Electrical outlet

[93Sovereign]

Hello,
Almost embarrassed to post this, but I’m having a heck of a time getting an electrical outlet attached back to the wall. Photo attached. Any advice?
Thanks in advance for any replies.

[John Ware]

I'm pretty sure that outlet has ears that rotate with the screws. The screws are not meant to be removed, but turned enough to rotate the ears for removal and installation. If you remove the screws the ears will fall off. I wish I knew how to send a picture of one. Google Mobil Home Electrical outlets.

[ITSNO60]

What John says. The wings have probably fallen into the wall. If you can't retrieve them go buy an old work box and rob them off that. Look for the Pass & Seymour ones with the metal wings. You may have to open the hole in the wings a bit to fit your screws or use the P&S screws if they fit.

[93Sovereign]

Hi John and Brian,
Thank you for your replies. I had wondered if perhaps I no longer have anything to screw into. I will buy a replacement box and remove the wings. Appreciate the help with this!
Tom

[foobar]

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

What John says. The wings have probably fallen into the wall. If you can't retrieve them go buy an old work box and rob them off that. Look for the Pass & Seymour ones with the metal wings. You may have to open the hole in the wings a bit to fit your screws or use the P&S screws if they fit.

93Sovereign, in order to replace the wings, you will need to pull the old box out of the wall. If you do that, you might as well just install the new retrofit box instead :-)

[Fungus]

93Sovereign - Don't feel bad about this predicament. We've all been once (or thrice) when using those boxes.

[foobar]

Originally Posted by Fungus

93Sovereign - Don't feel bad about this predicament. We've all been once (or thrice) when using those boxes.

I resemble that remark …

[Boxite]

Flex-Seal.

[ITSNO60]

Originally Posted by foobar

93Sovereign, in order to replace the wings, you will need to pull the old box out of the wall. If you do that, you might as well just install the new retrofit box instead :-)

Then there has to be enough depth to fit the box and enough slack in the wire to make screw terminations on a regular receptacle-unlikely.

[foobar]

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

Then there has to be enough depth to fit the box and enough slack in the wire to make screw terminations on a regular receptacle-unlikely.

Good point. However, there are shallow, regular and deep box options.

There are even options that do not have a box, but these generally do not meet electrical codes.

[ITSNO60]

Originally Posted by foobar

Good point. However, there are shallow, regular and deep box options.

There are even options that do not have a box, but these generally do not meet electrical codes.

A shallow box would not work for 2 reasons, depending on the wire size a box from 14 to 16 cubic inches would be required. The majority of old work boxes start at 14 and go to 18 then 22. The shallow boxes are only 8 cubic inches and would not even be legal for a single 14 gauge Romex and a device which would require 10 cubic inches minimum. The other reason is that there are no 8 cubic inch shallow boxes made with remodel wings.

[ITSNO60]

And let's not forget about the required minimum free wire length in the box, you would need enough slack in the existing wire to be able to cut it and still have the required 6" of each end in the box, extremely unlikely to be any slack at all with the trailer device used. Far easier to stay with existing device, IMHO

[foobar]

Originally Posted by ITSNO60

And let's not forget about the required minimum free wire length in the box, you would need enough slack in the existing wire to be able to cut it and still have the required 6" of each end in the box, extremely unlikely to be any slack at all with the trailer device used. Far easier to stay with existing device, IMHO

Don't cut the romex. Just push it through the back of the old box and insert it into the the new box.

Anyway, it was just a suggestion in case the wings from the new box don't fit the old ones.

[93Sovereign]

Hi All,
Thanks for the information. And good to hear I’m not the first in this predicament. I had no ideal. I will try replacing the wings and hope I get lucky and it works. Replacing the box will be plan B and sounds somewhat complicated for my skill set.