Power outlets are topsy turvy - but does it matter?

🙃

THe 'what about 2 prong plugs??' bit kinda reminds of the logic of 'well CRIMINALS will still break the law!!!' like.. yeah? Nobody ever said it's a panacea, but for circumstances where it will work it helps.

Another unwritten rule is the screw slots all need to be aligned vertically.

When I was like 3-4 years old. I was dropping pennies onto a partially inserted wall plug, FOR SCIENCE! I got a big paddling and it left a nice scorch mark on the wall! 🤣🤣🤣

Not sure if anyone else has said it yet but, I've run into the issues of 45° plugs not meant to be upside down a LOT when installing dishwashers, at least in AZ and using "Smart Choice" branded dishwasher install kits.
The outlet is upside down and the plug on top, is typically on a switch for a garbage disposal to turn on/off when needed and the bottom plug is used for the dishwasher which needs constant power to be used whenever.
We can almost never connect the dishwasher nicely, or, has to use a small extension with a swivel head. Otherwise if you tried to switch the cables around, now the disposal is running 24/7! It's so dumb!

I find that 3-prongs back out much easier when installed ground-side up than ground-side down. Since that is much more likely to occur than something falling on the exposed plug (especially with the adoption of tamper-resistant receptacles in the NEC), I prefer to install them ground-side down, on top of all the reasons you listed. But I wish we would adopt the sleeved blades too. Still, tamper-resistant outlets avoid the issue completely

I don't suppose those plug-in perfume dispensers are very popular with your sideways outlets.

You did touch on the one problem that right-angle plugs have: the general inability to use two of them in one duplex receptacle. Power strips that have the grounds down the middle of the strip have their ability to handle several cords hamstrung to only one or two by right-angle plugs (which is why I look for power strips that have the grounds along a side, so right-angle plugs — and power bricks — stick off the side of the strip.) Having the cord exit on the 45 degree helps quite a bit, though it isn’t feasible for every use.

I prefer the European plug! No safer plug, seen.

Dang, after he showed the dangers from things touching the plug wires I wanted to flip all the plugs in my house!

My dad installed all the outlets ground up when he built our house in the late 80s. The county inspector told him that was wrong and made him flip all of the outlets before he could pass inspection.

I noticed your "A, this,,, then 2 that. Then, you reversed it. 1, this,,, then B that. Clever, and funny.

German power outlets best power outlets.

Good videos

If you rotated it 180°, the receptacles would be inside the wall. 😋

I always thought the "upside down" orientation was for the outlets that are controlled by a switch, but that was by convention and not by mandate.

I died at the frown joke....

Props for not turning off the breaker for your game of Throw Knives at the Wall!

So you know you can start using eu plugs pretty easy but than again the metric system is even not an option for many americans so uh good luck with your bad design us plug

No you are upside down!

One thing worth mentioning are recessed sockets. These combine the socket and wall plate into one unit, with the sockets themselves set well back from the plane of the wall. It's much less likely for users to make accidental contact with live plug blades while plugging & unplugging with this style of socket, and less risk for conductive objects to hit the spicy parts of bumped plugs that don't stay fully-seated. There's also less protrusion with straight-in plugs, and right-angle plugs are practically flush with the wall, which is great in cases where you want to plug something in semi-permanently behind a piece of furniture (although you're usually limited to just one right-angle plug in a recessed duplex socket for obvious reasons). Almost no one ever talks about this style of plug, but they have a lot of advantages.

BAH! I've Touched those pins several times with lamps, 2 prong plug, when I was little. Still here.

I can't understand why you guys don't just switch to safer plugs. It is not a difficult thing to do.

They are upside down because they need to look like a face, obviously

In California switched outlets are often installed with the ground port on top to show that this outlet is different than the rest

Now i'm waiting for such an analysis of an EU plug and if it better in any way....

Schuko master race represent

ammo full!

First dislike you've earned from me on "nobody cares". Not even when shilling Tesla.

If I woke up and found they were suddenly the right way up, I would be happy. All plugs should have a ground - if I and people like me spent our day implementing legacy "that's the way it was so that's the way it will always be", a lot of the internet would not work properly.

90 degree plugs are entirely inferior to 45 degree plugs. Look at any serious power equipment, 99% chance it has a 45 degree, which works fine in either orientation and is much harder to block any adjacent socket with, including on power strips. If I bought a new UPS and it didn't have a 45-degree, I would be immediately suspicious of it.

Brazil uses IEC 60906-1 outlets. I use ground-up mostly because it works better with right-angle cables, which are reversed from yours.

This is one of the reasons I like our Australian connectors. The active and neutral pins are at 45 degree angles, so it's a lot harder for the plug to fall out, even if it doesn't have a ground pin (or a plug that has a spot for ground pin)

Hey, at least we don't have to wire our own plugs.

Right angle plugs don’t get their cord destroyed when you push a dresser into them.

Oh, I care a lot!
Many extensions I use have a 90° plug that sends the wire DOWN when the ground pin is lower.
Having such extensions with the wire going up sucks big time!

Here in Portugal we call this a joint problem. You join(t) everything and throw it all out

A side bonus of our crazy Chicago outlets are that they are actually a decent bit harder to pull down and expose the hot blade, especially grounded plugs until the outlet is very worn but then that's the outlets fault anyway. Back when I grew up we were taught to respect electricity. The real answer is we need everything efficient enough to run at USB voltages lol.

I have had a few inverted right angle cords and they are irritating when it comes to plugging them in...

I have a heavy duty extension cord with a 90 degree plug with ground at the tip (ground up). I think I have seen new window air conditioners with it too.

What a silly debate. If you get shocked plugging or unplugging something you deserved it. Lessson learned

Why would you play "throw the knives at the wall" if there wasn't a pair of exposed electrical terminals to make it interesting?

The certified electrician at my former workplace (a newspaper printing facility) was installing plugs with the ground up in more public spaces, like hallways, near machines etc, because he had shock himself in the past using a tape measure AND from picking up a metal strip that had fallen on a dislodged plug! But he was installing office-space plugs with the ground down, because of 90 degree angle plugs.. So the correct way of doing it for him, was: It depends on the use case.
Anyways, euro plugs are way safer! (but huge!)

I think the biggest reason to doubt the hround up orientation is because its not in the NEC. If there is any half way good enough reason that it might make it safer it will be in the newest NEC

Where can I get that trinitron shirt? I'm not much for graphic tees but I like how subtle a dog-whistle it is.

My dad used to tell me stories of a schoolyard game he played back in the 40s. Two kids would stand face to face a few feet apart and throw their pocket knives into the ground near the other person's feet. The first one to move their foot was the loser.

I'm putting mine in sideways and nobody will stop me. All of them will be sideways. I don't care. I hope it's less safe.

But I like having my outlets having a look of shocked surprise!

TLDR: US plugs are just bad. EU, UK and Aussie plugs definitely a lot better

I think you should spend the same amount of time making your videos on a horrible plug than advocating moving on to another reasonable plug for this full country

- a T13 plug user