Crappy plastic breaker boxes

[maradcliff]

I was just shopping for a breaker box and could not believe what I saw. Just when I thought I had seen it all, they come out with plastic breaker boxes. I cant stand plastic outlet boxes, and now breaker boxes. Besides being flammable, I can just see it now. I put the box in my shed and mice chew large holes in it. I have already seen what mice can do to metal boxes, and I once found an old fuse box that was so full of mouse nesting that it had actually started charring the nesting stuff inside, but the metal prevented a fire. I think it had gotten moisture in it and was arcing across the terminals. I know a guy who had a mouse short out an outlet in his garage when the mouse chewed thru the plastic box, and the romex in the wall was no longer NM cable, but a black, white, and ground wire. The mice had chewed off all the NM outer insulation, and in a few spots there was bare copper on the hot wires. Thank God they still make and sell metal breaker boxes. They are the same price too.

I suppose the plastic ones will be the new trend and will soon be available in designer colors !!!

Mark

[Richard J Kinch]

Cripes. Next thing you know, they'll have plastic plumbing.

[Stretch]

Mark,

I love them. I live in Myrtle Beach SC where corrosion in outside metal parts is a major problem. On the oceanfornt, metal disconnect boxes rot out in a few years. The plastic ones last almost forever. It just depends on your situation. They are great for corrosive environments. The fill a need, and that is what it's all about. Just use them where you need corrosion resistance, use the metal ones everwhere else. That's what I do.

Stretch

[FDR]

I guess you have issues withe NEMA boxes too.

[Fred]

Plastic pluming has been around for years. PVC, PEX for example.

[Doug]

[e-mail] wrote in news:kgd5g1p69ftduqj49rad5sll7845o268he@

4ax.com:

It's highly unlikely they're flammable. That wouldn't pass UL testing. Take a torch to a plastic outlet box if you want to see what can be done with flame resistant plastic these days. In addition, they're non- conductive which could be advantageous.

I agree that the mouse resistance would be questionable so don't use them in a shed. In a typical house, the hundreds of feet of hidden romex in a would be a far greater potential risk with regard to mouse exposure as you mention.

Doug

[Duane Bozarth]

....

There's a new market idea--warfarin-laced cabling insulation... :)

[maradcliff]

I love that idea !!!

Obviously mice are not capable of getting electricuted. I still cant believe they can nest in a in a breaker or fuse box, or chew threw romex and not get fried.

[maradcliff]

In your situation I can see where they would be useful. I suppose all metal objects get eaten by corrosion near the ocean. If I was to design the "perfect" box, it would be metal coated with plastic......

Mark

[Duane Bozarth]

Oh, they certainly are of it and I've seen a few...reason they normally don't is their small enough to only hit one conductor at a time and they're usually in dry locations so don't have a good ground...

[Retiredff]

You don't think there was a little sarcasm in that comment? ;)

[Edwin Pawlowski]

You can rest assured, they are NOT flammable. Plastics are commonly make with additives to resist fire.

[Robert E. Lewis]

I'd love to have a plastic outdoor disconnect, and a plastic meter box. I live on the Texas Gulf Coast and have several neighbors, especially the ones closer to the beach, who go through meter boxes in less than five years. The electric utility company provides the painted steel boxes for their meters, but labor for an electrician and the inconvenience of having the power off during the switchover is the customer's problem.

[maradcliff]

They probably are available now.

However, why not paint the metal boxes every year to prevent corrosion. In fact, when they are new, paint the heck out of them. Use epoxy paint. That little factory paint is not much coating.

[Stormin Mormon]

Plastic tools. Plastic cars. Plastic natural gas lines. Plastic water lines for refrigerator hookup. When will it end?

[Rick]

water lines

When they find something cheaper than plastic...

[Robert E. Lewis]

....

Possibly. My mother owned a waterfront property down the coast, with a different utility company, and had to change out a meter can there -- they used aluminum boxes (about 12 years ago), and they seemed more durable in the salt environment. Unfortunately, the local utility requires customers use the boxes they provide.

One of my neighbors made the mistake of putting their circuit-breaker box outside, on the piling of their beach house. When they were facing replacing it for the third time in about seven years, they took the box to a trusted auto-paint shop owner and had him put on some sort of very heavy paint -- may have been an epoxy. After a couple of years they framed the rapidly rusting box with wood, to slow down further rust. It has lasted six or seven years now, but really needs replacing.

[Robert E. Lewis]

They'll be making plastic surgeons, soon.

[Rudy]

Hey Fred, you got a "bite" ! Reel it in !