Why does nobody talk about orange wire nuts on 12-gauge in a deep box?

Every time I open a j-box on a remodel, someone has crammed 4 orange wire nuts full of 12-gauge into a shallow pancake box even though the code says you need 22 cubic inches. It took me getting stuck on a knob-and-tube swap in a 1920s bungalow to realize half my callbacks were just from overheating joints that barely fit. Have you ever found a box that made you wonder if the last guy even owned a tape measure?

2 comments

2 Comments

umac713h agoMost Upvoted

My father in law had a stack of those orange nuts he'd been hoarding since the 80s, swore they were fine for 12-gauge because "that's what they handed out back then." Found a box under a sink last month where he'd wired a disposal and a dishwasher through a single 4-inch square with a mud ring. The thing was so packed I could barely jam the cover on, and the neutral bundle had that faint burning smell like old hair dryer. Sometimes I wonder if the supply houses just sell those things to troll us.

dakota_taylor3959m ago

You ever had a buddy tell you about a job that made you just shake your head? My friend Steve found a j-box in an attic that had six orange nuts all stuffed in there with 12-gauge wire. He said the box was one of those old metal octagons with a mud ring, probably from the 50s. The whole thing was so tight the wires were bent at sharp angles and the insulation was split in a couple spots. He had to rip the whole thing out and redo it with a deep 4-square because there was no way that was passing inspection. The old guy who did it must have thought wire nuts were just for decoration.