Stacked Handholes vs single handhole

[majorminotaur]

Hi All,
We have a standard detail that calls for two stacked handholes, and I was wondering if anyone knew what the justification/advantage for this would be vs a single handhole that is the appropriate depth. It's a detail that I've never understood and one dragged forward from the era of 'we never spec #3 wire because supply houses to stock it' (they do). Wondering if this is another thing that just got dragged forward from the past where supply houses used to only stock certain handhole sizes but that isn't true with our (mostly) just-in-time delivery methods now.

Thanks all.

 

[tom baker]

I have installed many hand holes, the advantage of stacked is more room for wire loops and less chance of wires shorting to lid.
What is shown is a extension ring with handhole. I would add a bell end or bushing for conduits, and a foam plug in conduit ends…pool noodles work great
The quazite boxes are ok, but the lid lip breaks easily, and the holes for the cover screws fill with dirt, new models change that
Advantage of quazite is lighter, we went back to concrete boxes with metal lids, heavy but very robust.
I would keep the design as is….without the extension the ends of conduit are closer to the lid

 

[majorminotaur]

I have installed many hand holes, the advantage of stacked is more room for wire loops and less chance of wires shorting to lid.
What is shown is a extension ring with handhole. I would add a bell end or bushing for conduits, and a foam plug in conduit ends…pool noodles work great
The quazite boxes are ok, but the lid lip breaks easily, and the holes for the cover screws fill with dirt, new models change that
Advantage of quazite is lighter, we went back to concrete boxes with metal lids, heavy but very robust.
I would keep the design as is….without the extension the ends of conduit are closer to the lid

Hi Tom, thank you for your input. I totally understand needing more space for wire loops, but is there any advantage to using an extension ring + box compared to a single box of the same size? So in this example there is a 6" extension ring + 12" box; is this better than just using a single box with 18" depth? Is it easier to install in two pieces because its lighter?

 

[tom baker]

I have not installed the extension ring on Quazite. Yes the two would each have a lighter weight. The advantage of the lighter box is it goes in first and can be leveled and shifted around, and then the top box installed. With one box it may have to go in the hole and back out to get the base level. And maybe the two boxes are easier to handle than one large box
One deeper box has the advantage of less inventory, shipping could be less for 1 than 2.
What I find with specs is some one makes a change based on a better way, and the reason why may be lost. Or you had a good salesperson.