Many Red-Dot boxes are now coming with a small pouch of sealant in the bag for use with the port plugs shipped with the box.
Well thats because they need every bit of that. First any bell box is not what id call water resistance its some what kinda internal condensation from conduits that wet the insides in addition to the weather over the years .
Most come with your cheapest gasket that last one year if your lucky its not a good gasket to start with let me ask who do you work for and are you a electrician LJSmith just wondering.
If you look at most bell boxes the two screws and that cover is not weather resistance to rain as advertised .
So if one drills a hole it helps with the factory defect of manufacture.
And may last one more year or two before it falls apart .
We install rigid 90 elblows with weep ports in conduit runs down here in florida as spec on most of our projects to help with water build up inside underground duct banks to let the water out .
Heres what i suggest build a weather proof or rain tight box with more than two screws and put a gasket on it thats a real gasket and teflon coat your threaded slugs and ill buy it .
Condensation and rainwater are two different things - only in quantity. :roll: While there is not much that can be done about limited condensation inside a closed raceway system, there is much that can be done to prevent rainwater from entering a raceway or enclosure. Significant amounts of condensation may take years to generate, but that is only due to continual air movement within the raceway. Without moisture-laden air moving into a conduit box or enclosure, there will not be any condensation occurring with temperature drops. However, significant amounts of rainwater can enter with only one rainstorm if a box or conduit body is not sealed properly.
If you are installing standard, epoxy-coated aluminum FS boxes or conduit bodies in a marine environment, you should probably go with PVC or Stainless Steel versions instead. Most aluminum conduit bodies or boxes will last a long time in most environments if the epoxy coating is not removed or if they are in constant contact with water.
The gasket supplied with the standard FS box is typically closed cell foam - not rubber. It works for most installs if carefully handled and applied. Are they a bit 'fragile'? Yes. Would it be better if the FS plugs came with sealant already applied. Sure.
Many manufacturer's are continually looking to cut the costs because the bean counters at the supply shops freak out when the costs don't go down every year...:roll: What the end installer gets the bare minimum in product that just meets the UL requirement (in a lab).
