recessed cans

[mjf]

Troubleshooting a 6" recessed can in a soffit at a bank yesterday. Found a loose connection in the JB. As I'm working on it I'm thinking, "this JB is very difficult to access".

I'm not a real large guy and I have trouble getting my hand or hands up in there to work on it. 4" cans are near impossible.

I'm a one man show, so, I can't pick the "guy with the smallest hands" (although, I guess that would be me!!) to send out on the service call.

Just seems like a bad idea to make connections one handed and "by feel".

How the hell do you guys with "basketball player hands" deal with stuff like this?

 

[mkgrady]

I just use two hands and do it by feel. I can't actually see what my hands are doing.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Troubleshooting a 6" recessed can in a soffit at a bank yesterday. Found a loose connection in the JB. As I'm working on it I'm thinking, "this JB is very difficult to access".

I'm not a real large guy and I have trouble getting my hand or hands up in there to work on it. 4" cans are near impossible.

I'm a one man show, so, I can't pick the "guy with the smallest hands" (although, I guess that would be me!!) to send out on the service call.

Just seems like a bad idea to make connections one handed and "by feel".

How the hell do you guys with "basketball player hands" deal with stuff like this?

i've got sixteen 4" low voltage lights i'm converting to LED's, so i get to gut and rewire them,
and they are IC type airtight units. about a foot square.

i'll let you know how it goes. i suspect it'll suck.

first thing is some cheap contact paper in 2' squares, the minimally sticky stuff.
paste it on the ceiling over the light hole, cut it out, and you won't end up with
hand prints all over the ceiling.

second thing is to make sure no hot wires are in the box... no feed thru hots.

what i'll probably end up doing is opening the inside cover, gutting it, and just
attaching my LED pigtail to the wiring there. as there is no heat present to speak
of from the LED driver, i may just bring the wires directly out and plug them in,
i haven't cracked one open yet to see..... lights are gonna show up in mid january,
they are back ordered on trims... these are nice architectural quality LED's, and
have a bayonet mount that allows the same LED driver to fit 4,5, and 6 inch trims,
so your light output is identical across all devices. 16 of them are $1,900 wholesale.
1,100 lumens each, your choice of color temps. full range dimmable.

honestly, it's tedious work, so rather than dive into it off a stepladder, i'm gonna
split my little giant ladder into two horses, and use my spiffy expando plank between
them, so i've got a nice place to sit, and a shelf to put stuff on... it'll span furniture,
and i can do two or three from one positioning.

if you drink, put a cupholder on it for a beer. this may take a while. you might as well
settle in and get comfy.

oh, and wago's. when i have snarky wires in sucky places, wago makes a lever action
wirenut that is the only thing worth playing with. you can slide them over the wire,
snap the lever, and they do NOT come loose.

http://www.wago.us/products/2631.htm

(these are the secret weapon)

they are also part of an integrated system, that works nicely in panelboards
and control applications.

http://www.wago.us/downloads/51011212.pdf

 

[andyselec@aol.com]

I have xxl hands and yes it is a bitch to work on new work cans after the ceiling is up . Just one hand it , time consuming and a lot of cuts on the hand I'm alwas leaving my dna on the job

 

[guschash]

I alway leave as much wire as possible in the Jb. My last job I installed 50 can lights in a basement, HO want it bright. Well wouldn't you know it some didn't work. I was able to remove can and push it back out of the way and get to box. Then I just pulled wires down below ceiling, can wires were long enough too, worked fine.

 

[mjf]

I alway leave as much wire as possible in the Jb. My last job I installed 50 can lights in a basement, HO want it bright. Well wouldn't you know it some didn't work. I was able to remove can and push it back out of the way and get to box. Then I just pulled wires down below ceiling, can wires were long enough too, worked fine.

Extra-long wires in the JB sounds great. Sounds like a plan. I wish I was servicing the units you installed. I usually find the code minimum length or less as the norm in the buildings I service.

 

[George Stolz]

That is really hard to do with 12, but you can pack a mile of 14 in a can jb. Also, if a ballast is on the backside of the jb, then making the splices through the hole is usually impossible.

Sometimes I can get one hand in and a finger or two. I hate making splices one-handed by feel, because there is a tiny wire connected to big ones that tends to fall out of the wire nut during the process. It bothers the conscience a lot not being able to use two hands and see what I'm doing.

There's no trick I know of.

 

[readydave8]

I alway leave as much wire as possible in the Jb. My last job I installed 50 can lights in a basement, HO want it bright. Well wouldn't you know it some didn't work. I was able to remove can and push it back out of the way and get to box. Then I just pulled wires down below ceiling, can wires were long enough too, worked fine.

I'm curious as to what you found was wrong with the ones that didn't work?

 

[guschash]

Well one wasn't even done, hard to get good help now days, oh wait minute I work by self other one ground and neutral were wired up the hot wasn't.

 

[mjf]

http://www.wago.us/products/2631.htm

(these are the secret weapon)

they are also part of an integrated system, that works nicely in panelboards
and control applications.

http://www.wago.us/downloads/51011212.pdf[/QUOTE]

Looks like a decent product.

 

[kwired]

I usually try to consider location of the j-box in relation to how I may have to access it later on. In places like over a kitchen counter, I try to put the j box toward the wall if possible - so it will be easier to access through a finished ceiling someday. Leaving conductors as long as reasonably possible does help also.

 

[sethas]

This made me laugh, at myself. I a smaller guy, at 5' nothin and 100 and nothin, I always got stuck in the attics and crawl spaces! So now as the owner of a small business, guess what I did?

I got myself an electrician well over 6' tall, and well over 200lbs. Damn, I'm still stuck in the attic and crawl spaces. That reminds me, I need to look for a very small apprentice!

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I alway leave as much wire as possible in the Jb. My last job I installed 50 can lights in a basement, HO want it bright. Well wouldn't you know it some didn't work. I was able to remove can and push it back out of the way and get to box. Then I just pulled wires down below ceiling, can wires were long enough too, worked fine.

That is what I do the problem is when someone else already did it and there is six inches or less in the JB.