Arlington Device Box

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stickboy1375

stickboy1375

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Litchfield, CT
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Whats a standard "Maxi Plate" ??? A over sized plate?
 
I don't think there's anything "standard" about a "maxi-plate". Doesn't even ring a bell, really.

I use the Trademaster plates for everything, which are what people used to call "midway" plates.

I'm not real excited about this particular Arlington product. Arlington is right down the road from me, so I get so see their salesmen at the supply houses pretty frequently. This box was aparently aimed at the modular home builder market, since they generally rope in the romex, hang the rock, then cut in all their boxes after the rock is up.
 
I forget the brand :roll: but a maxi plate is an oversized plate, of one specific manufacturer - I think.:grin:

I use them all the time, but dang if I can remember the brand!
 
JohnJ0906 said:
I forget the brand :roll: but a maxi plate is an oversized plate, of one specific manufacturer - I think.:grin:

I use them all the time, but dang if I can remember the brand!
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Okay, I had to Google it. Mulberry Metal Products has the "Maxi-Plate" brand name for their jumbo-sized plates.
 
Now that I've Googled the Mulberry catalog, I'm even more confused. I wish somebody would standardize what they want to call these plates. Mulberry lists both "Jumbo" and "Maxi".

Standard 1 Gang 4.5" x 2.75"

Jumbo 1 Gang 5.5" x 3.5"

Princess 1 Gang 5" x 2.75"

Maxi 1 Gang 5" x 3.5"

I can't say that I've ever heard of a "Princess" sized plate before, and I'm not sure how that would be useful. I don't carry jumbo's on the truck on purpose. If the drywaller or plaster man goofed up, I want it to show, and I want a red tag.
 
stickboy1375 said:
I don't even understand why they make oversize plates with ART 312.4
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I dunno. I've been permitted to fire caulk an ugly drywall job and use oversized plates to cover the red fire caulk. I'm not a drywall repair guy, so if the builder isn't interested in getting the drywaller and the painter back, I can fire caulk and use a big plate and write up the appropriate change order. Sorta stinks, because my supply house doesn't really carry many oversized plates. I end up going to a big box store, where they seem to be plentiful. Wonder why? :wink:

I had a helper once that sometimes used them when he was cutting a box into plaster, and the plaster would get a little bit to ragged and big around the cutout. He mixed up a little bit of hot mud to do the repair, but used an oversized plate so nobody needed to paint. I didn't really have any problem with that. It's just more work than I cared to do myself.
 
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stickboy1375 said:
I don't even understand why they make oversize plates with ART 312.4
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Have you ever cut in a 2 or 3 gang plastic box in plaster?

While the surface of the wall is "mostly" intact ...some portions of the plaster usually wind up on the floor ...as an added bonus, the cut-in plastic boxes are LARGER than the "norm" nail-ons.
In my own home, I have 3G cut-in by front door with a standard 3G plate - the plate does NOT sit properly. On an adjacent wall, is another 3G box...this box is a nail-on ~ but metal and also has a 3G Maxi/jumbo plate on it.
Someday :cool: the metal 3G will be eliminated (only 2 of the 3 switches are used)...at least that was the plan ~ relocate that switchbank.

Want me to snap some pix?
 
I have never used an oversized plate.. :-? And most of my work is old work... and I have cut in 2-3 gang switches in plaster, I've even made existing 1 gang switch boxes into 2-3 gang, with no problems...
 
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stickboy1375 said:
I have never used an oversized plate.. :-? And most of my work is old work...
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That's the goal. I think I've probably used 10 in the last few years. Mostly to compensate for hack/DIY drywall work. You're probably dealing with a better class of customer than I am.
 
stickboy1375 said:
I have never used an oversized plate.. :-? And most of my work is old work...
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You got mad skills!

Here's a Gold Star
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...goto the head of the class. :smile:
 
I wish I knew about the super-oversized plates a couple years ago. I was helping a buddy tweak his garage a bit, and he was going to ditch the keyless over the garage door and install a receptacle in it's place for the garage door opener.

For such a utilitarian purpose and location, this plate would have made it possible. As it is, I think we ended up with a blank 3/0 plate and a single gang cut in beside it, or something. A ridiculously oversized plate would have looked less like an accident in that scenario, IMO.
 
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