Box Fill Calculation

I'm in the process of planning to wire up two spot lights on the face of my deck as well as running an outlet (which will also be under the deck) for a LV transformer to plug in to. I will need a few junction boxes to achieve this, as well as electrical boxes for the two spot lights. I'm planning on running 12AWG THWN through some sort of conduit run along the joists to the various lighting locations and junction boxes. This will be between 3' to 8' above the surface of the ground and under roof for the most part (we built a roof over the majority of the deck as well).



So, do you recommend PVC and plastic boxes or EMC and the appropriate boxes?
      

I just ordered some Arlington Siding Mount Kits with built in electrical boxes to install some lights on the outside of my garage. 



So, the issue is, the mount kits' built in electrical boxes are only 6.8 cu each and I'm wiring the lights up with two 3-way switches.  The source is at the first switch, then on to the two lights and then to the second switch.  There is not enough room to do the splices and connection in the built in boxes (I'm using 12awg, but even if used 14 still not enough room), so my plan was to wire everything to a central junction box inside the garage between the two lights and make the appropriate connections there. 



I'm attaching my rough sketch of the planned connections (omitting ground wires).  Can you guys please confirm this is correct?    Thanks for the help!



To clarify the drawing, blue is white (neutral) and the blue with black tape coming off second switch is marked as hot.  (I'll also mark it as hot in the J-box).  Yellow Triangles are wire-nuts.
      

Hello All



So I have a beginners question.  I am remodeling my basement.  The existing electrical is fine, but all of the boxes were hung from the old wood paneling (not mounted to the studs) using some sort of hooks/pins.  I had a friends dad (who is a master plumber) come in, and he said those pins are fine for occasional use, but should not have been used everywhere.



Should I mount the boxes to the studs?  If so, should  the boxes be flush with the studs, or should they be 5/8 extended out, so they will be flush with the Sheetrock?



My gut says 5/8 out, but watching youtube clips I only hear flush with the studs.  Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.



Thanks.



-K
      

I can't seem to figure out what I need to get my exterior light fixtures up.  I have vinyl siding and the framing is exposed on the inside of the garage.  If I use  a J-block, should it have the built in box or can I use a plain face j-block with a round ceiling fixture box to mount the fixture to???
      

This is kind of a complicated question, but I  think I have figured out how to do it right.  I wanted to run it by some folks here before going to the city code enforcer.  See the attached diagrams for details.



I  am planning a fairly elaborate lighting scheme for my home theater  area, mostly because I plan for the theater automation to be a hobby for  me. (I'm an electrical engineer)

 

I want to have banks of lights that I could later choose to group  differently onto dimmer switches.  For example, I have six can lights.   Some people I have talked to think I should dim the front four together  and back two separately.  Some think I should dim the front two together  and back four separately.  Some say I should dim them all together. 



So I decided I'd run each group of two cans to a junction box, run  the switches to a junction box, and then wire the switches to the lights  in the junction box - then I could later change it if I decided it should work  differently.  In addition, this would keep the junction boxes the  dimmers were in free from extra wires, since I plan to buy nice dimmers  that are fairly deep and would take more space in the switch boxes.  And  if I find that using switches differently would make it more intuitive,  I can change which switch controls which lights easily after the fact.   This would also allow me later to possibly control the lights with an  automated system.

 

There are some track lights and rope lights, as well as a couple  receptacles that would all come back to the junction box where they'd be  connected to the switches/dimmers.



I am bringing in power from  two circuits to balance the lighting.  I plan to put some of the lights  on one circuit and some on the other.  The second circuit has some other  stuff on it already, so it has less load left over, so most stuff will  go on the first circuit.

 

Also to save on wiring and make running wire easier, I was planning  to use 14/3 wiring where possible.  Any given 14/3 wire would  always be connected to only one of the circuits (no shared neutrals).



