there are disconnects that are as if they were a DPDT circuit breaker for switching between two incoming power sources (the grid and a backup generator ) for residential. it could be a mechanical means that turns one main incoming breaker off when the other main incoming breaker goes on, two separate breakers with a mechanical linkage.
both md2000 and septimus gave some very scary situations.
Cite?
The National Electrical Code Section 406.4 (D), the Canadian Electrical Code, nor the Council for the Harmonization of Electromechanical Standards of the Nations of the Americas (CANENA) have specifications as to the orientation of NEMA connector receptacles.
Secondly, switches are used to operate or disconnect power to lights, receptacles, or any permanently connected machinery or equipment ie your furnace or bathroom exhaust fans.
We use 220 Volts here, significantly deadlier than U.S. 120 Volts. The “good” news is that (due to various infrastructure inadequacies?) there’s usually only about 150 Volts coming into our house. :smack:
Nope, that isn’t a double throw breaker, just 2 mechanically linked single throw breakers.
I am sorry I can’t cite the section but there is one place where the code does specify the ground up, where oxygen is in use. Look around in any medical facility, all the outlets have the ground on top. That is to prevent sparking in case something conductive falls on a partly unplugged plug. Many people devoutly believe code calls for it everywhere. I see tons of cords meant to run down from a ground down outlet doubled over in a ground up one.
The NEC doesn’t specify ground up or down for outlets. However, local codes might. In one place I used to live, local codes specified ground down. Right across the river (which happened to be in another state) the local codes specified ground up.
i never said it was a double throw breaker. i said that it, ‘act as if they were a DPDT main circuit breaker.’
it makes it hard to know what you are referring to without a link to the forums you read or a quote. what i referred to might be called a double throw breaker by someone because it effectively acts like one.
there is much debate and discussion on forums about the ground being up or down on receptacles. unless in local code there is a choice.
many like the looks better with the ground down.
many will have the ground up so that a right angle plug lays the cord in the desired direction. many will have the ground up if using metal cover plates or if things are able to drop on the prongs of a plug not fully inserted (like a work bench with lots of things hanging above the plug).
Hold on, I am not disputing that the orientation may depend on their location, use, or local codes.
Actually, I admit to being whooshed by Inigo Montoya as I missed the OCD reference in his post.:smack:
I offer the smoldering remains of a TV as my cite.
I used to have a TV that was for its time, a typical “hot chassis” design where if the receptacle is wired right, the chassis is connected directly to the neutral or grounded conductor. As the grounded conductor (aka neutral) and the grounding conductor (aka ground) are bonded to each other and earth ground at the service entrance, it’s a perfectly safe design if everything is wired properly.
As it turned out, one outlet in my apartment was wired hot-neutral reverse, so the TV’s chassis was electrically hot. Between plastic knobs and remote control, it was rare that I ever touched the TV. Until that fateful day when cable TV came. When it’s installed properly, the coax shield is earth-grounded. When the coax came into contact with the socket on the TV, there was a zap and a crack and the magic smoke leaked out of the TV and the cable box. The cable box was plugged into a properly wired outlet, so it was grounded along with the coax. The net result was one fried TV, one fried cable box, and a tripped breaker.
So yes, a mis-wired outlet can damage an appliance.
Similar experience here, connecting some old (early transistorized) audio equipment to a modern, grounded oscillator. The result was a huge spark that took chunks out of the plug and socket and a tripped breaker, but fortunately no fried equipment.
