Is it really that much harder to do it right?

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220/221

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I stumbled onto this mess while doing anther task. Don't even ask me what I was doing, at 57 years old, in a blown in fiberglass insulated attic.:mad:

Would it have been any more difficult for them to use a jbox?

One wire nut had actually fallen off. Nice job.

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The steel cable is a guy wire that was supposed to be holding a TV antenna upright. Who puts guy wires on a 30" tall antenna in the attic??

Sometimes I want to look the other way but I had decent access so I fixed it and made an extra 90 bucks for lunch money :cool:

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No, I didn't staple the cables. No, I didn't calculate box fill (five 14-2's). I did nail the box to the framing....just for you guys :grin:
 
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Why didn't you just use a 4" square, take out one KO, stick in a snap in bushing, stuff all the cables into it, and call it a day? I'm disappointed.
 
I don't use 4s metal boxes with NM. That would be dumb.:roll:

The 1G nail on is my most available and least expensive option.
 
Most resi guys don't carry 4 squares on their trucks!;) Attics are so dangerous to crawl around in, I've seen my share of live, uncapped wires sticking up. I was cleaning up some wiring in the boss's son's house, and found the furnace was not grounded. The ground wire was there, but they neglected to connect it. Properly connected it, then about 5 minutes later, I started smelling smoke. Looked around, and saw smoke coming out of a flexible foil return duct. Yanked the duct out and threw it down the attic access hole. Then I seen what caused it to catch on fire. An old uncovered j-box had an uncapped hot wire sticking straight up with the duct laying on top of it! When I grounded the furnace, the duct attached to it was grounded also.
 
I carry both deep as well as regular depth 4" sq. on my truck but I prefer to use a 2 gang nail on box with 2 gang blank covers-- I stock both.
 
Did you remark that white wire that's tied in with the blacks?
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Only because I happened to have a roll of tape in my pocket. :cool:




had you going for a minute there
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Heh heh...not a minute....as soon as I scrolled into the blank space I knew something was coming.:grin:


How would that be dumb?
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You create a more vulnerable situation when you enter a metal box with a non metallic cable. In some cases you are clamping metal around the NM. Seems dumb when the option of a non conductive box exists.

If there happens to be any kind of unseen knick or slice in the insulation, I want it in a non conductive box.



Most resi guys don't carry 4 squares on their trucks!.........
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You must have not seen my trucks :cool:
 
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220/221 said:
.........You create a more vulnerable situation when you enter a metal box with a non metallic cable. In some cases you are clamping metal around the NM. Seems dumb when the option of a non conductive box exists.

If there happens to be any kind of unseen knick or slice in the insulation, I want it in a non conductive box.
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So.......... who sells panelboards made of plastic?
 
220/221 said:
You create a more vulnerable situation when you enter a metal box with a non metallic cable. In some cases you are clamping metal around the NM. Seems dumb when the option of a non conductive box exists.

If there happens to be any kind of unseen knick or slice in the insulation, I want it in a non conductive box.
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I agree that plastic is better and should be used. But I prefer metal boxes on occasion because many of the plastic boxes lack the cubic inch capacity, especially when dealing with multiple cables like in your scenario.

This will really shock all of you "give me EMT or give me death" guys, but we have at least a gazillion commercial buildings in New England wired with romex and metal boxes. Drop the nukes!!
 
peter d said:
This will really shock all of you "give me EMT or give me death" guys, but we have at least a gazillion commercial buildings in New England wired with romex and metal boxes. Drop the nukes!!
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No need for Nukes, they'll all burn to the ground anyway. ;)
 
Does the NM really care?
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The NM prefers plastic.

I know things :cool:

The 1G boxes we use are 20.3 cu in. They seem pretty big/deep.

* technically it says 10, #14's....I just looked at one.
 
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