I have a recessed subpanel with a 1.5" hole in the top where a knockout used to be. Presumably this has to be closed. (yes?)
Is there any code compliant way to do it from the inside of the panel? Access to the outside of the box is impossible without opening up the wall, and there must be a better way than that. Thanks.
This is Turtle.
Go to any Electric supply houses and ask for a 1.5" metal snap in plug for electrical boxes. It looks like a big old type coke bottle top that snapped on to the old returniable coke bottles but it will be 1.5" in diameter. Cut the power off and go inside and snap it from the inside and that is that.
Now yes, all service enterance or meter pan boxes must be closed to prevent fire / sparks/ flames from leaving the boxed in area.
TURTLE
they have snap on plugs that are just pushed into the hole.. in your case you can only get to the hole from the inside, well go there and push a plug into the hole.. problem solved... i think i saw some at ace hardware store???? if not then try home depot and lowes, then an electrical supply store if they will sell to you as most of their customers are electricians and they only sell wholesale.....
That will not be approved for that purpose. You see, things involve for mains electricity, have to be aproved by an authority to be used for that purpose.
This is Turtle.
i don't think any electric warehouse will not sell you a plug for a mistake. The items your speaking of as to not wanting to sell you is the regular items like wire, conduit, and electric equipment. They will tell you to go down to Home depot or low's and if they don't have it we will sell you just few items you need. Their problem is other electricians don't like selling their supply equipment to the public and they want them to install it. Between Wholesale and retail which they get for it. They get the 30% or so to warrent the job with. If the equipment or wire fails in some way. They have to fix it for nothing and this 30% will pay the cost to warrent the job. If the customer buys the wire, equipment and a item fails. the electrican will tell the customer that your wire failed that you furnished / bought yourself at wholesale and you have to bring the warrenty equipment back to the warehouse and get new stuff. The customer will get mad because he might think it was the electricans fault and want him to warrent wire and replace equipment at his expence and he did not get his 30% to pay for warrentys. If the stuff fails, the electrican will have to furnish new stuff and replace it for nothing. You got to pay to play.
Now getting a mistake plug, they will probley give you a plug for i know what they cost and it's not worth ringing it up to get one. A electrican can talk a warehouse out of a mistake plug with just about every job he does.
TURTLE
Maybe Tommy could stick his finger (or his Pedo) in the hole...
They are commonly called knockout seals or K.O. seals by us professionals.
1.5" is probably 1 1/4" trade size. I'm not sure if home improvement stores carry these. An electrical supply house will definitely have these on their shelves. Many electricians carry these as part of their inventory on their trucks as they are needed quite often.Putting it in from inside the panel can be hazardous if the power is on. Be careful.
Sometimes the K.O. seal will not be tight after you push it into the hole. If this is the case use one hand or some duct tape to hold the seal in place. Next use a long thin screwdriver to go through the wall on top of the panel (Sometimes there is a gap) and push the tabs on the seal over to lock it in place. You may have to rotate the seal a little to get at all of the tabs. You can usually do this without creating any visible damage to the wall. The electrical panel cover will hide where you pushed the screwdriver through.
Be careful.
John Grabowski
It turned out to be only 1"; which is good cause it was the largest I could find. Funny thing is that it was not tight as you said. I was going try the screwdriver trick, but tried the other one (2 in a package) first, and that one was tight. Alls well that ends well, thanks.
this is Turtle.
No it will not work. The whole turned out to be 1" in diameter and you would have to have it atleast 1/2" long.
TURTLE
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