception that lets you put it on the cabinet face below the counter if that is all you have. I can't remember when a face up receptacle was ever legal on a counter top. I would have to go back to an older book than I have on this PC to see how long that was true. I think the most recent rule was no face up receptacles in showcases but I am not sure. I never liked them and really never saw one for me to fail.

You seem to be thinking I said something I didn't -- I just pointed out the increased prohibition against locations in 2014(?) that extends the countertop faceup ban from just applying to dwelling units to any type of occupancy as well as a new restriction against in seating areas (like those in some airports, etc., unless they use the (also newly included) listed receptacle assemblies /GFCI receptacle assemblies for countertop application.

I suppose it is possible to have read that the whole thing was new, but that wasn't the intent...