1903Collector
NES Member
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
Be sure to enter the NES/MFS May Giveaway ***Canik METE SFX***
Re work that. New 4 square deep box with proper connectors.
Yea, already on it. Had a drop ceiling in the basement and all the recessed fixtures were connected to the feed and just stuffed up in the void, no box. What other horrors await? Some real sloppy past work.
But...at least they taped everything!idk, looks like some unused real estate around the 7 o'clock area.
True but I still think that box is too small for that many wires, I don't know the device count for a box that size.There would be a lot more room in there if the romex insulation was peeled back and all the wires weren't going in the same hole.
No Romex connectors on the wires is automatic fail.All I wanted to do is swap some lights…….. I would say this box is stuffed beyond capacity plus, no NM clamp. What Say ye all? Fortunately there is enough slack in the cables so it can be re-worked into a bigger box.
View attachment 608756
Yes, "Romex connectors" is the common term used for the "clamp" in the business.The worst thing I see there is lack of a proper clamp on the cables that can chafe on the box where they enter. Someone else said Romex connectors, maybe they meant the same thing?
There are code tables indicating how many conductors of various sizes that can be put into a box of X cubic inches. Even if that box is not over filled per code I would use a bigger one just out of ease of working in it. Don't feel like looking up the table now.
That's the plan and I can eliminate one wire completely as they had two wires feeding the lights in that room. I'm real OCD with this kind of stuff, I'll trace all those wires and label them then put a label on the cover with the breaker number and what the stuff in the box feeds. They had UF cable feeding the lights which I thought was funny, nothing wrong with it I guess but whoever did this originally was scarping the bottom of the barrel for stock.If you reworked that properly into a 4” square deep, you can have 6 14/2s in a 4” deep, max capacity!! If it was me, I would have done it differently in the first place, but I’d go 4-11/16 deep box, so you have some space to spare! Get new wire nuts rated for the number of wires. Also, ground the box!
I was told years ago that the wire connectors count as well, is that not the case?View attachment 608800
This is out of Ugly’s, 2020 edition. In the OPs situation you must count each black wire, each white wire, but all those grounds only count once. I don’t write the code.
UF sucks to strip, wtf!That's the plan and I can eliminate one wire completely as they had two wires feeding the lights in that room. I'm real OCD with this kind of stuff, I'll trace all those wires and label them then put a label on the cover with the breaker number and what the stuff in the box feeds. They had UF cable feeding the lights which I thought was funny, nothing wrong with it I guess but whoever did this originally was scarping the bottom of the barrel for stock.
If you mean wire nuts, they do not count. Each conductor counts as one, all uninsulated grounds count as one, each romex connector or fitting counts as one, anything attached to the front of the box, (switch or outlet) counts as two.I was told years ago that the wire connectors count as well, is that not the case?
LOL yea I discovered that.UF sucks to strip, wtf!
counting of grounds changed in the 2020 NECIf you mean wire nuts, they do not count. Each conductor counts as one, all uninsulated grounds count as one, each romex connector or fitting counts as one, anything attached to the front of the box, (switch or outlet) counts as two.
That's interesting, to me a wire nut takes up more space than a romex connector.If you mean wire nuts, they do not count. Each conductor counts as one, all uninsulated grounds count as one, each romex connector or fitting counts as one, anything attached to the front of the box, (switch or outlet) counts as two.
devices, a switch or a receptacle, counts as the largest conductor entering the box. Cable clamps also count as one conductorThat's interesting, to me a wire nut takes up more space than a romex connector.
Stuff like this is in my comfort level but I also know when to leave something the f*** alone lol.We say,
Hire a licensed electrician.