I was just shopping for a breaker box and could not believe what I
saw. Just when I thought I had seen it all, they come out with
plastic breaker boxes.

Cripes. Next thing you know, they'll have plastic plumbing.

wrote in message
...
I was just shopping for a breaker box and could not believe what I
saw. Just when I thought I had seen it all, they come out with
plastic breaker boxes. I cant stand plastic outlet boxes, and now
breaker boxes. Besides being flammable, I can just see it now. I put
the box in my shed and mice chew large holes in it. I have already
seen what mice can do to metal boxes, and I once found an old fuse box
that was so full of mouse nesting that it had actually started
charring the nesting stuff inside, but the metal prevented a fire. I
think it had gotten moisture in it and was arcing across the
terminals. I know a guy who had a mouse short out an outlet in his
garage when the mouse chewed thru the plastic box, and the romex in
the wall was no longer NM cable, but a black, white, and ground wire.
The mice had chewed off all the NM outer insulation, and in a few
spots there was bare copper on the hot wires. Thank God they still
make and sell metal breaker boxes. They are the same price too.

I suppose the plastic ones will be the new trend and will soon be
available in designer colors !!!

Mark

I guess you have issues withe NEMA boxes too.

wrote in news:kgd5g1p69ftduqj49rad5sll7845o268he@
4ax.com:

I was just shopping for a breaker box and could not believe what I
saw. Just when I thought I had seen it all, they come out with
plastic breaker boxes. I cant stand plastic outlet boxes, and now
breaker boxes. Besides being flammable, I can just see it now.
...

It's highly unlikely they're flammable. That wouldn't pass UL testing.
Take a torch to a plastic outlet box if you want to see what can be done
with flame resistant plastic these days. In addition, they're non-
conductive which could be advantageous.

I agree that the mouse resistance would be questionable so don't use them
in a shed. In a typical house, the hundreds of feet of hidden romex in a
would be a far greater potential risk with regard to mouse exposure as you
mention.

Doug

Mark,

I love them. I live in Myrtle Beach SC where corrosion in outside
metal parts is a major problem. On the oceanfornt, metal disconnect
boxes rot out in a few years. The plastic ones last almost forever.
It just depends on your situation. They are great for corrosive
environments. The fill a need, and that is what it's all about. Just
use them where you need corrosion resistance, use the metal ones
everwhere else. That's what I do.

Stretch

"Richard J Kinch" wrote in message
. ..
I was just shopping for a breaker box and could not believe what I
saw. Just when I thought I had seen it all, they come out with
plastic breaker boxes.

Cripes. Next thing you know, they'll have plastic plumbing.

Plastic pluming has been around for years. PVC, PEX for example.

Fred wrote:
Cripes. Next thing you know, they'll have plastic plumbing.

Plastic pluming has been around for years. PVC, PEX for example.

You don't think there was a little sarcasm in that comment?

Doug wrote:

....
I agree that the mouse resistance would be questionable so don't use them
in a shed. In a typical house, the hundreds of feet of hidden romex in a
would be a far greater potential risk with regard to mouse exposure as you
mention.

There's a new market idea--warfarin-laced cabling insulation...

wrote in message
....
Besides being flammable, I can just see it now.


You can rest assured, they are NOT flammable. Plastics are commonly make
with additives to resist fire.

"Stretch" wrote in message
ups.com...
Mark,

I love them. I live in Myrtle Beach SC where corrosion in outside
metal parts is a major problem. On the oceanfornt, metal disconnect
boxes rot out in a few years. The plastic ones last almost forever.
It just depends on your situation. They are great for corrosive
environments. The fill a need, and that is what it's all about. Just
use them where you need corrosion resistance, use the metal ones
everwhere else. That's what I do.

I'd love to have a plastic outdoor disconnect, and a plastic meter box. I
live on the Texas Gulf Coast and have several neighbors, especially the ones
closer to the beach, who go through meter boxes in less than five years.
The electric utility company provides the painted steel boxes for their
meters, but labor for an electrician and the inconvenience of having the
power off during the switchover is the customer's problem.

wrote:

On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 09:30:57 -0500, Duane Bozarth
wrote:

Doug wrote:

...
I agree that the mouse resistance would be questionable so don't use them
in a shed. In a typical house, the hundreds of feet of hidden romex in a
would be a far greater potential risk with regard to mouse exposure as you
mention.

There's a new market idea--warfarin-laced cabling insulation...

I love that idea !!!

Obviously mice are not capable of getting electricuted. I still cant
believe they can nest in a in a breaker or fuse box, or chew threw
romex and not get fried.

Oh, they certainly are capable of it and I've seen a few...reason they
normally don't is their small enough to only hit one conductor at a time
and they're usually in dry locations so don't have a good ground...

Plastic tools. Plastic cars. Plastic natural gas lines. Plastic water lines
for refrigerator hookup. When will it end?

--

Christopher A. Young
Do good work.
It's longer in the short run
but shorter in the long run.
..
..


"Richard J Kinch" wrote in message
. ..
I was just shopping for a breaker box and could not believe what I
saw. Just when I thought I had seen it all, they come out with
plastic breaker boxes.

Cripes. Next thing you know, they'll have plastic plumbing.

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
Plastic tools. Plastic cars. Plastic natural gas lines. Plastic
water lines
for refrigerator hookup. When will it end?


When they find something cheaper than plastic...

wrote in message
...
On Wed, 17 Aug 2005 18:47:38 GMT, "Robert E. Lewis"
wrote:

....

I'd love to have a plastic outdoor disconnect, and a plastic meter box.
I
live on the Texas Gulf Coast and have several neighbors, especially the
ones
closer to the beach, who go through meter boxes in less than five years.
The electric utility company provides the painted steel boxes for their
meters, but labor for an electrician and the inconvenience of having the
power off during the switchover is the customer's problem.


They probably are available now.

Possibly. My mother owned a waterfront property down the coast, with a
different utility company, and had to change out a meter can there -- they
used aluminum boxes (about 12 years ago), and they seemed more durable in
the salt environment. Unfortunately, the local utility requires customers
use the boxes they provide.


However, why not paint the metal boxes every year to prevent
corrosion. In fact, when they are new, paint the heck out of them.
Use epoxy paint. That little factory paint is not much coating.

One of my neighbors made the mistake of putting their circuit-breaker box
outside, on the piling of their beach house. When they were facing
replacing it for the third time in about seven years, they took the box to a
trusted auto-paint shop owner and had him put on some sort of very heavy
paint -- may have been an epoxy. After a couple of years they framed the
rapidly rusting box with wood, to slow down further rust. It has lasted six
or seven years now, but really needs replacing.

--

Robert

"Stormin Mormon" wrote in message
...
Plastic tools. Plastic cars. Plastic natural gas lines. Plastic water
lines
for refrigerator hookup. When will it end?


They'll be making plastic surgeons, soon.

Cripes. Next thing you know, they'll have plastic plumbing.

Plastic pluming has been around for years. PVC, PEX for example.

Hey Fred, you got a "bite" ! Reel it in !