Junction box question


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Old 11-02-10, 09:03 AM
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Junction box question

Hey folks,

Several months ago I had a large propane tank installed on the side of my house. The propane folks indicated that it had to be 10ft from any source of ignition (e.g. electricity) and, consequently, I had to remove a light fixture that was installed on my exterior wall.

I removed all the wires from that junction box and it is now empty, and will not ever be used again (because of the propane tank).

My question: Can I stucco over the junction box, or does it need to be treated like a 'live' box and remain accessible? Once it is stuccoed over, it will be completely inaccessible (since the access to the box is on the exterior of the house) so - for all intents & purposes - it won't be possible to add new wires to the box in the future. Or should I just put a cover on the box?

Thanks for your help!
-Shalie
 
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Old 11-02-10, 09:22 AM
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You can of course, do whatever you want with the existing box I'm quite certain, including utilizing it for a storage place for all your jewelry and valuables (lol).
 
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Old 11-02-10, 09:42 AM
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Originally Posted by shalihe74
I removed all the wires from that junction box and it is now empty, and will not ever be used again (because of the propane tank).
As long as the j-box does not have any wires in it, you can completely cover it. The wires you removed should be unhooked and pushed out of the box on the other ends too so there's no chance of them being energized in the wall.
 
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Old 11-02-10, 09:58 AM
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Originally Posted by ibpooks
As long as the j-box does not have any wires in it, you can completely cover it. The wires you removed should be unhooked and pushed out of the box on the other ends too so there's no chance of them being energized in the wall.
Thanks, pooks! I actually re-routed the wires through a different box that is accessible from inside the attic, and pulled the wires that ran from the switch to the fixture. Good to know i can just cover it and be done!

Originally Posted by sidecutter
You can of course, do whatever you want with the existing box I'm quite certain, including utilizing it for a storage place for all your jewelry and valuables (lol).
Hehehehe... I was recently robbed, so I don't >have< any valuables any more. But that'd be a great idea - if the box were even remotely accessible. I may need to create a faux outlet somewhere for when I do acquire valuables again.
 
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Old 11-02-10, 11:03 AM
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If the box that was abandoned was for a lighting fixture for an exterior door you now have a code violation unless another source of lighting can supply illumination to that door.

I won't go into what the propane company told you but, propane is heavier than air. If the light fixture was going to cause a problem the bigger issue is the leaking tank, not the chance of a spark.
 
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Old 11-02-10, 07:00 PM
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Originally Posted by pcboss
If the box that was abandoned was for a lighting fixture for an exterior door you now have a code violation unless another source of lighting can supply illumination to that door.

I won't go into what the propane company told you but, propane is heavier than air. If the light fixture was going to cause a problem the bigger issue is the leaking tank, not the chance of a spark.
Nope! No exterior door there - just the side of the house - so we're good in that regard. As an aside, I will be adding illumiation (motion-detector flood lights with enough wattage to light up the next 3 blocks - that side of the house is where the aforementioned robbers parked their truck whilst absconding with my possessions) to the area again, anyway - it'll just be roof-mounted and out of the 10' propane radius.

Agree that the leaking tank would be a bigger problem than the chance of a spark. But hey... they said 'If you would like pro-pane - and pro-pane accessories - you must follow our rules.' I did, so I did.

I love this board; y'all are so darn helpful!
 
 

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