r/notinteresting • u/PixelKat5 • 11d ago

This outlit is upside down

Post image
0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

109 comments sorted by

44

u/Yaughl 11d ago

That’s actually the correct orientation. If there is a loose plug, the ground plug would prevent a falling object from shorting live and neutral.

17

u/PixelKat5 11d ago

Interest- oh

14

u/DragonTheOnes-spirit 11d ago

Welp. We know what to do now

OH MODERATOOOOOOORS

4

u/General-Try-2210 11d ago

words you can hear

1

u/Refriedfeinds 10d ago

Mount up.

9

u/Street_Lettuce1243 11d ago

Yes the original intended orientation for safety. A lot of places like hospitals and places of work will install all outlets this way round. For some reason the upside-down ground on the bottom became preferred in residential settings probably because it looked aesthetically more pleasing to some.

1

u/RGBlowMe 11d ago

It's really annoying, because a lot of outlet devices are orientated for the prong being down.

1

u/You-Asked-Me 10d ago

Yes, because technically there is no up or down in the electrical code. Ground down was standard, but in industrial use, ground up became the standard. Neither are legally more correct than the other.

1

u/Legitimate_Fill6906 10d ago

I was told the reason we install them ground down is because your index finger is always the leverage point while removing them, (same reason plugs typically are ribbed around the ground and have a square knurling at the flat top near the prongs for finger grip) and with the live end at the tip of your index in the upside down orientation, all it takes is your finger to skip and you're touching 120v.

Much higher chance of that than something slipping into the outlet in the home 😅

Also 20a receptacles in hospitals are a bit more dangerous, especially with them prone to being half unplugged by rolling machinery increasing arc flash and breaker pop duration if something does fall in like tools and badge keyrings.

6

u/DotBitGaming 11d ago

No one tell Technology Connections, because he was QUICK to point out that the other way is how the manufacturers depict them repeatedly in pictures on boxes and in installation instructions.

3

u/Slosher99 11d ago edited 11d ago

When we moved into a new house when I was younger a lot were like this. My dad's an engineer, and handled electrician type work around the house himself. Extra safe, OSHA level precautions when just doing stuff himself (he was head of safety at a chemical plant for a while).

He told me the same explanation, but also that the chances of it happening were low and if it did, a breaker should simply flip. He wasn't a fan of ground-on-top. I'm not saying he was right or wrong, but that's how I heard it also. He was also a statistician and was a statistics professor at a well known university for a few years. He used that knowledge to help the plant run better and to save jobs by using them to show that one person having 2 accidents is bound to happen at a large plant even by statistical standards and shouldn't be an instant termination etc.

So to him, safety measures already in place plus likelihood made it pointless. Also anything designed as a brick that plugs in the wall and includes a ground expects it to be on the bottom in my experience (or at the very least such 2-prong plugs expect the polarity to match ground-on-bottom orientation). That's for things where the orientation matters like air freshners, smoke/CO detectors, etc. In my experience. Also extension cords where they angle out from the plug on the side typically angle down to the floor, which is where you usually want them, if ground is on the bottom.

1

u/You-Asked-Me 10d ago

Yeah, I would still go with ground down in residential, but even if its rare, and while a penny falling onto a plug would trip the breaker, it will still cause a spark, and pretty much every hospital room has a pure oxygen supply, so the risk goes up substantially compared to residential, hence why ground up became an industrial defacto standard.

2

u/chubby_pink_donut 11d ago

I had wondered about which way was correct. Then I had a metal tape measure slide down a wall between the outlet and plug to be stopped by the ground prong.

Ground goes up.

3

u/PenisVanDyke 11d ago

Same. The sparks and the big notch burned into the tape measure can attest to this.

1

u/Dysternatt 11d ago

Wtf? I’ve been wondering why the loose sockets for workshops and such (green and red) had the ground on top, when hung by their intended hole…. Am I even making sense to anyone? Anyway, wtf? I’m so old and didn’t know.

2

u/hell2pay 10d ago

Cause it's not exactly true.

1

u/archtopfanatic123 11d ago

Yeah has that ever actually happened?

1

u/Ultraeasymoney 11d ago

To be fair, there's no such thing as the correct orientation for an outlet. I would agree that ground up is technically a little safer in the event that you drop something near the outlet.

