I have one of those surface mounted 3 prong dryer plugs in the laundry room. The plug that came with the dryer has to be turned 180 degrees so it can plug into the outlet. Anotherwords instead of the cord hanging straight down, it goes up then makes a sharp turn downward. The outlet cannot be turned upside down because it is run with conduit form the bottom. Any ideas how I can go about fixing this?
On 1/18/2009 8:23 PM Mikepier spake thus:
Can't you just remove the outlet from the box and flip it 180°?
what's to fix? plug it in and forget it.
*I am assuming that you have one of those molded receptacles with it's own mount and cover. You could change it to a deep 4" or 4 11/16" square box and install a dryer receptacle in a position that won't bother you.
Surface range and dryer outlets are all made that way. The only remedy is to replace the outlet with a deep 1900 box, flush dryer receptacle, and austin cover. Then you can flip the outlet any direction you like
OK... maybe this is covered in basic electrician's courses, but this always bugs me... *why* is a 1900 box called a 1900 box? I know what one is, of course, but never had an explanation of why... "four inch box" seems much more simple but nobody ever calls it that...
nate
That sounds like the best idea. Yes it is one of those molded surface mount receptacles. Why they manufactured it with the outlet opposite the orientation of the 90 deg plug, I have no idea.
*LOL. I believe it goes back to one manufacturer's old catalog numbering system. Maybe it was Raco. I think that all boxes and covers in the 4" size had a catalog number of 19xx. In California they called them a 4s (4" square) box and a 4 11/16" box was a 5s box.
When we go to an electrical supply company for materials the employees always transpose the materials that we want into numbers. That is how they identify everything. In order to communicate better and quicker it is sometimes easier to just give the counter guy numbers instead of names or descriptions. Whenever I want something unusual I try to find a part number myself and just give it to the counter guy so he can look it up immediately for availability and pricing.
It has nothing to do with the way it was manufactured; rather, it was
*installed* upside down.
AS John points out, these names generally originate with the original manufacturer, kinda like calling a tissue a "Kleenex", or a refrigerator a "frigidare". I believe Raco's part number is 190 but I have no idea where the second zero comes from
Surface range and dryer outlets are designed to be fed only from above or behind. If they're fed from below, as many are, they wind up opposite the configuration of the cord sets
There is only one conduit, or clamp opening at the bottom of these molded outlets. Mounting it upside down would require the feed coming in from the top, which means putting 90's on the conduit. My cable comes from the bottom. Of course for applications where the feed comes from the top, then its not a problem.
There are *no* openings at the bottom. The single opening is at the top. Yours is mounted with the top down.
Yours already is mounted upside down. Mounting it _right side up_ would require the feed coming in from the top.
Hence the outlet is installed upside down.
That's what they're designed for.
So your saying every one of these images is showing the outlet upside down?
Think about it... those pictures show the outlets in the only orientation in which they will stand up to be photographed without falling over. They don't show them *installed*. And if the outlet is installed such that the 90-degree offset plug forces the cord to go the wrong direction, then the outlet was installed upside down.
The design dates from when outlets were mounted at floor level, often as retrofits to older houses that had electricity (or electric stoves) added. IIRC, until mid-20th century, electric stoves were not that common, and most houses only had 60 amp service. Coming up through kitchen floor was the most painless way to route the cable. Appliance pigtails didn't have 90-degree ends in the old days- they had an assembled plug on the end, straight in, and the cord coiled under the appliance, or in a little niche in the back made for that. Almost all the old brown bakelite range outlets I have ever seen were right at floor level.
-- aem sends...
The orientation depends on the height off the floor and to a lesser degree where the cord comes out of the appliance.
Standard outlet height (about 12" off the floor) assumes the cord will come *down* to meet it.
The apparent _new_ height of these outlets is about four feet off the floor. That means the cord will be coming *up* to meet it.
I have installed a lot of those surface mount outlets at floor level with the cable coming through the floor. Pigtails were available which then directed the conductors upward to the range or dryer. That arrangement may not be common today.
Don Young
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.