round boxes or square? Resi guys?

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electricblue

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I not a resi pro., but I've been doing alot lately. I always thought round boxes for lights. I've noticed that the outlet boxes serve just fine for sconces, pendants and smokes. Can I do away with the round box from my stock?
 
electricblue said:
I not a resi pro., but I've been doing alot lately. I always thought round boxes for lights. I've noticed that the outlet boxes serve just fine for sconces, pendants and smokes. Can I do away with the round box from my stock?
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Keep using the round boxes for sconces and lights. I am not at my box but somewhere in 312, I believe, the code limits lights to 6 ponds or so for boxes with 6/32 screws and wall mounted. Something like that.

I always use round boxes for lighting however sometimes you need to work with the fixture that is bought as a 4" round may not always work with some sconces.
 
Dennis Alwon said:
Keep using the round boxes for sconces and lights. I am not at my box but somewhere in 312, I believe, the code limits lights to 6 ponds or so for boxes with 6/32 screws and wall mounted. Something like that.

I always use round boxes for lighting however sometimes you need to work with the fixture that is bought as a 4" round may not always work with some sconces.
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Would that be fish ponds or swimming ponds?;););)
 
round

round

Round boxes. They can take a #8. I had an outlet box in a ceiling in a hall once and the fixture fell out. Thats real embarrassing. You never know how or what is going to hang from the finished product. If you think the blue trim is going to show go to a smaller round (3 inch ) or anything metal. Definitely use fan boxes liberally in the kitchen, living room, covered porchs, all bedrooms, and large open areas.

Side note, always use that fiberglass mat on the tops of ceiling fixtures. It insulates the heat from the lamps and they don't fall out of the ceilings.
 
Round.

GUNNING said:
If you think the blue trim is going to show go to a smaller round (3 inch )...
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I use the 3" round nail-ins for smokes. It's real easy to tell them apart from fixture boxes, and many smokes barely cover even neatly-cut 4" holes.
 
A lot of the configurations in the mounting plates of various fixtures and smokes do not include holes spaced for a single gang device box.
 
I mostly use 1 gang cut in boxes for smoke detectors, avoiding confusion with light boxes. I use round light boxes for most lights, as brackets sometimes don't fit 1g boxes. However, some sconce lights are too slim for a round box, have to be a 1gang. I have seen a few of them. Mfr's need to pay attention to such issues. We have enough to deal with in the field.
 
jmellc said:
I However, some sconce lights are too slim for a round box, have to be a 1gang.
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I just called the manufacturer because of the fixture that was speced. It had an overall base of 4" by 4.5" . They kept telling me a regular box. Finally they read the info that stated a reg. rectangular box. I always check if we know the fixtures ahead of time. I have been burned before on it.
 
There's a slight difference in the screw centers between a round box and a 1-gang box. Plus, most lights use #8 screws. Thus, you're better served with a round box.

Now, is it screws vertical or horizontal? I never seem to get it right, the fixtures seem determined to frustrate me! (They must be in cahoots with the thermostat guy, who always brings the 'other' kind!)

One advantage to resi work is that there are 'old work' style round plastic boxes.
 
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