How to close a distribution box in a panel house. External and hidden

Today we will talk about how to install a junction box in concrete. An electrical junction box is a small container made of plastic or metal in which all groups of conductors in a certain room are connected.

The purposes of this product are as follows:

Providing the opportunity to repair and maintain the home electrical network. For example, if the connection of the input wires to a room with an outlet group fails, you can easily repair the problem area.
Possibility of connecting new lines to the room electrical wiring. If you decide, you will not need to pull another cable from the main panel, but just create a new route from the distribution box.
Ensuring Even Distribution electrical energy throughout the room by creating several main power lines connecting into a single whole.

As you can see, this product plays important role in any other room.

Design

The design is quite simple and consists of a container with a lid, as well as inlet openings - seals (if the container is of an external installation type). The photo shows in detail the components of the electrical distribution box, hidden and external:

As you can see, the products are different from each other, but still perform the same function.

Please note that the distribution box for hidden wiring may have claws with springs installed on the sides. Their purpose is additional fixation if installation is carried out in a plasterboard wall.

Varieties

As you already understood, today there are several types of electrical distribution boxes. As a rule, the division occurs according to the following characteristics:

material of manufacture (metal or plastic);
installation method (open or hidden);
product shape (rectangular, round, square);
size.

Metal and plastic

Metal junction boxes have been used since the last century, when the plastic version had not yet been invented.

Not rare metal version products are still in use today. Most often, the installation of metal distribution boxes is carried out with either wooden house. This is because the metal, when the cable ignites spontaneously, will prevent the flame from spreading.

The plastic version is more modern. There are products of both external and hidden types. Their advantage is their low price, convenient design and attractive appearance. By the way, there are fireproof junction boxes made of self-extinguishing plastic.

External and hidden

If the wires in the room are connected open method, an external junction box is used. When installing under plaster, a hidden type product is used.

For hidden installation For outdoor installation

Both options do their job quite well, but it is still easier to repair and operate a wall-mounted object.

In addition, there are distribution boxes with terminals that allow you to efficiently connect the wires to each other. Such products are usually made for outdoor use.

Rectangular, square, round

Junction boxes are also available in various geometric shapes. The reason for this is various purposes. If a little vein is supplied, round shape quite enough. At large quantities cores, it is necessary to use rectangular or even square containers, because they have a large capacity.

Please note that installing a round junction box in concrete takes less time, because... There is no need to level the product! At the same time for open wiring A square-shaped product will look more beautiful.

As for the sizes, they can be different, depending on what cable section you have chosen. We immediately recommend that you read the article: electrical installation work.

Connection instructions

As we said earlier, the installation of the distribution box can be carried out open and in a hidden way. Let's consider the main stages of each method.

Outdoor installation

This type of installation is simpler and does not take much time.

Everything for your attention step-by-step instruction, which will help you install yourself junction box in the wall:

Turn off the power in the house and check for power using an indicator screwdriver. We talked about this in the corresponding article.
Mark the attachment points with a simple pencil.
Secure the box in concrete wall using dowels. The design of the product includes 2 holes for self-tapping screws.
Cut off the ends of the seals to enter all groups of wires. The cuts should have a diameter slightly smaller than the cable cross-section to protect the wiring from dust and moisture.
Connect the wires together. To do this, we recommend that you read. All you need is to correctly connect phase to phase, zero to zero and ground to ground (for the socket group). To connect the input group with a group of switches and lighting, read the article:.
Isolate areas PVC connections insulation if required.
Close the lid.

That's the whole technology for installing a distribution box in concrete with your own hands. I would also like to immediately note that the most reliable

How to hide a junction box.

By current rules It is forbidden to hide the cover of the junction box under finishing materials. It must always be available for maintenance or, if necessary, repairs.

But you must admit that white the lid will draw attention and spoil the whole appearance room decoration. Alternatively, paint the lid to match the color of the walls. But it will still stand out, especially against the background of wallpaper or decorative plaster. That's why many people hide them.

Yes I am did at major renovation your apartment. In the kitchen I had a large rectangular box installed on a cabinet in a not very noticeable place, so I covered the lid separately with wallpaper, choosing a pattern and this is what I came up with.
In the corridor and rooms I had to knock out the old boxes and put new ones in their place because they were sticking out above the wall level (not high-quality electrical installation). I then had wallpaper glued everywhere on top, so I installed the boxes strictly at the level of the wall so that the lid did not protrude. The wallpaper was glued directly to the lid. As a result, it turned out to be absolutely invisible after pasting. And if access is necessary, I will always find the box and can access it by peeling off the wallpaper in this place. They can then be easily glued back if the wallpaper is heavy vinyl and especially non-woven. If you have paper wallpaper, then you will have to carefully cut along the contour of the lid with a sharp knife and then put the lid back together with the wallpaper glued to it.

But it’s ideal to smear it with the lid on and level. The wall box is almost impossible for a person without experience in electrical installation work, so it is better to cover it just below the level of the wall, as shown in the figure.
But after desoldering, there will be it is necessary to plaster or putty the installation site. But remember and mark its location.