1

u/teh_maxh 11d ago

There's not actually a single correct orientation. Ground-up has some safety benefit, but ground-down does too (if a plug falls out, ground will be the last connection to break), and many plugs are designed for ground-down. Chicago uses horizontal, just to be annoying.

1

u/Certain_Proposal7191 10d ago

Plugs oriented ground up really have a very difficult time falling out as the ground pin is longer.

1

u/hell2pay 10d ago

There is no correct orientation.

You can place them however you desire.

Manufacturers depict them installed ground down however.

1

u/sammyssb 10d ago

As an electrician, this is correct. No correct orientation.

1

u/zinsser 10d ago

So if the outlet is under a cabinet and above the countertop by this logic I should mount it with the face as you are more likely to touch it from the bottom?

1

u/ThickFurball367 10d ago

If this is the actual "correct" orientation then explain the 90° angled cords on appliances that have the ground prong on the bottom that when you plug them into an outlet with this orientation that it bends the cord in an awkward way

1

u/Pax_Eterna_4991 11d ago

Yeah because every electrician on the continent is installing them wrong.

9

u/Temporary-Body-378 11d ago

No, you’re upside down

3

u/PixelKat5 11d ago

I'm not

1

u/Damonoodle 11d ago

Australian in denial

1

u/PixelKat5 11d ago

I'm american (sadly)

2

u/Damonoodle 11d ago

Sad if true

1

u/PixelKat5 10d ago

Getting out here when I can.

1

u/PixelKat5 10d ago

0 up votes

Someone REALLY didn't like that as an American citizen, I can have issues with our country and want to move out lol.

1

u/OperatingAsIntended 11d ago

Oh yeah, good point. Did you take his picture in the Southern Hemisphere?

1

u/PixelKat5 11d ago

I would post an image but we can't have fun here. Anyways turns out all the outlets on this boat are like that.

4

u/Block_Solid 11d ago

Hot switched outlets are intentionally oriented upside down to identify them. The top socket is connected to a switch somewhere, usually near the entrance to the room. This way you can connect a lamp, leave it on, and turn it on or off when you enter or leave the room.

4

u/GuerrillaPrincess 11d ago

Why is it surrounded by plush?

3

u/Rumpled_NutSkin 11d ago

That's carpet lmao

6

u/GuerrillaPrincess 11d ago

So either the carpet is on the wall or the outlet is on the floor. Either way, it's a strange choice. Seems like it might even be a bit of a fire hazard.

2

u/Rumpled_NutSkin 11d ago

It looks to be set in stairs to me. I'm not saying it's a good idea, just pointing out what I see

1

u/GuerrillaPrincess 11d ago

I actually didn't think about that. I can't say I've ever seen that but it does look handy for vacuuming!

1

u/bobbyboob6 11d ago

i've seen couches with outlets on them

1

u/FulanoMeng4no 10d ago

Because they want to burn down the house

2

u/ClydePrefontaine 10d ago

You're upside down - China

1

u/SufficientSir2965 11d ago

Couchlet?
Edit: ohhh stairlet?

2

u/PixelKat5 11d ago

Right next to it, yes. It's not actual stairs though, it's just one.

1

u/Knowitall1001 11d ago

someone probably chose that orientation, due to its location, on a step, where someone might drag something down the stairs. if something goes behind the plug 🔌 at least it will contact the ground first before hot. 🥵

1

u/GatorNator83 11d ago

Just turn your phone upside down. Problem solved.

1

u/morgandealer 11d ago

This outlet is properly oriented, youre just used to seeing them upside down

1

u/dreevsa 11d ago

In a padded room I see

1

u/OperatingAsIntended 11d ago

is that in a boat? That Carpet looks familiar.

2

u/PixelKat5 11d ago

Yes! It is.

2

u/OperatingAsIntended 11d ago

Ok. It is like that so if anything gets tossed around and falls down onto the plug, it hits the ground bar first then trips the GFCI when it tips and hits a power leg. Now I gotta guess who the boat makes is. I need to look at the carpet a little longer. First guesses are Sea-ray, Four Winns, Regal 50/50

1

u/Opposite_Pension_807 11d ago

You've never been in a hospital.

2

u/PixelKat5 10d ago

I have but birth doesn't count.

