I've bought a number of the Leviton 16252 receptacles. It's a "commercial-grade" Decora 15A item with the backwire terminals. I use them when replacing back-stabbed receptacles because I'd rather disturb my house's 1978 wiring as little as possible. They're definitely easier to install than having to loop the wire around the terminal.

However, I've noticed that these are built differently than standard residential receptacles. The biggest difference is that the body of the unit is riveted to a one-piece mounting strap, whereas with the cheap ones, the strap is not a continuous piece. The result of this is that it seems like the body is not attached to the strap as securely.

After installing a bunch, I noticed that I can VERY SLIGHTLY move the receptacle body in a way that the plain old residential unit does not move (we're talking 1-2 millimeters at most). This happens especially when unplugging something. I checked out the P&S version at Menard's and it does basically the same thing. Then I looked at the receptacles at my office building after they replaced some -- it's a Hubbell 20A unit from around 1980. Even that moves a TINY bit, though not as much (however, I should mention that the corresponding Leviton 20A 16352 does not move nearly as much as the 15A version).

Am I being overly sensitive? Every item at the store (Home Depot) does this, so I don't have a defective one, per se. Logically there shouldn't be a safety issue here. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this. Looking at how it's built, the distance between the rivet and the mounting screw explains why the body would move as it does. This distance is greater between the top rivet and the top screw.

Thanks.