What is the difference between these receptacles?

[green.bubbly]

http://www.lowes.com/LowesProductCo...d_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1







Don't mind paying more for quality but sometimes price does not indicate quality. I plan on getting about 17 of these for my workshop. Occasional weekend use.

The $2.28 is not grounded but the $.56 one is.

 

[amuffly]

I would just go with the contractor pack and get 15 amp receptacles.

 

[Steevo]

You can't tell from that link, but only the ones with captive screw wire retention are worth using.
Never ever use the less-than-a-dollar ones with the push-in back-stab thingies.

 

[Gooch]

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...051&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=1112501

out of those four, i'd go with that one.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Forget the .56 cent ones, they are junk. Probably do not have strong contact springs to grip the plugs. The one on the far right is for Copper/Aluminum wire (largely for replacement of receptacles in houses with aluminum wire), you do not need it. The one next to the right is a commercial grade, backwire receptacle (the type you put the wire in and tighten a screw, these are very good compared to side wire variety), the one on the far left is a two prong for use ONLY as replacement for non-grounded receptacles, usually found in early 1960's and earlier houses. You cannot use these.

Of the four, your only real choice is #3.

Half of my shop has these, Cooper, formerly Eagle. I really do not care for them. I much prefer the same thing in Leviton.

THIS is what I have in my house, perfectly flat nylon face, backwire (clamped by tightening the side screw). They make the same receptacle in a plastic face, which has "profile" to it (not dead flat).......................

THIS is (If I recall) the exact same receptacle with a different face snapped on it. You need to compare them in the store. This (in Ivory) is what I used in my shop on the side opposite the Cooper/Eagle receptacles.

Whatever you do, DO NOT buy the 20 amp receptacles, unless you NEED them to plug something into. The guts of the BR15 and BR20.... and the 5252 (15 amp flat nylon face) and the 5352 (20 amp flat nylon face) are IDENTICAL. Open a 15 amp in the store, peer in the wider slot and look to the side inside, and you will see the contacts for the horizontal blade of the 20 amp, hidden behind the plastic face. Same guts, different faces.

Charles

Backside of the BR15 series.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

The ungrounded one is expensive because it is very low demand item. It can only be used as a replacement of two prong receptacles, few people use it. Kinda like ignition points nowdays, they are expensive because there is little demand for them.

The contractor pack is the crappy fifty-nine cent ones, don't bother, I would not use them in my house.

Charles

 

[mrb]

look for model no 5252 or 5262 in leviton or hubbell. these are the good ones.

 

[UncleJoe]

I can not speak to the quality of any of these but there is a big difference in some that may go unnoticed to most people. I was doing some network installations in a large new government building a couple of years ago and when I plugged in my laptop the cord fell out of the outlet. I tried again and it just fell out as soon as the weight of the cord pulled on the plug. I thought it was strange so I tried a different outlet and the same thing happened. I had to manually spread the plugs on my laptop cord to make enough friction to hole it in. I talked to my client, the county manager and he informed me that every plug in the building is like that and a law suit was pending if the contractor did not come back and put in better plugs.

Saving a $1.50 or $2 per plug may not seem like much but in a 100,000 square foot building I bet it adds up.

The older I get the more I want to get the better quality. I have no idea of the difference in the $2.19 and the $3.06 but I would be interested if someone knows

 

[Stuart in MN]

The commercial grade receptacle in the link has a body made of nylon, as opposed to the plastic residential grade ones. Nylon will be more durable, the plastic ones can break if people aren't careful when plugging or unplugging cords.

 

[green.bubbly]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I went with the BR15s. Have one curious question however. There are two screws that secure the receptacle to the box. One screw is held in place by a small square plastic clip. The other screw is held in place by a copper spring. Why the copper spring?


I am assuming it is for grounding of the screw?

You can see it in the pic below on the bottom side.

 

[Milton Shaw]

The screw grounds the metal of the outlet to the box, so you don't have to have a green ground to the outlet, Although it is better to actually have the ground wire attached. Also spend a few cents more and get the nylon cover plates that are unbreakable instead of the plastic cheap ones that come in contractor packs. They also make them in oversize if you are not too neat with drywall/hole finishing. Also an insulator under the cover will make a difference in air infiltration into the house, unless holes for cables are caulked where wires go through.

 

[green.bubbly]

Oversized covers plates will be needed. lol

I was going to either get the unbreakable covers or metal covers.

 

[sberry]

How is it one guy can have so much problem with recepts and the next guy none,,, I have about maybe 300 of the .56 cent ones in service, some with thousands of cycles, can't recall the last time I had an issue with one.

 

[DHS]

How is it one guy can have so much problem with recepts and the next guy none,,, I have about maybe 300 of the .56 cent ones in service, some with thousands of cycles, can't recall the last time I had an issue with one.

I dont have 300 but I have never had a problem either.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

As you can see, they have dramatically changed the design of the BR15/BR20 receptacles. However, the V notched plates that pinch the wires are still the same. I have one of the later BR15's I picked up new at the flea, looked at it today, its like the one in your post above.

Charles

 

[mrb]

As you can see, they have dramatically changed the design of the BR15/BR20 receptacles. However, the V notched plates that pinch the wires are still the same. I have one of the later BR15's I picked up new at the flea, looked at it today, its like the one in your post above.

Charles

everyone has a BR15 now. the one pictured is a cooper. hubbell has one too.

 

[nate379]

Your links aren't loading for me (I'm on my phone) but I use the .99 ones from Lowe's on everything I have wired. They have push in and also screw hold down. I personally perfer using the screws, but everything in my house was wired with the push in and I haven't have any problems.

Perhaps the .99 aren't as tough as the $2-3 ones, but I'll spend the 10 mins every 5-6 years replacing the often used outlets and not worry about it. Or maybe if you really want to be **** about it, put the $$ plugs on the receps. by the bench, toolbox, etc and they the cheapos for the door opener, plug in lights, etc.

For me spending $30 on 30 receps vs $90... that $60 buys alot of beer!

 

[Teken]

Curious why you didn't decide to purchase and convert your outlets to the decora style ones??

 

[sberry]

Back wired are a lot easier to use especially in remodel and where the recept box is also a Jbox, where outlets are daisy chained. I don't particularly like using a common recept as a splice device, hard work with the screws and all, back wires make it easy, especially like a box with gfci. Th good ones can save a lot of installation labor, pig tails and wire nuts, extra connections etc.
In the shop if there is much going on its mounted in a 4x4 box anyway or in handi box at a dead end.