How to hide the extra gang

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I know this is a stretch, but????.

How about two Raco gangable steel boxes of different depths with a steel cover over shallower one, so that only the deeper one would show and hold the device.

For example, a model #500 3?x2? - 2 ? ? deep with plaster ears removed ganged with a
Model #567 3?x2? - 2 ?? deep with plaster ears in place. Cover the 2 ? ? model with a steel cover.

This is just a concept, perhaps these are not the right two boxes to use.

I am sure there are issues:
Would the gangable boxes leave any openings where the two meet
Could one get the combined box thru the one gang opening
Listing issues

Probably won?t work, but you asked for creative ideas.
 
Put in a 3-way sw. from travelers go to top/bottom of recpt.

feed the 1pole and the common on the 3-way

from load side of 1pole jumper to one of the travelers.

So you have top sw'ed and bottom hot, flip the 3-way, you have top hot

bottom sw'ed.
 
This just hit me - we have Aldelphia cable, and they have cute little commercial. A husband is standing in front of a 2-gang switch and asks his wife to watch, as he never did know what the switch was for. As he switches, he continuously asks her if she can see any lights being turned on or off - and she doesn't even look up from reading the paper - and just responds with "nope". Then all of a sudden they pan outside and every time he switches it on, the neighbors garage door slams down on the car, which is pulled 1/4 way in to the garage. Obviously the garage door is wreaking havoc on the hood of the neighbors car.

How about an X10 to the neighbors garage door?
 
benaround said:
Put in a 3-way sw. from travelers go to top/bottom of recpt.

feed the 1pole and the common on the 3-way

from load side of 1pole jumper to one of the travelers.

So you have top sw'ed and bottom hot, flip the 3-way, you have top hot

bottom sw'ed.
Click to expand...
Let's see if I got that. . .

When the single pole is OFF, the threeway turns on only one receptacle of the duplex, either the upper or lower, depending on the switching of the threeway.

When the single pole is ON, one receptacle is hot, and the threeway switches the other receptacle on and off.
 
al hildenbrand said:
Let's see if I got that. . .

When the single pole is OFF, the threeway turns on only one receptacle of the duplex, either the upper or lower, depending on the switching of the threeway.

When the single pole is ON, one receptacle is hot, and the threeway switches the other receptacle on and off.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what benaround described is right, but the idea is pretty neat.

What I get is that the top or bottom is switched hot, or not, based on the position of the 3-way. The load side is jumpered to only one of the travellers, so when the single pole is off that outlet is either on or off based solely on the 3-way. When the single pole is on, that outlet is definitely on, but the other outlet may be on or off depending on the 3-way. I think this is what you described, which is different from how benaround described it.

I think what's needed here is a 4-way.

Connect one side of the 4-way to the outlets, top and bottom. On the other side, feed one from hot and the other from the load side of the single pole. Line side of the single pole is hot, of course.

In this setup the 4-way switches hot between top and bottom, and the load side of the single pole between bottom and top. When the single pole is ON, both outlets are hot, regardless of the position of the 4-way. When the single pole is OFF, one outlet, either top or bottom is hot while the other isn't. Great way to control switching between, say, night stand lights and dressing table lights.
 
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maybe leviton or mulberry should make a 2 gang finish plate that mounts with 4 screws to the box but has one device opening in the center. if this was a common problem maybe they would have made it already
 
I like the idea of the dummy receptacle...
One time I was working for a condo association and they would have these occasional budget cutback frenzies and they decided to eliminate the payphone in the beach club.
So the phone guy removed the phone. But this left an open low voltage box right there in the hallway by the bathrooms. I decided to fix this. Since, due to the budget cutbacks in this million dollar operation, we couldn't afford a blank cover plate, and, whereas, our shop had several spare recepticles and recept. cover plates, I added the combination.
The janitors got used to it not working for their vacuum cleaners and it looked swell.
Then one day they decided to move the cigarette machine across the hall. This would be an easy move for them since there was that receptacle right there. After we moved the heavy thing, it was plugged in...
~Peter
 
Have we considered just making a BIGGER hole in the wall and adding a 4" or 5" box and a single-gang ring?

Not as much fun as the smoke and mirrors...
 
celtic said:
Have we considered just making a BIGGER hole in the wall and adding a 4" or 5" box and a single-gang ring?

Not as much fun as the smoke and mirrors...
Click to expand...

I like the way you think, Home Depot,Lowes,corner hardware store- taping mud+a little skill + paint=Looks great.
 
celtic said:
Have we considered just making a BIGGER hole in the wall and adding a 4" or 5" box and a single-gang ring?
Click to expand...

It was considered back near the start of this thread, when Al mentioned that the wall had a hand-painted mural on it and a patch job just wouldn't do. :)
 
You can use a 2 gang and a leviton 2 gang combo device/blank plate.They make them for toggle switches, standard receptacles or decora style.No dummy switch or receptacle to confuse people needed.
 
Quoting myself (recapping the recap back a couple pages. . .)

I have to have a single bedroom lighting outlet switch in one gang of a 2 gang cover plate.

The second gang has no "required" purpose, . . . the space is there to do, or not do, something with.

The second gang can't be removed.

Adding wiring in the wall is impossible.

There is a neutral in the box.

How do I hide the second gang in plain sight?

So far we have:
  1. Blank plate
  2. Switch blank insert
  3. Night light device
  4. 3 way connected to first switch
  5. Dummy switch
  6. Working receptacle
  7. Motion sensor controlling novelty load in (another) room
  8. X-10 controller for any load
  9. Dummy receptacle
What other creative (fun? or not) possibilities exist, without changing the wiring inside the wall?
 
Okay, here, from Leviton:

Plates.jpg

 
Just head to the flea market and get an "artsy" oversized switch plate. Or maybe an escutcheon behind a regular plate. My wife got a hand painted 2 gang ceramic a while back and I wondered at the time if these things would be compliant...?
 
tomspark said:
Just head to the flea market and get an "artsy" oversized switch plate. Or maybe an escutcheon behind a regular plate. My wife got a hand painted 2 gang ceramic a while back and I wondered at the time if these things would be compliant...?
Click to expand...

Why wouldn`t the plate be compliant,because it was painted ????I`ve seen many plates painted and papered to match the surface they were on,never had an EI call them as a violation.I did have an EI violate a receptacle that had been painted to match saying that the paint had gotten into the receptacle interior and causes contamination when inside the receptacle.But never on the plate.
 
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