What are Pop boxes actually called?

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KyleFowler said:
Wow I'm surprised at the number of people who have never seen one of these. I honestly thought outdoor panels had all those knockouts in the bottom of them so you could bring all your wires out of the outside wall of your house and into the bottom of the panel and cover them with a pop box if you wanted to. The pop box pictured in my earlier post is the most professional ones made. I've seen others that you can buy that are less than legit looking and I've seen homemade looking ones as well.....lol
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The problem is that NM can't be used in damp or wet locations. Coming out of the bottom KOs like that and into the house is a violation. That cover only covers something up that can't be done in the first place.

I've said here before how I believe outdoor panels except for disconnects should be illegal, this is beyond. Your inspectors aren't doing their job unless there is some TN amendment to the NEC that would allow NM in outdoor locations.

-Hal
 
hbiss said:
The problem is that NM can't be used in damp or wet locations. Coming out of the bottom KOs like that and into the house is a violation. That cover only covers something up that can't be done in the first place.


-Hal
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Totally agree. Never fly anyplace I have worked.

A listed enclosure/gutter/trough 3R/4X mounted directly to bottom of panel maybe. No nipples.
 
hbiss said:
...........I've said here before how I believe outdoor panels except for disconnects should be illegal, this is beyond......
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The inside of a 3R enclosure is not considered 'outside'. Only the interiors of raceways are.

If you feel otherwise, feel free to submit a proposal. Forms will be in the back of your current codebook.
 
jumper said:
Yep.

Could you please explain that to ActionDave and Al in Minnesota, please.:)
We had a bit of a disagreement on the subject.
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The interior of an outdoor raceway is "considered a wet location". That is just a rule because some folks got their undies all wadded up about people running romex outside in conduit.

A panel, jbox, or whatever, that is outside the building is outside. That is not hard to figure out.
 
hbiss said:
The problem is that NM can't be used in damp or wet locations. Coming out of the bottom KOs like that and into the house is a violation. That cover only covers something up that can't be done in the first place.
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But if the pop cover were made of wood and covered in siding it would be perfectly acceptable, no?

I've said here before how I believe outdoor panels except for disconnects should be illegal, this is beyond. Your inspectors aren't doing their job unless there is some TN amendment to the NEC that would allow NM in outdoor locations.

-Hal
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Any other purely personal ideas with overwhelming lack of evidence to support them you want to inflict on the whole country?
 
ActionDave said:
A panel, jbox, or whatever, that is outside the building is outside. That is not hard to figure out.
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Does that make the interior of a rated enclosure a wet location?

How is the interior of said enclosure outside? Exposed to weather and such as it were?

I have a half a pot of coffee left if you want to spend time on this juxtaposition?
 
jumper said:
Does that make the interior of a rated enclosure a wet location?

How is the interior of said enclosure outside? Exposed to weather and such as it were?

I have a half a pot of coffee left if you want to spend time on this juxtaposition?
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Just don't walk outside after drinking it because your insides will then be outside and that could get messy.
 
It hasn’t been all that long ago we could sleeve romex in an outside conduit for protection and the OPs item, whatever it is called, fills a need. It certainly looks better than some of the stuff I’ve seen ‘custom built’ for the same purpose. I wouldn’t try to get buy with it for new construction now, but sure would have in years past.
 
ptonsparky said:
It hasn’t been all that long ago we could sleeve romex in an outside conduit for protection and the OPs item, whatever it is called, fills a need. It certainly looks better than some of the stuff I’ve seen ‘custom built’ for the same purpose. I wouldn’t try to get buy with it for new construction now, but sure would have in years past.
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Heck yeah, for a resi remodel it is a rather good idea compared to many of the butcher jobs out there.

Just because it does not pass code does not make it a bad idea in a tight pinch. That romex is not gonna deteriorate or burst into flames by any means.
 
The inside of a 3R enclosure is not considered 'outside'. Only the interiors of raceways are.
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Well, let's see. The interior of a raceway run outside is considered a wet location. Therefore you cannot run NM through it because NM is not listed for a wet location.

The interior of a 3R enclosure installed outside is not considered a wet location. Breakers are not listed for wet locations.

So here's my problem. If a raceway which is sealed up pretty damn good is considered a wet location, how is it that a 3R enclosure is considered a dry location with all it's slots and openings, none of which are even gasketed. It's like Swiss cheese in a driving rain.

Either go to a NEMA 4 or, better yet put it inside. But the NEC, not being a design guide doesn't care if the breakers have to be replaced as long as their failure doesn't burn the house down.

Then again what happens if corrosion prevents them from tripping?

-Hal
 
hbiss said:
...So here's my problem. If a raceway which is sealed up pretty damn good is considered a wet location, how is it that a 3R enclosure is considered a dry location with all it's slots and openings, none of which are even gasketed. It's like Swiss cheese in a driving rain.

Either go to a NEMA 4 or, better yet put it inside. But the NEC, not being a design guide doesn't care if the breakers have to be replaced as long as their failure doesn't burn the house down.

Then again what happens if corrosion prevents them from tripping?

-Hal
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The inside of the raceway rule was added because the hand wringers got all worked up about people running NM in a conduit across their front porch, it had nothing to do with the condition of the conduit in the real world.

If there were breakers failing outdoors and houses burning we'd know about it.
 
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