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joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako

Premium Member

3 or 4 gang electrical box.

Where can I buy a 3 or 4 gang metal eletrical box? I went to Home Toped and they only have 1 or 2 gang boxes. They have 3 or 4 gang but they are plastic and only have outlets for romex, I need to mount it exposed with condiut.

I am finding some online, but the prices seem absurd, e.g.: »www.toolking.com/raco-68 ··· ang-each
kherr
Premium Member
join:2000-09-04
Collinsville, IL

kherr

Premium Member

The metal ones I have used in the past, the sides come off and you can put together how many you want to. Once I made a 12 gang box.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6 to joako

Premium Member

to joako
Like kherr See Profile said...use these:

»www.amazon.com/RACO-689- ··· 078S72D0

You should be able to find them at your local big box store.

mattmag

join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois

mattmag to joako

to joako


Any genuine electrical supply house will have them by the case if you wanted that many. Lowe's Depot and such only have the faster-moving stuff more likely to be used DIY.

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako to John Galt6

Premium Member

to John Galt6
said by John Galt6:

Like kherr See Profile said...use these:

»www.amazon.com/RACO-689- ··· 078S72D0

You should be able to find them at your local big box store.

Can you use those with only 2 screws? Or does each box need to be screwed to the wall?

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya to joako

MVM

to joako
You say surface mount? Why not just put two 1900 boxes next to each other with a close nipple? Total cost: $2.00

The gangable masonry boxes will work, but they aren't really meant to be surface mounted. They are meant to be flush mounted in - masonry.

You can get a 4 gang surface box which is essentially 2 1900 boxes, but expect to pay out the wazoo.

John Galt6
Forward, March
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp

John Galt6

Premium Member

said by nunya:

You say surface mount? Why not just put two 1900 boxes next to each other with a close nipple? Total cost: $2.00

I didn't notice the surface mount requirement...

But yeah, what nunya See Profile said...two 4square boxes with a close nipple between them and raised industrial covers would look fine.

»tinyurl.com/ctrcvwe

Much cleaner than the other solution offered.

jack b
Gone Fishing
MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod

1 recommendation

jack b

MVM

A box spacer nipple is the proper way to go.

»goo.gl/CsVRb

ArgMeMatey
join:2001-08-09
Milwaukee, WI

ArgMeMatey to joako

Member

to joako
If you're doing metal special order stuff, yeah, you're going to pay.

Raco 697 (3) or 698 (4)
»www.hubbellcatalog.com/r ··· p?PN=698

Wiremold V5744-3 (3-gang only, I believe, and you would need a 700 KO to round conduit adapter)
»www.legrand.us/wiremold/ ··· nder=pdf

cybersaga
join:2011-12-19
Selby, ON

cybersaga to joako

Member

to joako
said by joako:

said by John Galt6:

Like kherr See Profile said...use these:

»www.amazon.com/RACO-689- ··· 078S72D0

You should be able to find them at your local big box store.

Can you use those with only 2 screws? Or does each box need to be screwed to the wall?

You can use only two screws to mount the one side to the stud. Though if you're going 4-gang, you may want to add some more support, though it might not be necessary. Easiest way is a 2x4 cross piece under it, attached to the studs on either side.

You can buy those at any decent hardware store. They're called "gangable" boxes and are only slightly more expensive than the non-gangable. You'll see the screws on the top and bottom of each side. You take those out, put two boxes together, and put those screws back. The screws hold them together. Repeat until you've put together as many as you need.

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako

Premium Member

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So how bad did I do? I did not use the nipple because I wasn't sure how it could attach properly. It seems more designed for those outdoor boxes with threads.

I used Romex cable I had, but I removed the outer insulation. How many code violations is that?

Finally, I don't understand why this is but the last 2 photos are right before I wired everything to the existing outlet. The circuit breaker is turned off and this single outlet was the only thing on it. But the multimeter reads 7 volts and the AC voltage detector detects voltage.

sk1939
Premium Member
join:2010-10-23
Frederick, MD
ARRIS SB8200
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
Juniper SRX320

sk1939

Premium Member

It just means that there is current on the neutral/ground conductor. Why I'll let someone else explain.

As far as the nipple goes, if it's the one pictured it's the correct one. The boxes are crooked because you didn't mount them level (side effect of one screw and slightly bent conduit), as a result they don't look quite even.

jack b
Gone Fishing
MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod

jack b to joako

MVM

to joako
Does the conduit run continuously all the way back to the panel, or is it just a riser on the wall?

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako

Premium Member

No it doesn't go direct to the panel. The neutral is probably shared with another circuit.

jack b
Gone Fishing
MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod

jack b

MVM

Then the ground is useless as tits on a bull.

ropeguru
Premium Member
join:2001-01-25
Mechanicsville, VA

ropeguru

Premium Member

Which brings up another question, if the conduit does not go back to the panel, and he has THHN running through the conduit, what kind of wire does he have going back to the panel?

Is there a junction box at the top of the conduit that ties the THHN to romex that goes back to the panel? If so, then the ground the way he has it might be ok. I would hope that he does not have the THHN going back to the panel with no conduit.

alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC

alkizmo to jack b

Member

to jack b
said by jack b:

Then the ground is useless as tits on a bull.

While I've read people say this kind of conduit isn't good enough for using as grounding conductor, it might run to another junction box with romex feeding it and grounding it.

He can test if the ground works by using the multimeter connected to the hot and ground.

nunya
LXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO
·Charter

nunya

MVM

EMT is a fine ground and perfectly acceptable. Some people pull an extra ground as a "backup". It's not required.
I've seen plenty of EMT runs "broken" either by abuse or expansion. When the EMT is broken, no ground.
It's really a judgement call. There are situations where I never bother with a ground wire in metallic conduit.

I was looking at the pictures that the OP posted. I don't care for the wiring job. There shouldn't be 2 ground wires under one screw. I also don't like using devices as "pass through", especially cheapo resi receptacles like the blue one.
I probably would have nutted everything up.

jack b
Gone Fishing
MVM
join:2000-09-08
Cape Cod

jack b to alkizmo

MVM

to alkizmo
I've used conduit as a ground, but I would be concerned with this outlet here, that there is no other ground tie, especially without seeing the rest of the wiring and how it's connected.