Wall plug orientation.

[mrcaptainbob]

Heard from my son the other day about the new code requiring new wall outlets to be installed with the ground on the top.

[HayZee518]

actually the code requires new outlets to be of the "blade rejection" type. these have a shutter that slides across the parallel slots to keep anything out of them, or rotates blocking the slots. kids have a habit of pushing things into the outlet slots. I've always installed outlets where a house with kids in them with the grounding part upwards. if a knife blade is slid downwards with a plug in the outlet, theory is that the blade will contact the grounding probe and slide off the plug. now, the kids have to smarter than the outlet to push upwards or down or rotate the shutter to get anything into the outlet.

[Speedy Petey]

This "new" code Hazee mentioned is in the 2008 NEC. Only a handful of places have adopted it in it's entirety.
MANY have amendments, and the code is NOT retroactive, so don't run out and buy 50 tamper proof receptacles just because the code changed.


There is NO code regarding ground up or down!!!!!!!! Only many, many opinions.

This topic has been "discussed" dozens of times on contractor and DIY boards alike. Bring it up on a contractor board and your likely to get flamed for days.
See here for some examples:
electric ground up or down - Google Search

[HayZee518]

mrcaptbob - you ever hear of an [arc fault circuit breaker]?

[mrcaptainbob]

Arc fault interupter...

Seems like I've heard of arc fault interupters, HayZee, can't remember anything else about it.
As for knife blades falling across the top contacts, seems like that would only be an instant thing. Certainly scary to the knife holder! My personal experience involving outlets did not include a plug, however. I was about nine years old and most interested about this 'juice' I heard my uncles and Mom speak of. So interested, in fact, that I saw fit to use one of Mom's hairpins to sample that liquid! The tingling sensation in my thumb and finger kept me from further investigation.

[davidg73]

My personal experience involving outlets did not include a plug, however. I was about nine years old and most interested about this 'juice' I heard my uncles and Mom speak of. So interested, in fact, that I saw fit to use one of Mom's hairpins to sample that liquid! The tingling sensation in my thumb and finger kept me from further investigation.

sounds like mine. after one time, i learned to leave them alone.

around here plug orientation depends onthe inspector. one guy demands they be ground up, the next ground down, the next as long as the wiring is to code he don't care which way they go. we actually had an inspector try to fail our office because the outlets were horizontal instead of vertical. that is what happens when the ONLY qualification to be a government inspector is that you knwo someone that can get you the job. out of 6 inspectors here, the ONLY one with any background in electrical is the original iinspector who got the office setup back in 1965! the others take a test a baboon could pass, and it covers ALL areas where permits are issued here(building, plumbing, fences, decks, electrical, etc.). no dedicated inspector for any profession.

[HayZee518]

Here in my region in New York there is no inspector for electrical. There is however a regional UL inspector and we are required to use him. Most contractors [carpenters] here do their own electrical and the UL guy is used all the time. Lake Placid has its own inspector and he is sent "out on loan" to other jurisdictions.

[Speedy Petey]

Haz, by "UL" do you mean the NY Board of Fire Underwriters?