box supports

[readydave8]

gem box is a LCOW is a cuttaway

 

[kwired]

Interesting. I guess there must be regional slang for these boxes as well. I've been googling Gem and haven't found anything. I also haven't found what I was taught to call them - wall cases. We used round backed, regular, deep, shallow and pregnant wall cases with ears for old work and nail-on, side-arm and side-strap wall cases for new work, but none of those terms show up in google. By the time I started, any box with ears was considered an old work box since nobody was using the metal straps that you inserted the ears into for new work in plaster houses anymore. Lots of suppliers now call them switch boxes, but that seems weird to me since it implies you can't install a receptacle in one.

I also use the name Madison bars, although some guys here call them F-clips. It also seems like a lot of people don't know that there's a top and bottom to them and I find them installed upside down a lot. In this region Madison bars are a lot more common in old work than saddle straps on wall cases, maybe because saddle straps are not reusable?

Sure they are reusabe, but they are more difficult to retrieve from the wall sometimes. In an insulated wall often they remain nearly in place after removing the box. In an open wall, drop a magnet on a chain to retrieve it.

 

[electricalist]

Any time a contractor want me to add a opening using a cut in box and f clips I tell them it's gonna be loose and eventually fall in or out and when one says I must not know how to do it right, I say exactly and then. I cut a nice square opening by the stud, put a bracket box. Drop the wire right in my hand , notch the sheetrock for the mud ring , put it back and politely ask the painter to make it good.

 

[PetrosA]

Any time a contractor want me to add a opening using a cut in box and f clips I tell them it's gonna be loose and eventually fall in or out and when one says I must not know how to do it right, I say exactly and then. I cut a nice square opening by the stud, put a bracket box. Drop the wire right in my hand , notch the sheetrock for the mud ring , put it back and politely ask the painter to make it good.

I'm guessing no one showed you how to install a wall case and/or you never need more than two gangs. There's no reason for a properly installed box to come loose, fall in or move in any way unless you're installing in a REALLY bad plaster-on-wood lath wall to the plaster and if the plaster's that bad, you install to the lath with #6 wood screws (that's why the ears can be either adjusted or reversed). If the lath is that bad, you break out the spray foam

If you want, I can tell you the most important secret for cutting in and installing a wall case, but you have to ask :angel:

 

[iwire]

Any time a contractor want me to add a opening using a cut in box and f clips I tell them it's gonna be loose and eventually fall in or out and when one says I must not know how to do it right, I say exactly and then. I cut a nice square opening by the stud, put a bracket box. Drop the wire right in my hand , notch the sheetrock for the mud ring , put it back and politely ask the painter to make it good.

I still use Madison straps and have no issues with them falling out.

 

[electricalist]

I honestly have a hard time because the hole for the box I can't get my hand even close to inside the wall. Then if I have a lock ring to put on. My hand is wide and my fingers are short.
My method is definitely do to my inability but the contractors I deal with have us use my method it's cheaper to use a little mud than pay the electrician more per opening.

 

[PetrosA]

I honestly have a hard time because the hole for the box I can't get my hand even close to inside the wall. Then if I have a lock ring to put on. My hand is wide and my fingers are short.
My method is definitely do to my inability but the contractors I deal with have us use my method it's cheaper to use a little mud than pay the electrician more per opening.

Now THAT I can sympathize with. I can barely get my left hand through the hole for a metal wallcase. My right hand won't go through at all. It's one of the reasons I use mostly plastic boxes anymore (larger hole).

 

[electricalist]

I'm guessing no one showed you how to install a wall case and/or you never need more than two gangs. There's no reason for a properly installed box to come loose, fall in or move in any way unless you're installing in a REALLY bad plaster-on-wood lath wall to the plaster and if the plaster's that bad, you install to the lath with #6 wood screws (that's why the ears can be either adjusted or reversed). If the lath is that bad, you break out the spray foam

If you want, I can tell you the most important secret for cutting in and installing a wall case, but you have to ask :angel:

What I is the most important thing?

 

[kwired]

I honestly have a hard time because the hole for the box I can't get my hand even close to inside the wall. Then if I have a lock ring to put on. My hand is wide and my fingers are short.
My method is definitely do to my inability but the contractors I deal with have us use my method it's cheaper to use a little mud than pay the electrician more per opening.

That is fine if you are on a job where there is also a drywaller/painter on same job. If you are coming into an existing building with no other construction under way just to add one outlet - I don't see your spending a little extra time being more then to have someone else come in to patch just one hole.

 

[electricalist]

That is fine if you are on a job where there is also a drywaller/painter on same job. If you are coming into an existing building with no other construction under way just to add one outlet - I don't see your spending a little extra time being more then to have someone else come in to patch just one hole.

I will usually buy the box with the flaps on the side that open when you tighten the screws. About the same price as1 cut in and f clip.

 

[PetrosA]

What I is the most important thing?

The most important thing is...

Don't just cut a rectangular hole. Start with a rectangular hole that's as accurate as possible, but add notches for the tabs top and bottom (yoke screws) and for the two screws on the sides (top right and bottom left). This assures that the box slides in without resistance and without damaging the drywall. The goal is to have the box resting only on the ears with as much drywall intact as possible. I usually do this by drilling with a 1/2" bit in those four spots then cutting the rest of the rectangle.