Am I the Only One To Notice?

[Jim Koepke]

There is a Febreze plug in commercial on TV where one of the air fresheners is plugged into an outlet. The outlet is backwards:

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The large blade should be on the left with the ground pin at the bottom.

In the TV commercial there is a hand plugging the air freshener into an outlet. Later the image of the air freshener in the outlet has the proper orientation.

My wife thinks I am sometimes too observant.

jtk

[Mike Henderson]

What happens is that the graphics people sometimes reverse a picture because it looks better that way. They will even reverse a person occasionally if they need the person facing the other direction. Most people never notice.

Mike

[John Terefenko]

Did you get the licence plate # of the last car that past you on the road today???:) What color car was it??? Do you remember what you had for dinner yesterday???

[Kurt Kintner]

I'm always pointing out inconsistencies in movies, to my wife .... Great fun finding them ....

[Matt Day]

What I always notice is the entire plug is upside down. Ground is supposed to be on top, at least in a commercial setting; I was a PM in commercial construction for years so my instinct is to flip it around.

Thought is with the ground down, that if the plug is not inserted all the way a piece of metal could abort across the hot/neutral and cause a fire. That scenario wouldn't happen with ground up.

[Jerome Stanek]

When I worked for CVS and Revco drug stores their ground pins were down but in the hospitals they were up. There were pictures that we had to install in the waiting area that in some stores the man faced left and in other stores he faced right. Depending on the side the waiting area was.

[Patrick McCarthy]

I'm always pointing out inconsistencies in movies, to my wife .... Great fun finding them ....

I'M with you, but my much better half just rolls her eyes, as though she thinks I'm a nut job . . . . . .Currently, with all the holiday shows she watches on the Hallmark channel, I can't help but comment on the fake snow blankets on the ground, over the bushes, etc. One of these days I will have to "let it go, dear" . . . . . . until then, ever vigilant!

[Jim Becker]

What I always notice is the entire plug is upside down. Ground is supposed to be on top, at least in a commercial setting; I was a PM in commercial construction for years so my instinct is to flip it around.
The electrical subcontractor who did our addition installed ALL of the outlets with the ground on top (several dozen!)...and that's been a royal pain in the you-know-what. That orientation doesn't work for things like power bricks and other pluggable items and I've had to go back an flip a bunch of them over to allow things to work as expected. While I understand the logic of ground on top...um... ;)

[Scott Donley]

And now we know why the plug on the Febreze rotates so it can be used ether way.

[Bill Jobe]

When we had a room addition built both of the led dimmers were upside down. Upon closer look that's how they were made. The power switch had off up and on down.
We had the room built before my daughter met and married a residential and commercial electrition. It bugged him so much he turned them over.
That's the on/off switch, the dimmer lever slid up to brighten.

[Jim Koepke]

That orientation doesn't work for things like power bricks and other pluggable items and I've had to go back an flip a bunch of them over to allow things to work as expected.

Power bricks are one of the things where the people who design them could use a bit of education.

First do not make them so big as to block the whole outlet or the next plug on a power strip. Set the power prongs toward the top edge.

Second is do they really need a polarized plug to work? Doesn't the plug go straight into a transformer anyway?

Third can't they be made so a large truck going by doesn't shake them loose from the wall outlet?

One of my power bricks must have gotten someone fired. It actually has a couple of feet of line cord with a plug so it doesn't have to hang from the wall or off the edge of a power strip. That is the kind of brilliant thinking that likely goes unrewarded in todays corporate cut every corner for cost world.

jtk

[Myk Rian]

There is Febreze plug in commercial on TV where one of the air fresheners is plugged into an outlet. The outlet is backwards:
ALL of ours are like that. I don't consider them to be backwards.

[Jim Koepke]

ALL of ours are like that. I don't consider them to be backwards.

All of your plugs have the large blade socket on the right with the ground pin down?

A standard polarized plug with a ground pin would not work in such a receptacle.

One more thing on power bricks, wouldn't it be nice if they included a socket on the side opposite the plug? Then the user could piggy back it with another power brick. Most likely it would end up having a thermal runaway situation, never mind.

jtk

[Lee Schierer]

What I always notice is the entire plug is upside down. Ground is supposed to be on top, at least in a commercial setting; I was a PM in commercial construction for years so my instinct is to flip it around.

Thought is with the ground down, that if the plug is not inserted all the way a piece of metal could abort across the hot/neutral and cause a fire. That scenario wouldn't happen with ground up.

As I understand the NEC, it doesn't specify any orientation.

[Myk Rian]

All of your plugs have the large blade socket on the right with the ground pin down?
No. The ground is down. Neutral to the left. That picture is mirrored.

[Chris Padilla]

What I always notice is the entire plug is upside down. Ground is supposed to be on top, at least in a commercial setting; I was a PM in commercial construction for years so my instinct is to flip it around.

Thought is with the ground down, that if the plug is not inserted all the way a piece of metal could abort across the hot/neutral and cause a fire. That scenario wouldn't happen with ground up.

On the Mike Holt electrical forum, this is a banned topic!! LOL :)

[Chris Padilla]

All of your plugs have the large blade socket on the right with the ground pin down?


No. The ground is down. Neutral to the left. That picture is mirrored.

It can be fun to instantly turn a left-hand drive car into a right-hand drive car. I see examples of mirrored images all over the place. A careful eye can pick out what isn't correct/doesn't mirror well as you did, Jim.

[Lee Schierer]

And to add to the discussion. Which is the proper orientation for this receptacle made by Legrand?348026

[Kev Williams]

And to add to the discussion. Which is the proper orientation for this receptacle made by Legrand?
Whichever way the words read correctly-- as you posted it :)

[John Terefenko]

What I always notice is the entire plug is upside down. Ground is supposed to be on top, at least in a commercial setting; I was a PM in commercial construction for years so my instinct is to flip it around.

