[Joeywhat]

Using some pancake boxes for the first time. Not much room inside, especially to tighten down the cable clamps. It came with a single plastic "clamp" that doesn't require tightening, but I've got three cables coming in and I think that will only feed one.

I can't get to the clamp screws to tighten it up, and if I rotate it so I can get to the screw heads the other end hits the side. I don't have great access to the attic so I'd prefer to do it from the ground. Am I OK to leave the cables unclamped?

Any tips or tricks?

 

[Jim Port]

Three cables is way too many for a pancake box. Typically you can only fit one cable based on cubic inch capacity.

 

[Missouri Bound]

You cannot have 3 cables in a pancake box.
Every box has a cu. in. dimension stamped on it.
3 cables of any size is too much for that box.
Change the box or change your wiring configuration.

 

[Joeywhat]

I'm mounting a fan with it, there's plenty of room inside the fan bracket... There's nothing separating the fan bracket and box, isn't that sufficient regarding space?

 

[Jim Port]

The canopy would need to be marked with its capacity before you could could utilize it for space. A saddle box would give you more room.

Why do you have so many cables in the box?

 

[Joeywhat]

The canopy would need to be marked with its capacity before you could could utilize it for space. A saddle box would give you more room.

Why do you have so many cables in the box?

I was just reading up on that part of the NEC and it seemed like that would be allowed.

There's another set of outlets and my entire bathroom that get power from there (it's my master bedroom ceiling fixture). Don't ask me why, it's just what I found out when I opened it up. The wiring here has been a joke so far. It would seem that this would have been the original wiring, but I don't know why someone would do it this way. I was assuming I'd have 1 or 2 cables running to it but also found the third and had to figure out what specifically that powered.

The electrical at this house has been a cluster and I'm slowly trying to get it right (or at least better). I went with the pancake box for ease of installation and because my attic access is extremely difficult to get into... Trying to do everything from below if I can.

 

[Joeywhat]

I'll also look into a saddlebox if things are looking tight with the pancake box. I've already got the hole cut, I'm assuming it's the same overall size as the pancake, just deeper obviously.