What to do when Wall outlet is installed upside down?

I had an electrician install the outlet for charging our 2019 Nissan leaf SL plus at home. But the outlet was installed upside down which means the charging box cannot be mounted below the wall outlet. Currently the unitnis mounted to the left of the outlet, which means the short cord is bent at a90° angle. Is this a bad problem to have or not a big deal?

If the electrician knew it was for a charging station or cable then (s)he should fix it for free. If not, then you may need to pay a small fee to have the outlet "inverted" as this is common practice nowadays. Your other option is to look for a heavy duty outlet strip with a short cord, and mount that on the wall next to the outlet.

Hmm. My power socket was mounted well above the mounting point for my charging unit, but in an orientation that would have made more sense if it were below the unit. And unfortunately, there wasn't enough room in the box to reorient the socket. But no matter: I had to change out the power cord on the unit anyway, because it (a United Chargers Grizzl-E) isn't available with a 14-30 plug, and I saw problems in putting a 14-50 socket on a 30A circuit. And the 14-30 dryer cord I installed on the Grizzl-E was plenty long enough and flexible enough to make a 180 degree turn above the power socket.

It should also be possible to find parts at your local Home Depot, Lowe's, Do-It Center, or similar establishment, that will allow you to build a short extension cord that would correct the orientation problem.

To see a set of pictures of my installation, go to the "Testimonials" page on the manufacturer's site (https://grizzl-e.com/testimonials/), and it will be in the testimonial from "James Lampert," with the upper right picture clearly showing where the charging unit is plugged in.

I would have the guy come back and fix it...there is a top and bottom and cords are meant to hang down.

For example ....see writing on outlet in this picture on link below...what does your writing say on your outlet?

https://www.grainger.com/product/5Z...2r9VRBx86gheL7eoC6kaAm-nEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

"Hang down" is a relative term. And in this case, it's probably unfortunate that the overwhelming majority of molded-on plugs for 240V are "wall-hugger" plugs. (I spend my Saturdays docenting a the International Printing Museum, and we've got lots of equipment that plugs into 240V, much of it 3-phase, almost all of it twist-lock, but all of the plugs are of the bolt-on type, with the cord exiting along the axis of the plug, rather than out a side.)
And actually, all NEMA receptacles are intended to be installed with the ground prong on top, if possible (with neutral on top as a second choice). The more common ground-prong-down installation is, I would imagine, somehow related to the phenomenon known as face pareidolia, the tendency to see faces in inanimate objects.

By the way, this thread probably belongs in the "EVSE / Charging Equipment and Networks" section.

If you can support the unit it's not a big deal. If the orientation bothers you or puts stress on the components, then it should be changed. I'd just turn off power to the outlet and do it myself. If you're not comfortable doing that, have the electrician come back to do it.

Have the electrician come back and flip the receptacle. He will understand.

Agreed, unless the wires were made very, very short inside, it's easy to flip the outlet around to any orientation, I've done it countless times for friends and relatives alike

knightmb said:

Agreed, unless the wires were made very, very short inside, it's easy to flip the outlet around to any orientation, I've done it countless times for friends and relatives alike

Click to expand...

Yeah .. it is simple enough for anyone with a screwdriver since the job just amounts to rotating the plug 180 degrees. However, when it happened to me I decided to release the two hot wires and swap their positions. I didn't want torque on the wires, or to take a chance that they would touch.

A MUST DO part of this job is to de-energize the wires at the electric panel first.

I agree, not saying they should do it themselves, have an electrician do it.