Thought is with the ground down, that if the plug is not inserted all the way a piece of metal could abort across the hot/neutral and cause a fire. That scenario wouldn't happen with ground up.


That was the old paper clip theory. The other theory is if the ground is down it is the last wire to come out of the outlet if the chord falls out. Choose your theory and many commercial sites will have this spelled out in the specs believe it or not. (ground up or down) On the side the neutral is always on the top. Sometimes it is best to match the chord style. The chord will lay better one way or the other against the wall and be less likely to fall out.

[Bruce Page]

As I understand the NEC, it doesn't specify any orientation.
That's what the electrician that did our kitchen remodel told me. "Your choice"

[Jim Koepke]

I notice in a local hospital most of the outlets are installed with the ground facing up. Also noticed is most of these have clocked or timed screws, the slot is aligned so it points up and down.

Maybe they have a new building maintenance person who doesn't know the old ways.

jtk

[Jason Roehl]

Receptacle checkers have the GCFI test button and decoder chart on top when they are plugged in with the ground pin down. My building (where I am a maintenance tech) had an extensive rehabilitation 25 years ago--and all receptacles were installed with the ground pin up. I hate it. They were also, at the cusp of the computer age, incredibly short-sighted as to how many receptacles would be needed in the coming years.

[glenn bradley]

What happens is that the graphics people sometimes reverse a picture because it looks better that way. They will even reverse a person occasionally if they need the person facing the other direction. Most people never notice.

Mike

Bingo. Often with amusing result.


Did you get the licence plate # of the last car that past you on the road today???:) What color car was it??? Do you remember what you had for dinner yesterday???

Pathetic as it is, I totally understand noticing these things and being intrigued by the reasons. I am constantly getting "the look" for poking around things in restaurants and other public places to see "how / why they did that".

[Curt Harms]

The electrical subcontractor who did our addition installed ALL of the outlets with the ground on top (several dozen!)...and that's been a royal pain in the you-know-what. That orientation doesn't work for things like power bricks and other pluggable items and I've had to go back an flip a bunch of them over to allow things to work as expected. While I understand the logic of ground on top...um... ;)


I wonder if we had the same electrical sub. All of our ground pins are up too.

[Ole Anderson]

That was the old paper clip theory. The other theory is if the ground is down it is the last wire to come out of the outlet if the chord falls out. Choose your theory and many commercial sites will have this spelled out in the specs believe it or not. (ground up or down) On the side the neutral is always on the top. Sometimes it is best to match the chord style. The chord will lay better one way or the other against the wall and be less likely to fall out. Your response is like music to my ears!

[Jim Becker]

I wonder if we had the same electrical sub. All of our ground pins are up too.
Could be...dude was out of Easton and also owned a small restaurant. :) My GC lives up on Stump Road not so far from you.

[Mike Henderson]

I notice in a local hospital most of the outlets are installed with the ground facing up. Also noticed is most of these have clocked or timed screws, the slot is aligned so it points up and down.

Maybe they have a new building maintenance person who doesn't know the old ways.

jtk
I was told by a person who knew hospitals that ground up is required for hospitals. I've noticed that in hospitals but I never checked to see if it really is required or just "convention".

Mike

[Kev Williams]

Just checked this GFI that I installed a few years ago.
I noticed the TEST and RESET buttons read both ways.
But-- the GFI's logo is upside down. :)

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FWIW, the ONLY reason I mounted it ground-up (which I don't like) is because the existing wires wouldn't reach the other way...

[Jason Roehl]

Just checked this GFI that I installed a few years ago.
I noticed the TEST and RESET buttons read both ways.
But-- the GFI's logo is upside down. :)

348048
FWIW, the ONLY reason I mounted it ground-up (which I don't like) is because the existing wires wouldn't reach the other way...

"Pigtailing" is your friend. Don't attach the receptacle directly to the wires that come into the box. Connect a short length of appropriately-colored wire to the receptacle, and attach those to the wires in the box with wire nuts. Makes it easier to replace the receptacle and easier to tuck the wires into the box without the receptacle twisting.

[Brian Elfert]

"Pigtailing" is your friend. Don't attach the receptacle directly to the wires that come into the box. Connect a short length of appropriately-colored wire to the receptacle, and attach those to the wires in the box with wire nuts. Makes it easier to replace the receptacle and easier to tuck the wires into the box without the receptacle twisting.

Why pigtail if there is only a single wire going to each screw? To me every wire nut connection is just another possible failure point. I understand in this case a pigtail is a good way to extend the wires.

[Mike Henderson]

Why pigtail if there is only a single wire going to each screw? To me every wire nut connection is just another possible failure point. I understand in this case a pigtail is a good way to extend the wires.
I doubt is Jason was recommending pigtailing if there's only one set of wires going to the outlet. Note that he was responding to a picture that included two switches and a GFCI and the poster said he didn't have enough wire to place the GFCI the way he wanted to.

I agree with him that pigtailing when you have a bunch of wires in the box is a good idea, especially if you ever have to replace one of the switches. I don't like multiple wires on a screw.

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

I don't like multiple wires on a screw.

I don't think electrical inspectors like them either.

The old telephone junction boxes had multiple washers to separate wires so overlapping wires wouldn't wouldn't cut into each other and cause a failure.

jtk

[Brian Elfert]

I installed a new circuit for the outlets in two of my bathrooms two years ago. I ran directly from the load center to the GFCI and then down to the outlet in the bathroom right below. No need to pig tail because the feed was directly connected to the feed side of the GFCI and then the other wire was connected to the load side.