Electrician installed my NEMA 14-50 receptacle upside down..

[Ultron]

so instead of the adapter hanging down from the plug it goes up. This means I have to put a bungee cord around it to hold charge unit up. The electrician said that's the way he had to install the wall receptacle. Does anyone else have this problem and if so how do you hold your charge unit up?

 

[TEG]

When installed properly it looks upside down compared to typical home 5-15 type sockets.
For the 14-50 you want the ground pin on top. For 5-15, it is frequently mounted with the ground pin on the bottom.

Flip NEMA 14-50 possible?

NEMA 14-50 Plug Orientation | Tesla

 

[MarkSC]

I attached some Velcro tape to the back of the charger and the conduit pipe feeding the outlet. That is sufficient to keep the charger unit upright and stable.

 

[icugalj]

I attached some Velcro tape to the back of the charger and the conduit pipe feeding the outlet. That is sufficient to keep the charger unit upright and stable.

Could you not flip the receptacle itself 180 degrees within the outlet enclosure?

 

[TT97]

From Flip NEMA 14-50 possible?:

Don’t disconnect the wires from the outlet. Just switch off the breaker, remove the cover plate, unscrew the outlet from the box and rotate it to the desired orientation putting everything back together . There should be enough slack in the wires to rotate.

The wires should not be shuffled to different connection points on the socket than how they are currently wired up.

 

[qdeathstar]

so instead of the adapter hanging down from the plug it goes up. This means I have to put a bungee cord around it to hold charge unit up. The electrician said that's the way he had to install the wall receptacle. Does anyone else have this problem and if so how do you hold your charge unit up?

ground up is the safest way to install the outlet is ground up... that way if something falls and slides on between the plug and the socket, it will hit the ground pin, and not the mains. But, your electrician is lying to you, There is no way to have to install the receptacle.

 

[ewoodrick]

Get the electrician to fix it.

 

[P85_DA]

I read this post as the ground pin is at bottom ..

 

[Sky-Pilot]

I read this post as the ground pin is at bottom ..

Nope, top:

 

[quikshifter]

yeah mine is upside down too

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Just flip it over. Shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so. While you're at check all the connections and make sure they are tight. Oh yeah, and turn off the breaker first.

 

[Dmagyar]

Get the electrician to fix it.

Get the guy calling himself an Electrician to change it so that it makes sense...

 

[SMAlset]

so instead of the adapter hanging down from the plug it goes up. This means I have to put a bungee cord around it to hold charge unit up. The electrician said that's the way he had to install the wall receptacle. Does anyone else have this problem and if so how do you hold your charge unit up?

...."the way he had to install the recepticle"...what???! So everyone else is wrong??! No way would you have a heavy cord (attached to a piece of equipment) run upwards and pull everything downward with gravity. Love to hear his reasoning for HAD TO install it that way. Did he cut the wires too short or something that prevents the outlet from being rotated to the correct position? Get him back out to fix it. Although given that was his response to you I don't know if I'd trust his work.

 

[davewill]

Yes, turning it over is easy enough.

1. Turn off the breaker.
2. Remove the cover plate.
3. Remove the screw holding the outlet in.
4. Gently pull the outlet out of the box.
5. Look at the wires and GENTLY turn the outlet in the direction that results in less twisting of the wires around each other.
5a. If at this point you realize there ISN'T enough slack to rotate the outlet, don't force anything. You could temporarily detach one or more wires in order to do job, but if you are not confident about doing this, you can just leave it upside down until and if you get some help. It won't really hurt anything, it's just annoying.
6. Gently push the outlet back into place and screw it back down.
7. Put on the cover plate.
8. Turn on the breaker.

 

[BerTX]

Yes, turning it over is easy enough.

1. Turn off the breaker.
2. Remove the cover plate.
3. Remove the screw holding the outlet in.
4. Gently pull the outlet out of the box.
5. Look at the wires and GENTLY turn the outlet in the direction that results in less twisting of the wires around each other.
5a. If at this point you realize there ISN'T enough slack to rotate the outlet, don't force anything. You could temporarily detach one or more wires in order to do job, but if you are not confident about doing this, you can just leave it upside down until and if you get some help. It won't really hurt anything, it's just annoying.
6. Gently push the outlet back into place and screw it back down.
7. Put on the cover plate.
8. Turn on the breaker.

Thanks for the good explanation. Depending on the box and how much slack is in the wire, it may not be as simple as that, though. The wires are stiff and won't want to move, then getting it back in the box with the wires twisted 180 degrees may be difficult. Not really a job for someone who has never done this kind of thing before IMHO.

 

[MountainJedi]

I second the suggestion of making the electrician fix it. If he installed the plug ground down, he didn't do it to code and you should make him fix it.

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Thanks for the good explanation. Depending on the box and how much slack is in the wire, it may not be as simple as that, though. The wires are stiff and won't want to move, then getting it back in the box with the wires twisted 180 degrees may be difficult. Not really a job for someone who has never done this kind of thing before IMHO.

I’ll respectfully disagree. The wires will be long enough. Make sure the breaker is off. It will feel stiff but it will turn. If properly installed those wires will be torqued on there quite tight.

Cheers.

 

[travis1906]

My electrician did the same thing. When I went outside into my garage as he was finishing up and checking to make sure it works, I saw it was upside down. I told him that won’t work. He had to leave for another job.

He said he would let his boss know and he would fix it. The owner came back a few days later and fixed it. Was no issue at all. Assume the way the wires run it must be easier to install it “upside down.” Bottom line is they can fix it.

 

[Daniel in SD]

If properly installed those wires will be torqued on there quite tight.

That's a huge "if". Many electricians don't properly torque the set screws. Of course it would also be good to know that since there have been plenty of fires reported in this forum caused by improperly torqued screws.

 

[puckpurnell]

14-50 installation.