Ok to use Orange Isolated Ground L6-30 Receptacles?

[Dan Jansen]

I picked up several of the Orange L6-30 30 amp Twist Lock receptacles real cheap thinking I could use them in my shop. I have 10/2 with ground wire run to the outlets. Is the isolated ground an issue I should worry about? If so, is there a way to make them grounded?

[Brice Rogers]

The L6-30 receptacle has three electrical connections: two "hots" and a neutral/ground. Most 240 vac tools use just the two hots for running and the neutral/ground would be for safety. The ground wouldn't normally carry any current and is connected in the breaker box to the neutral and to the ground buss. So, I don't think that there is a safety issue. I'll follow this thread to see if others have different opinions/advice.

[Jim Becker]

I suspect that the orange coding is just paint and the outlet isn't really different...generally, I agree with Brice with the exception that the ground only connects to the ground buss in the panel. There is no neutral for a 240v circuit and despite the fact that ground and neutral are tied together at the main panel, they are separate constructs and the correct buss bar should be used for the given connection.

[Terry Kelly]

If it has a green triangle on it as well then it is an isolated ground recep.........on those type the ground is isolated from the rest of the body of the recep.....typical receps the mounting parts are connected to the ground as well.....used alot in hospital applications and computer installations

[Bill Dufour]

The ground is not electrically connected to the mounting screws or cover plate screws. So the box and metal cover plate has to be grounded with a ground screw and not rely on ground being carried over from the outlet. A metal box should have its own ground wire anyway.
Go ahead and use it just do not rely on conduit to supply the grounding. I like to use them as switched outlets for lighting and my shop radio. That way I know which outlets are switched off with the lights when I leave the shop.
They are used where stray ground currents of milivolts can cause problems. Like during heart surgery or around computers.
Bill D

[Dan Jansen]

I have a metal box attached to the wall stud and the wire is not in any conduit. The black and white wires are attached to the two brass screws on the receptacle and the bare copper is attached to the green screw. There are no extra wires to ground to the box. Maybe I’m over thinking this. Or do I need to make some other sort of connection inside the box?

[Andrew Seemann]

Per code, the metal box also needs to be grounded to the bare copper ground wire from the cable. You can add pigtails (short pieces of wire 6 to 8 inches long) to the green screw on the outlet and one that attaches to the box and join them with a wire nut. The box should have a threaded hole somewhere on the back to add a green grounding screw. The wires need to be bare copper or green and should be the same gauge as the cable wire.

You could also swap out the metal box with a non-metallic one that does not need to be grounded.

[Dan Friedrichs]

I have a metal box attached to the wall stud and the wire is not in any conduit. The black and white wires are attached to the two brass screws on the receptacle and the bare copper is attached to the green screw. There are no extra wires to ground to the box. Maybe I’m over thinking this. Or do I need to make some other sort of connection inside the box?

The metal box should be grounded. What would happen if the black (or white) wire came loose and touched the box? If it wasn't grounded, you could get shocked if you touched the box while investigating the loose wire. So you should ground the box.

Put a green wire nut on the ground wire and make a pigtail - one wire to the receptacle, and one to the metal box (via a ground screw connection point or just a sheetmetal screw)

[John K Jordan]

I have a metal box attached to the wall stud and the wire is not in any conduit. The black and white wires are attached to the two brass screws on the receptacle and the bare copper is attached to the green screw. There are no extra wires to ground to the box. Maybe I’m over thinking this. Or do I need to make some other sort of connection inside the box?

I don't know if the code requires grounding the box or if it is just good practice. I always ran a ground wire to the metal box itself, fastened inside with a screw.

I usually ran the incoming bare wire to a wire nut with two other wires, one to the receptacle and one to a screw in the box. Sometimes I'd leave the bare wire long, make a small loop and secure it with a screw to the box, then run the free end to the receptacle. Grounding the metal box could prevent an accident in the (rare) event a hot conductor somehow contacted the inside of the metal box and someone touched the box itself. An easier thing is to use a good plastic box and not have to deal with it.

If you are running 220 on 3-wire romex (B/W/bare) using both the black and white wires I believe a requirement is to mark a bit of the white insulation with a color, preferably black. This is to warn others that the white is not a neutral in this case. Some people wrap electrical tape around the end. I like to use black liquid tape and paint the end. I've also seen a end of a white wire colored with a black sharpie. (Some people never mark them.) I don't know if the white wire has to be marked inside the breaker box but I always do that as well. Why not. (Caveat: I am not an electrician nor do I play one on TV)

JKJ

[Bill Dufour]

I slip some heat shrink tube over the wire to mark it. Wiring to a switch and light fixture can get interesting versions of color coding.
Bill D

[Mike Cutler]

Dan

You should be fine.
An L6-30 Does not have a neutral connection. It has two hots and ground. No neutral. A neutral would require an L14-30 receptacle if it was needed. Generally this would be for a device that has a 120vac circuit as part of the complete assembly. A stove is an example. The lights need 120, the heating elements 240. You don't need an L14-30
Your ground plug is isolated from the yoke on the mounting frame. This means that you cannot expect the metal to metal contact between the yoke frame and the box to complete ground. Ground will have to be wired.
You really have to make the Ground connection in the box if it's metal. It is code.
The ground wire is your only "friend" in an electrical circuit.
Black wire to brass connection. White wire to silver connection. This is a convention that is followed to easily identify conductors and keep them separate.

Neutral gets bonded to ground only in the main service panel. Ground is carried throughout the entire system. Ground should never be carrying current or something is seriously wrong.

Coloring the white jacket black is an accepted practice. It's called "making white black", "making white hot".

[John K Jordan]

Dan
... Black wire to brass connection. White wire to silver connection. This is a convention that is followed to easily identify conductors and keep them separate. ...

Except his 240v plug should have two brass screws for the power and no silver. For a romex cable with a black, white, and bare ground, the "blackened" white wire will connect to either of the brass terminals. (as Dan mentioned in post #6)

[Mike Cutler]

John
I agree. I poorly attempted to type out some simple convention, and on this case was not complete.
I'm working with a little friesan filly right now, about 10 months old, and was typing in between her having a tantrum, and accepting being in an indoor arena by herself. I should have only been trying to do one thing at a time😳

[Jim Becker]

John
I agree. I poorly attempted to type out some simple convention, and on this case was not complete.
I'm working with a little friesan filly right now, about 10 months old, and was typing in between her having a tantrum, and accepting being in an indoor arena by herself. I should have only been trying to do one thing at a time

Oh, my...I adore Friesians! Lucky devil you are!

[Mike Cutler]

Jim

She's a little pistol and wicked smart!
She was born at the barn we board at, so she's been spoiled since day one, and likes to be in your pocket. It was cute a couple of hundred pounds ago, but she's probably at about 550- 600lbs. right now and has some personal space issues we're working on. Her "mom" is a big strong mare, with a good build, so she's going to be a big girl someday soon. End of summer most likely.
Mostly just working on leading and ground manners right now. She like to crowd at the stall door, and where she was small enough that you could kind of hip check her a couple of months ago,, she's getting too big now. So a lot of "door" work is going on. She put me into a few doors our first few sessions, but she's settling out now.
I'm starting to slowly work her from her blind side on the lead line, and it gives her a little bit of anxiety, so it's apply a very small amount of training pressure, then release, and just keep repeating it.Sometimes she has little fits, so you just gotta let her be 10 months old.
It's fun.

Sorry Dan. I kind of hijacked your thread.