wire nuts in j-box

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dibloafer

dibloafer

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Flagler Beach, FL
I was told a while back (before I started in the apprenticeship program), that when making joints in a wall mounted j-box, the wire nuts must be positioned so that no water could collect in the wire nut should there be a leak in the roof, etc... I was also told that this was in the code. Altough I feel that this is good practice, and always make my joints so that the wire nuts are facing up, I cannot find in the code book where this is mentioned. 110.14(B), and 300.4 are where I would think this info would be, but no luck. any comments or ideas?
 
Not an NEC issue.

dibloafer said:
I was told a while back .......... I cannot find in the code book where this is mentioned...........
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Charlies Rule:

It doesn’t say what you think it says, nor what you remember it to have said, nor what you were told that it says, and certainly not what you want it to say. And if by chance you are its author, it doesn’t say what you intended it to say. Then what does it say? It says what it says. So if you want to know what it says, stop trying to remember what it says, and don’t ask anyone else. Go back and read it, and pay attention as though you were reading it for the first time.
 
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While not a code issue, I have always been in the habit of doing this on outdoor work just as a matter of good practice. I'm sure we've all seen the rusted out wire nut spring in a Bell box.
 
I also have done this for years, just don't over strip the wires and have any showing outside of the nut skirt.

Ever turn a glass upside down in a sink of water, notice no water can get in, a little neat trick in keeping a connection dry.
 
Has anyone ever heard of "Scotch Guard" for exterior boxes ? If you have a leaking roof, you have bigger problems to worry about then "what direction my wire nuts are facing". Thats right up there with,"You can't run wire inside the wall of a shower, because there is water" the water is not in the walls and if it is the walls are going to fall apart, not the wire nuts.
 
Honestly I think facing the wirenuts up is silly because, If the J box has standing water in it (like happens in bell boxes), the water is going to condence inside the wire nut and not just run off it like an umbrella.
About 17 years ago I had to inspect the entire electrical system of an apartment house that had the roof cave in during heavy rain. The water got into boxes in the ceiling, it ran through the emt like a drain pipe and was coming out of the switch and outlet boxes, the ceiling lights were full of water. Although the several devices were damaged it had no long term effect on any of the wire nut connections. The water ran straight past them and drained out of the boxes in the wall and out of the face plates. That was thousands of gallons of water and now I would be more worried about mold then the wire nuts.
 
I think it is good practice because of the possibility of incidental contact with water- not necessarily the full imersion of an elecetrical system for a prolonged amount of time. In my opinion, water will remain pooled up in a wire nut while the rest of the splash has dripped dry. I didn't think it was a longshot that the nec would mention this, but whatever, I'm still going to do it. It looks nice, too :cool:
 
dibloafer said:
I think it is good practice because of the possibility of incidental contact with water- not necessarily the full imersion of an elecetrical system for a prolonged amount of time. In my opinion, water will remain pooled up in a wire nut while the rest of the splash has dripped dry. I didn't think it was a longshot that the nec would mention this, but whatever, I'm still going to do it. It looks nice, too :cool:
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Thats enough reason to do it right there. Heck I make sure all the cover plate screws have the slot going up and down, just one of those things, and water doesn't pool up in the groove that way either. :angel:
 
ptonsparky said:
They have a lower operating temp as well. I never have replaced a melted or overheated one. Must be the ventilation.
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Heat rises, if you put a regular wire nut upside down it would run cooler too, plus the water in it will help it stay cool. :cool:
 
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