On Aug 28, 4:59*pm, "john" wrote:
Does the 2008 NEC specify which way to orient 3-prong outlets?

Should it be

ground on tophttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/Electrical_o...

or

ground on bottomhttp://images.jupiterimages.com/common/detail/00/34/23433400.jpg

?

The tradition seems to be ground on bottom, but I heard it is safer to have
ground on top so falling coins are less likely to short out a loosely
plugged in plug.

I installed a GFCI in a bedroom a few years ago and added 3 prong
receptacles down stream in that same room.

This weekend, I was painting another room, whose 2 prong receptacles
are also downstream of the GFCI, so I decided to replace them also.

After reading this thread over the course of the last few days, I
found this interesting, if not a little errie:

The neutral slot on all the receptacles was on the left. In order to
just remove the old receptacles and install the 3 prong ones, without
twisting any wires - just a simple in and out swap - all the grounds
on the 3 prongers ended up - up!