The attached files show my exact plan for each circuit. Note they both  share the junction box in the upper right corner of the pictures, they  also share the switch banks.  This allows me to decide which switches  control which lights, as well as decide which lights will be powered on  which circuit to balance them properly.  Note that the track lights are  each 2 circuit track, that's why I'm running 14/3 to each.

   

See the attached files for circuit #1 and circuit #2



I am running 14/3 NM to the switches.  I was planning to have two  switches share one 14/3 cable.  I am also running 14/3 to each group of  two light groups that I want to control separately.



I've also attached a diagram from the perspective of the junction box.



I also attached an example circuit on how I plan to use the 14/3 wire.

   

Here are some other decisions I made:



- The junction box will  be PVC 8x8x4 (256 cu. in.)  All the wires coming into the box add up to  70 cu in. so the box should be plenty large.

- All the grounds from both circuits will be tied together

  - The neutrals for both circuits will always be kept completely separate (NO shared neutrals)

- No 14/3 wire will ever carry power from more than one circuit (this would violate the shared neutrals anyway)



Even  though this is kind of elaborate and for hobby, I want to be sure to do  it safely and up to code.  Does anyone see anything wrong with  my plan?

 

Thanks,



Daniel
      

I'm using some lampholder fixtures for lighting in my garage and I'm wondering what to do with grounds?  There is nowhere to attach the ground wire to the box or fixture, so what do I do with it?  Neither the box or fixture is metal.  And what do I do with all the grounds in the switch box?
      

I'm preparing for finally calling in for my rough in inspection and was hoping I could get a checklist or at least some suggestions as to what work should and should not be completed for a rough-in inspection.  Does any wiring need to be spliced, wire-nutted, terminated within the panel or lighting or receptacle boxes?  My project was running power from main panel to lug and from lug to sub in detached res. garage and installing 4-5 lighting and recep circuits.
      

As far as I know every splice needs to be accessible. Is there a way to splice a 6/3 cable in the ceiling without having it in a box? I want to run the cable to the garage for an electric vehicle charger but the piece I had turned out short. I have an extra piece but the splice would be in the kitchen ceiling.

What I've seen in other countries is something like a cast resin shell/box in which the wires are spliced and then resin is poured in the shell/box to completely fill it.



Do you know of something that can be done in this case which can stay unaccessible in the closed and finished ceiling?
      

I have started on a small project to expose the industrial aspects of an office space by removing the drop down grid ceiling. My question pertains to the office light fixtures and how to remove them safely.



All of the fixtures are connected to junction boxes (as pictured). Can I remove the fixtures safely by disconnecting them at the junction box as long as I am certain that the fixtures aren't on ( read: turned off at the light switch)?



I could possibly find and flip the breakers off, but this is an office building with other businesses in operation, so I would hate to cause someone any stress by flipping the wrong breaker. The breaker box is not labeled and is not just for the space that I am occupying.



Thanks in advance for any replies.



Kind Regards,

Cody
      

Hello,



I currently have one light switch which operates an outlet in one of my bedrooms.  I want to add a ceiling fan that has independent switches for the fan and light - but I want to make sure i'm wiring it correctly and safely.



Current (First Pic)- Live hot feeds into bottom of switch (bottom insert hole) and the all of the bedroom outlets (pig-tailed) tie into the bottom of the switch on the screw.  Coming out of the top of the switch is one hot which feeds to a single outlet.  All of the neutral and grounds are tied together.



New Plan (Second Pic)- Remove the constant outlet hot from the screw, add a new hot wire to the top of new switch and run a wire up to the attic for fan.  Add another hot wire from the bottom of that switch to the third switch and run another wire up to the attic for the lights.  Re-connect the constant outlet wire to the screw of the last switch.  Connect all the neutrals and all of the grounds together.



At the top of the ceiling, connect the neutrals and grounds together with the fans neutral and ground.  Connect the fan hot to the fan switch hot, and the fan light hot to the light switch hot.