UL and NEMA Standards for Plug and Outlet Insertion/Withdrawal Force in the US

Hello All,
I have a mechnical engineering background but am studying electrical outlet designs in hopes to improve them. Something I can't seem to find background on myself is the force requirements for plugging in and unplugging a power cord to an outlet. Does anyone know if there is a universal standard on this, or specifically for my case, a US standard? I've found some examples online about how companies test forces required to remove plugs, but haven't found anything about design requirements from a standards body like UL.

Any help or guidance is appreciated

Hi Eric,

If you can find a latest copy of National Electrical Code(NEC) about Receptacles, Cord Connectors, and Attachment Plugs (Caps), I think it will help you a lot.

God Bless.

Best,
Neil

Hello Neil,
And thank you for the guidance. I've just purchased a copy of the 2014 NEC for Kindle so I could search through it efficiently. I've not been able to find anything referenced in it for force to insert or remove a cap from a receptacle. I've searched for "force", "pounds", "Insert", "Unplug", etc...and read each page that results. The only section of the book that seems to reference force is moving industrial equipment.

Do you have any specifics on where you believe I may find the information and what I should be searching for if I've missed some key terms?

Regards,
Eric

Hi Eric,

Try this Indian Standard.

link here-> http://www.dianyuan.com/bbs/u/31/1122016620.pdf

Hope it helps.

God Bless.

Best,
Neil

Many Thanks Neil,
The section regarding Withdraw Pull is exactly what I was hoping to find. Surprising that this is called out so well in an Indian standard but not at all by the NEC. Regardless, I now have a standard that I can reference in my work.

Thank you for the help

Regards,
Eric