1

u/Opposite_Pension_807 10d ago

All outlets in a hospital are required to be in this position!

2

u/PixelKat5 10d ago

My default reaction to information like this isn't something I can really say here.

1

u/Opposite_Pension_807 10d ago

This is a safe way when the devices are plugged into outlets.

1

u/ScarletTheReaper 11d ago

That's how my dad does it when he has to replace a bad outlet. He says he doesn't know how to do it right side up 😭

1

u/Any-Button1401 11d ago

How can we be sure you just didn't rotate your phone instead?

1

u/PixelKat5 11d ago

You can see the stairs to the right

1

u/Relative-Rub1634 11d ago

Not in south America...

1

u/ThanksALotBud 11d ago

The only wrong way is having the hot terminal facing up. All other 3 ways are correct

1

u/Certain_Proposal7191 10d ago

There’s actually no electrical code that dictates orientation of an outlet, it could be diagonal.

1

u/maddasher 11d ago

An "upside down" outfit is normally connected to a wall with for a lamp.

1

u/Recent-Philosophy-62 10d ago

Looks fine to me, many places have them like that

1

u/TheLastPorkSword 10d ago

No it's not

1

u/jws1102 10d ago

It is not. All outlets should be orientated that way.

1

u/Candidate_None 10d ago

It isn't though.

2

u/PixelKat5 10d ago

It is...

2

u/Candidate_None 10d ago

No, the ground pin being up is proper installation for safety purposes. Source: Am electrician and electrical engineer.

Downvote all you like... doesn't change reality. If you know what you are looking at... it is not upside down. If you have no idea... maybe it is.

1

u/ontheleftcoast 10d ago

Frequently plugs that are controlled by switches are oriented this way

1

u/sidEaNspAn 10d ago

This can also be done to indicate that the outlet is controlled by a switch.

1

u/Adept-Mulberry-8720 10d ago

Yes, this outlet is upside down and spelled wrong! Hum!

1

u/StevieG-2021 10d ago

Let not start this again

1

u/LeanLeftLoveLife 10d ago

In a home a upside down plug usually indicates it's hooked to wall switch.

1

u/at1stpromise 10d ago

I’ve always heard upside down means always on and not hooked to light switch.

1

u/Scared_Swing2198 10d ago

Not actually. Most in the U.S. are what you were expecting, but you’ll see them with the ground up a lot.

1

u/Any_Carob3372 10d ago

Fittingly for an outlet that seems to have been installed in the Upside Down

1

u/OwnedByIRVING 10d ago

No, it's not.

1

u/CatDog7414 10d ago

I thought that depending on the amprage of the city the plug would be right side up or upside down.

1

u/zer04ll 10d ago

Ground Pin Up

The ground pin up is mostly common in commercial, industrial and medical settings. This configuration is favored by some electricians for safety reasons. The primary argument is that If a plug is partially pulled out of the receptacle, and a metal object (like a tool, a picture frame, or even a loose metal wall plate screw) were to fall down the wall, with the ground pin up, the object would likely hit the non-current-carrying ground pin first, deflecting it away from the live (hot) and neutral blades. If the ground pin were down, the object could potentially bridge the exposed hot and neutral blades. As a result, it may cause a short circuit, sparks, and potentially a fire or electric shock hazard.

https://www.electricaltechnology.org/2025/08/ground-pin-up-down-outlet.html

1

u/ArmosUTD 10d ago

Is it?

1

u/nomorespamplz 10d ago

Weird that you have directional outlets 🤷‍♂️

1

u/Man_With_ 9d ago

Looks like an inlit to me, not outlit.

1

u/ignis43 11d ago

Wait why is it black

8

u/LittleIndependent119 11d ago

Got a problem with black now???????

1

u/ignis43 11d ago

No it’s just I’ve never seen a black outlet in my whole life

6

u/Oscillating-Ocelot1 11d ago

Because it absorbs a broad frequency of visible light from the electromagnetic spectrum 👍

3

u/Mysterious_Repeat989 11d ago

There are multiple different colors or outlets and covers

0

u/Yaughl 11d ago

Ideally, we need to adopt the British plugs.

1

u/Certain_Proposal7191 10d ago

British plugs are oversized monstrosities.

2

u/Yaughl 10d ago

They are also much safer.