I recently replaced a 3 wire 30A dryer surface outlet (connected to 8-3 Alum, ugh!) with a 4 wire 30A outlet. I roughed in a 4" sq box and 1 gang plaster ring. The drywall was hung, taped and painted. I then tried to insert the outlet and found that it was slightly wider than the 1 gang opening. Is this common?

I had to adjust the width of the opening with linemans pliers and now the drywall needs some work.

Thanks

Next time install a 2-gang mud ring. 4 mounting holes on the receptacle will line up with the 4 holes.

jfw11,

Did that cable have a ground? (4 wires)

Bill

The old alum cable was 3 wire Red/Black/White in a nearly round sheath. The sheath had a bump (a half circle much smaller than the main circle) as seen in cross section.
I assume that meant something (like this is alum) because it appeared to have no functional purpose.

The new cable is NM-B 10-3 W/G. This my son's fixer-upper and I feel better with no alum wire in the place. Even the 200A service is copper in conduit/steam pipe.

thanks

You lost me somewhere on the description of that cable but I'm glad to hear it was replaced.

On the Service I'm assuming you mean Galvanized Rigid Conduit (not 'steam pipe')


Bill

[This message has been edited by Bill Addiss (edited 08-13-2003).]

Not to be toooo nit-picky, but the rings you describe are called switch rings.
Plaster rings are of the round (3-0) variety...S

I'm a humble software engineer so I might not have all the lingo, but...

Most catalogs seem to call them plaster rings, goggle finds lots of plaster ring references, but no switch ring references that refer to the box accessory (in the first 50 or so responses), and the term switch ring does not appear the NEC2005 draft, while plaster ring does in several places.

Thanks for the advice about 2-gang *** rings, that makes a lot of sense both from the outlet size and hand space.

thanks.

JFW11
not trying to defend anyone , different areas have terms and i have been surprised what some call things. as far as switch NEVER have heard of this ,there is a tile and a plaster ring these get mixed up BUT would not even known why it could or would be called this ? some read the profile instead of the question. GEO

We also call them plaster rings, but I believe the term manufacturers use is, 1/2 two gang raised roughing cover, and whatever size the ring may be (3/4, 5/8, etc...). There is not too much plastering going on anymore, except maybe at the ginmill.

Pierre

We put in a 2-gang box as well and buy the 4x4 cover with proper hole size it covers all fits flush just like a reular receptical cover....Did I miss something here.

I put in two outlets:
50A 4 wire in kitchen
30A 4 wire in laundry

in both cases I put a 4 inch square box and a 1 gang plaster/switch ring on the box.

The 50A outlet fit into the 1 gang ring
The 30A outlet did not fit into the 1 gang ring without widening the ring.

I'm often not clear, hope this explains it

Thanks,

jfw11:

I'm not sure if this is exactly what is meant here*, but relative to 4" square boxes with a metal plate on the front, the number of wires supposedly makes no difference with regard to the size of the opening. Here's what Steel City lists in their literature:



However, I had the same thing happen--the old plate was not compatible with the 4-wire receptacle on a 30AMP dryer circuit. Wheeeee!
__________
*I am not an electrician, so as to the "plaster rings", "switch rings", etc., I don't know if I'm thinking of the same thing that is mentioned in the posts above. I thought a "surface outlet" was this:


jfw11: It's not that you are not clear, it's that there are so many names for things, between "generic" names and trade names that are picked up.

[This message has been edited by ThinkGood (edited 08-14-2003).]

I guess I stand corrected..kinda.
Appleton and T&B call them "device covers"
Bowers calls them "switch rings".
Hubbell/Raco calls them "mud rings"
(I guess they're all plaster rings).

[This message has been edited by electure (edited 08-17-2003).]

Thinkgood both items you show are good for surface installations.

For recessed or flush installations

30 amp we use a 4"sq Deep box with a two gang "plaster ring" that makes a 4" sq box have the front dimensions of a two gang box but leaves more volume for conductors in the rear.

50 amp we use a 4 11/16" sq Deep box with a two gang "plaster ring" that makes a 4 11/16" sq box have the front dimensions of a two gang box but leaves even more volume for the larger 50 amp conductors in the rear.

This may seem like overkill but when putting in the devices it goes much quicker and there is no question of having the required conductor space.

Do not forget that 300.14 requires 6" free conductor and on a box of this size 3" outside the box, using 6 AWG on the 50 amp outlet makes getting this much conductor in the box a bit tough.

99% of our work is commercial, the only boxes we use are 4" deep and 4 11/16" deep boxes.

To that we add plaster rings single, double, round etc.

The boxes have no mounting bracket we use Caddy H-23s

The one on the right is as close as I could find to how we do it, plaster ring / Caddy bracket / 4" sq box

Caddy

Bob


[This message has been edited by iwire (edited 08-16-2003).]

iwire:

That Caddy looks neat. Figures it's made by ERICO. They also make CADWELD. I've never actually used one, but "Can carry more current than the conductor" sounds pretty strong to me!