[Linked Image]


I post this pic here, not because of the violations ... but because of some other issues, that might very well make complying with the code an impossibility.

This little gem controls the yard irrigation. I can imagine how the receptacle came to be mounted where it is ... opposite a receptacle inside the house. Placing it on the drive, up high like this, also ensures that it doesn't get hosed by the sprinklers. Some good points there.

Yet ... let's imagine that one were to make this receptacle code compliant. First off, the mandatory 'bubble' cover will stick out of the wall much further ... presenting additional hazards.
Nor will you find a cover with enough room to accept the 'wall wart' transformer.

While I did not examine this controller for a UL listing, I would not be surprised if it were UL listed. It would also likely pass the NEMA 'rain test.' Perhaps an oversight on UL's part, but there is no UL requirement that the transformer fit in a bubble cover ... or that bubble covers be large enough to accept them!
Nor do any of the codes, or standards, address the additional trim / impact hazard presented by large bubble covers.

The house is also wired in knob & tube ... which brings up two additional details.
First of all, despite the three prong receptacle, there is no ground. Put in a GFI? Sure, except for one thing ....
The older boxes, with their smaller dimensions, do not have room for a GFCI. You can -maybe- force one into the box, but the depth is limited ... and filled with soldered splices.

Tear it down? Rewire? Sure, the homeowner would agree to that ... just remember - that's asbestos cement siding you're looking at.

It seems that sometimes you just can't win!