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

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

bull crap....he's just a lazy sun of a gun.....in Irvine by code, the ground must be on top

So all of your 20 amp 120V outlets have to be installed upside down too, in Irvine?

 

[Daniel in SD]

So all of your 20 amp 120V outlets have to be installed upside down too, in Irvine?

Ground up is only the standard for 240V outlets. Doesn't really make any sense since ground up is, technically speaking, better than ground down but it is what it is.

 

[Dmagyar]

14-50 installation.

Not to be too critical, but why didn’t the “Electrician” you hired for your job install EMT? If you did it yourself then I can see why as not everyone can bend conduit, and box offsets and such. As a second item, a single gang box doesn’t allow too much space for the receptacle and even less wire bending room, as this is. A surface install, it would have been no problem to do that during...

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

Ground up is only the standard for 240V outlets. Doesn't really make any sense since ground up is, technically speaking, better than ground down but it is what it is.

I don’t think it really matters. What other interesting laws does Irvine try to enforce? Just curious.

 

[SMAlset]

so here is my current situation:View attachment 431720

I doubt it's "healthy" for the cord on the unit to be bent continously like that. So don't see an update on what happened with the receptacle.

 

[stonelance]

I would have used a 2 gang box. More roomy. Your electrician really had to work hard to get everything to fit

That my guess as to why the electrician "had" to put the outlet the way they did.

I installed my 14-50 myself (before I got the car), and I ended up having to turn it around after getting the car and seeing the charging cable. I incorrectly assumed the manufacturer would put the lettering on the outlet in the orientation it should be installed...

 

[Daniel in SD]

I don’t think it really matters. What other interesting laws does Irvine try to enforce? Just curious.

Well it’s nice if there’s a standard. For some reason ground up is standard only for 240v outlets. If you installed it the other way all your cords won’t hang down nicely and can more easily get pulled out.
I don’t live in Irvine but I’ve been there and all the 120v outlets are the conventional ground down. Even though ground up might be a little better every 120v cord with an orientation is ground down.

 

[azjohn]

I doubt it's "healthy" for the cord on the unit to be bent continously like that. So don't see an update on what happened with the receptacle.

I was thinking the same thing. Probably would have used a few thick zip ties

 

[gavine]

Well it’s nice if there’s a standard. For some reason ground up is standard only for 240v outlets. If you installed it the other way all your cords won’t hang down nicely and can more easily get pulled out.
I don’t live in Irvine but I’ve been there and all the 120v outlets are the conventional ground down. Even though ground up might be a little better every 120v cord with an orientation is ground down.

I just moved into an apartment and the parking garage has 120v outlets throughout (no level 2’s yet). The electrician installed all of the outlets with the ground on top. I’m trying to find an adapter that inverts the orientation, but I can’t find one.

Any ideas?

Am I going to have to get an extension cord and lay my UMC on the ground?

 

[jebinc]

Not to be too critical, but why didn’t the “Electrician” you hired for your job install EMT? If you did it yourself then I can see why as not everyone can bend conduit, and box offsets and such. As a second item, a single gang box doesn’t allow too much space for the receptacle and even less wire bending room, as this is. A surface install, it would have been no problem to do that during...

This is exactly the reason why I do these things myself. This electrician gets customer to agree to a price, then uses the minimum required to pass inspection, pocketing the money saved. Bet the wire is not 6 AWG either, ‘cause you can get away with 8 AWG on a 50 amp circuit. Man, and a single gang box for 240v surface mount - really miserly. No EMT? I’m sure the workmanship is fine as it must have passed code.

 

[ngogas]

Mine was also upside down by the electrician. I just opened it and turned it around. Make sure the breaker power is off.

 

[FurryOne]

Actually, there is no absolute way to align a 14-50 outlet - you can even mount it sideways - it's all legal.* Most 4x4 14-50 plates will show the ground pin at the top, but many dryer hookups will have it reversed because the outlet is mounted by the floor, with the pigtail going up to the dryer. In fact the older free-standing 14-50 phenolic outlets came with the ground on the bottom. It's the same argument for the 5-15 outlets - old time electricians like me always use ground down, while newbies go ground up. (As if a piece of metal shorting hot to ground is going to draw less current than hot-neutral.)

*in my jurisdiction anyways.

 

[FurryOne]

I would have used a 2 gang box. More roomy. Your electrician really had to work hard to get everything to fit, I doubt he has the required 6” of wire in the box. I’m pretty sure that is a code violation, but I’d have to do a box fill calculation

Wow! He didn't even use a deep box! What's it, 50 cents more for a plastic 4-square? He probably even used a cheap Lowes 14-50 outlet.

 

[RFernatt]

When my 14-50 was installed with my solar, I showed the electrician the plug for the JuiceBox and how it would be mounted so the outlet orientation would be correct. He let his assistant work on that while he tackled the panel wiring on the roof. The assistant must have misunderstood and put it in upside down. I pointed it out and the assistant fixed it pretty quick, no big deal. So, should be straightforward.

 

[r1200gs4ok]

So all of your 20 amp 120V outlets have to be installed upside down too, in Irvine?

only on the ev connectors........so you can move here now

 

[dendenyc]

I installed my 14-50 myself and also installed it upside down. Rather than fix it (thick azz wires was a pain in the azz to install in the first place) I simply installed a hook to take the pressure off having the cable support the weight of the UMC brick. This photo has a bracket but I've since replaced it with an open hook so I can take the UMC with me when needed.

 

[Surfman]

Nope, top:

View attachment 431598

 

[Surfman]

Even though the text on the plug is in the correct orientation the plug is upside down. This is stupid. All 14-50 extension cords with a 90 degree plug are made with the ground oriented on top so that the cord hange down.

 

[Surfman]

Nope, top:

View attachment 431598

Nope.

 

[StellarRat]

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.

Turn off the power first, really? Brilliant!