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Something silly in the ceiling (electrical box)

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Something silly in the ceiling (electrical box) Ben 03-23-2007
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Posted by Ben on March 23, 2007, 11:24 am


Hello, all. Well me and the Mrs. are officially moved into the new
home. The projects have begun.
It seems to me that there was a shoddy electrician the previous owners
brought in to fix up electrical issues in the house. Actually, calling
him an electrician would be kind.

So last night I went to replace the hall fixture. Once I took the old
one down I found that there was not a typical octagonal ceiling box.
Rather it was a "two switch" junction box. It was a square. He had
inserted an old bent out of shape hickey through the middle of the box
for hanging a fixture and then simply screwed two drywall screws into
a joist through the side of the box.
This didn't look right to me. Aside from the fact that no fixture
mounting strap will attach to the box because it is the wrong form
factor, it also didn't seem safe. So I immediately tore the box out
and replaced it with an octagonal box I found in my parts box which
has a length of steel riveted to the side of the box. I drove two
drywall screws and two wood screws through the mounting holes on the
steel strap.

Here are my questions. 1) Did I need to replace the original box? The
location of the screw holes were so near the open side of the box that
it seemed to me torque force from a chandelier could have pulled it
down. Although it wasn't really moving around. 2) Did I use the
correct part to replace it? I know I have seen boxes such as these
with the strap used in a vertical mounting situation. Now that it's
mounted in the ceiling the box has a little bit of give, should I be
concerned?

That is all for now.
Thanks!!!
-ben


AppliancePartsPros.com, Inc.
Posted by RBM on March 23, 2007, 3:49 pm


The box that you removed was a 4 inch square, surface mounted box, sometimes
called a 1900 box. It was improperly mounted through the two holes near the
from edge of the box. You could have used any number of boxes including a
bang on model of that same box. You would install a reducing cover to reduce
the opening of the box to three inch round. The bang on four inch round box
you installed is fine if the fixture isn't to heavy. For a heavier fixture
or fan you can get a variety of fan support boxes




> Hello, all. Well me and the Mrs. are officially moved into the new
> home. The projects have begun.
> It seems to me that there was a shoddy electrician the previous owners
> brought in to fix up electrical issues in the house. Actually, calling
> him an electrician would be kind.
>
> So last night I went to replace the hall fixture. Once I took the old
> one down I found that there was not a typical octagonal ceiling box.
> Rather it was a "two switch" junction box. It was a square. He had
> inserted an old bent out of shape hickey through the middle of the box
> for hanging a fixture and then simply screwed two drywall screws into
> a joist through the side of the box.
> This didn't look right to me. Aside from the fact that no fixture
> mounting strap will attach to the box because it is the wrong form
> factor, it also didn't seem safe. So I immediately tore the box out
> and replaced it with an octagonal box I found in my parts box which
> has a length of steel riveted to the side of the box. I drove two
> drywall screws and two wood screws through the mounting holes on the
> steel strap.
>
> Here are my questions. 1) Did I need to replace the original box? The
> location of the screw holes were so near the open side of the box that
> it seemed to me torque force from a chandelier could have pulled it
> down. Although it wasn't really moving around. 2) Did I use the
> correct part to replace it? I know I have seen boxes such as these
> with the strap used in a vertical mounting situation. Now that it's
> mounted in the ceiling the box has a little bit of give, should I be
> concerned?
>
> That is all for now.
> Thanks!!!
> -ben
>



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