Whatever the need arises in the future maintenance and repair - the following requirements must be met during installation:

Carry out work only after switching off the power from the work site. Take measures to prevent someone from mistakenly turning on the machine in the electrical panel.
All cables or wires must be stripped without damage isolation. If you accidentally damage the core insulation during cutting, be sure to insulate the damaged area with electrical tape.
The wire connection must be reliable: welding or soldering. There is a soldering iron in almost every home, so I and many others use an inexpensive and high-quality method of connecting wires using soldering. Be careful not to melt the insulation. It is enough to solder the tip of the twist 2 centimeters long with a total length of 4-6 centimeters.
Insulate securely and dilute in different sides when laying phase, neutral and grounding conductors in a box.
Close the lid tightly so that no solution or glue gets inside.

Before starting finishing work - check your work lighting and electrical outlets.

Replacing the distribution box.

Very often when renovating an apartment or house The junction box needs to be replaced. For example, if you need to replace electrical wiring or add electrical cables, but there is not enough space in it. Or if there are boxes sticking out above the plaster, and they needed to be recessed so that they would not stick out under the wallpaper.

The easiest way to change the box is to completely replace the electrical wiring. We quickly knock it out with a hammer drill, damaging the wires.

But if you need to leave the old wiring or part of it, then you will have to tinker. Everything is complicated by the fact that, where We will knock out are located electric wires. And believe me, it is very difficult to do this work without damaging them.

I advise you to immediately get the twists and pay attention to the places where the wires enter the box and hit where there are none.

Besides do not use power tools and do everything by hand using a dull chisel. In this case, if I can, of course, I try to unscrew and find the wires first with a screwdriver. And then, when I find them, I then carefully tap them with the pick of the hammer drill.

The hallway has been renovated. Everything is fine, but electrical distribution boxes are sticking out of the wall in three places. So we don’t know what to do with them, the house is tiled and we can’t figure out how to stick them further into the wall. And it’s not possible to cut it either, the wires are almost at the level of the wall. What to do?

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User comments:

In general, during installation they should have been inserted flush with the wall. Apparently a lazy electrician was caught.
What to do? Cover with wallpaper.
Maybe they will suggest another option, but I don’t see any others. You can, of course, redo it and deepen the hole. But the repairs have already been done.

It might make sense to make some kind of border closer to the ceiling, protruding some distance from the wall (as much as the protrusion of the distribution boxes). If this is not suitable for some reason, then you can simply cover them with some kind of props, which are wall decorations. Or, if the boxes are located symmetrically, install (close, hang) small lamps on them...

Almost - this is not exactly the same level, is it? Cut it! If you do not plan any further connections in the wiring, blow it with foam and then level it (trimming and putty). This option has existed for me for 15 years: without a box at all, there were just niches in the wall slab under the ceiling. And such things need to be thought out in advance - the boxes could be buried into the wall during installation without any problems.

But they didn’t deepen it, but the repairs were done, so best as Yuri suggested that we play with these boxes, that is, decorate them in addition to the interior.

I just wallpapered the room. It turned out great. In the kitchen the box does not interfere, but in
the corridor is closed with a tall pencil case. It turned out wonderful. So don’t be smart and cover it with wallpaper. Wall decorations at this height? Nonsense. If the curb (cut out the box ledge in it), will it turn out to be very large, but not high? the ceiling visually makes the room smaller.

Take a hammer drill, a chisel, and a hammer and hammer into the wall behind the box to sink it into place. You can wallpaper it only if you are not picky. I also thought it would be possible to put decorative covers on the distributor. boxes (colored or made of expensive plastic, with wider edges), but I couldn’t find any in my city. Maybe someone saw it?

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The gearbox on the Nissan Qashqai is broken, small crack. Tell me, please, how can I repair it? (Andrey)

Good day, Andrey. The gearbox is an important unit in any car, so repairing this unit should be done immediately.

[Hide]

What to do if the gearbox housing is cracked?

To solve the problem, you have several options:

Use " cold welding"or "epoxy". In principle, these are the same thing, but the last type is in the form of so-called glue (resin), it is more liquid in consistency and, as practice shows, sticks much better. If necessary, you can make a composite with this material - for example, glue fiberglass. To make the material more durable, you can add cement or aluminum powder to it.
But in this case, it will only make sense when you completely dismantle the transmission, disassemble it, and degrease it well to remove all the grease from the crack. The crack will need to be cut and cleaned, but without fanaticism. When you glue the fiberglass, you should try to catch on the protrusions on the unit. If you do everything correctly, the crack will be repaired and the box will serve you for many more years.
Traditional welding, as practice shows, in most cases is simpler and no less reliable way. You need to find a welder with his own equipment. In this case, the unit will also have to be removed, since it is unlikely that it will be possible to weld it properly with the transmission fluid flooded.
The best option, in our opinion, is to buy a new case for the box. Even if you weld the defect efficiently, over time the seam may crack again. If you buy a new case, then this option will be more reliable.

In fact, we have more than once encountered the fact that car owners use their vehicles with a crack on the box. If the defect appears in such a way that consumables do not flow out of the gearbox, then car enthusiasts believe that there is nothing wrong with such operation. In practice, cars with transmission defects can be used for more than one year. However, keep in mind that if you fall into just one hole, you can damage the box so much that no amount of welding will help later. With constant mechanical pressure, the unit may simply fall apart, and then you will have no other choice but to buy a new gearbox.

Video “Welding a transmission at home”

Using the example of a box from a Chevrolet Lacchetti, you can familiarize yourself with the process of removing cracks (the author of the video is Anatoly Ralo).