What are Electrical Junction Boxes Used for?

Electrical junction boxes can be used to connect additional sockets to circuits, add lighting points, extend circuits, and in general they are a way of getting power from an existing source and taking it somewhere else. Junction boxes can also be used to add lights and switches.

How to Install Electrical Junction Boxes?

If you do any electrical work on your house, you’ll be installing electrical junction boxes. When you’re joining wires you need to use electrical junction boxes in order to comply with electrical codes. Never just connect wires with wire connectors outside a junction box. It’s not difficult to install electrical junction boxes. With just very basic electrical knowledge you can make a success of the job. 

Step 1 – Size

The size of your electrical junction boxes will be determined by the size of the wires you need to join. Go to your local hardware shop purchase junction box & cover.

Step 2 – Putting In Place

Decide where you need to put the electrical junction boxes. You’ll see that there are nails in the side of the junction boxes. You can use these to hammer the junction box in place on the side of a stud & knock out rubber stopper for the wires to enter.

Step 3 – Wires

Pull the wires you need to connect into the electrical junction boxes through the holes you’ve mad. Allow 6 inches of wire to hang out of the box and then cut off any excess in the wire with your knife. 

Using your knife, cut the sheathing on the wires so that you expose the individual wires. These will be wrapped in their insulation. There should be 3 wires in each cable. Use the wire strippers to remove ½ inch of insulation from the tip of each of the wires. One of the wires will be black, the second white or silver, and the third green. Instead of green, it might just be a bare copper wire.

Step 4 – Connecting

To connect the wires, take the two black wires and twist the exposed ends together. Cover with a wire nut, making sure it’s firm on the wires. After this, cover the wire nut with electrical tape. Do the same with the wires with white or silver insulation, and then with the ground wire, which is the one with the green insulation or just the bare wire. Always cover the connections with wire nuts and finish with electrical tape.

Push the wires into the electrical junction boxes and then screw covers on the electrical junction boxes. Although this is something most people don’t bother to do it adds an extra layer of safety.

Simply follow the instructions and you’ll see that it will all go very smoothly. The next time you need install electrical junction box, try applying a few(or all) of these techniques–you’ll be happy that you did!