"Oppie" wrote in message
news:OOsGj.2355$rb6.245@trnddc01...

snip

Interesting point. In the USA, we have a three prong plug which is earth,
Neutral and Line. There is no code that specifies whether the earth
terminal should be at the top or at the botom. Phil's picture leads me to
think that the Earth terminal should be top to divert any debris that
might land upon the circuits.

I have a lathe plugged into an outlet that at least once had been shorted
out by flying debris. As a work-arround, I put a seam of caulk arround the
plug and socket to keep anything from falling within the connections. One
of these days, will have to convert to twist-lock connectors that seal
much better.


The Home Depot and Lowe's hardware stores carry a weather enclosure
which would seem to be both cheap and an easy way to prevent debris
from falling onto the plug / socket. You might also move the outlet up
the wall.