Difference between Tap box,Pull box and junction box

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shoaib10

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I am trying to get a clear definitions of Tap box,Pull box and Junction box.These are the definitions i came up with.

Pull box:Where you can pull cables in or out.
Tap box:As the name itself implies you are making the taps inside a tap box.
Junction box:Where you splice the cables like the ones we have in residential wiring.

Am i correct on these definitions or is there something i am missing?

And also i want to get a better definition between a splice and Tap.

Splice:Joining of two conductors....Question i have here is can you join tow conductors of two different sizes.If so are there any limitations or rules that you need to follow.I know that when you splice two wires of same sizes you can run as long as you want to but what about when you splice two conductors of different sizes?

Tap:Although we have a definition of tap conductors in NEC i want to get a better explanation on tap conductors...

I would appreciate if anyone can add on to my definitions or any modifications.I would like to get the basics right..
 
They are all the same to me.
It is the same box in each instance.
The terms get interchanged a lot.
 
I agree, these are just terms of art applied when wanting to distinguish the reason for putting in a particular box, but which generally have no code implications.

The one code requirement that comes to mind is that if you are putting in a box just to have a place to pull conductors, you are not required to bond a metal box to the EGC. Whereas if you splice, tap or terminate anything in a box then you are.

I'd guess most people would only use the term 'tap box' when speaking of feeders or service conductors. But there's no precise reason that should be so.
 
jaggedben said:
I agree, these are just terms of art applied when wanting to distinguish the reason for putting in a particular box, but which generally have no code implications.

The one code requirement that comes to mind is that if you are putting in a box just to have a place to pull conductors, you are not required to bond a metal box to the EGC. Whereas if you splice, tap or terminate anything in a box then you are.

I'd guess most people would only use the term 'tap box' when speaking of feeders or service conductors. But there's no precise reason that should be so.
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Is there any place where i can find the formal definitions of all the three?

And what do you think about my second question between a splice and a tap?
 
shoaib10 said:
Is there any place where i can find the formal definitions of all the three?
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I don't think they are formally defined.

And what do you think about my second question between a splice and a tap?
Click to expand...

Strictly speaking per the code, a tap is defined in Article 240 and the rules for them are in 240.21(B). People may call other things a tap if it is branching off a new parallel connection from a circuit, but that's not code speak. Otherwise it's just a splice.
 
jaggedben said:
I don't think they are formally defined.



Strictly speaking per the code, a tap is defined in Article 240 and the rules for them are in 240.21(B). People may call other things a tap if it is branching off a new parallel connection from a circuit, but that's not code speak. Otherwise it's just a splice.
Click to expand...

Can you splice two wires of different sizes?
 
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