Quinn NelsonSo my house has a super janky wall box. Very out of code, on an old exterior brick wall, and stupidly shallow. It has been an open hole for 3 years. Finally got an electrician out and they basically said “if you fix this, it’s gonna be a billion dollars” (which I anticipated).
I decided to take matters into my own hands by designing an offset box extender on my iPad in Shapr3D. I tried a couple different styles but thought an angular one was the slimmest. Then I printed a few test prototypes to check fit!
My Bambu Lab A1C 3D printer spit the frame out in just a couple hours and the finished product looks pretty good! I do need to print it again with a white closer to the Lutron frame, but HEY, it’s not hideous! SUCCESS! I like that I recessed the Lutron frame as well.
All in all? A good fix!
All in all? A good fix!
Tomer Shemesh@snazzyq I’m sure it’s fine, but just as a random heads up, I was always told not to use PLA as any sort of faceplate on a gang box as PLA is flammable and not UL listed since it can melt if there is a short.
John Siracusa@snazzyq This is some real New England house energy.
Quinn NelsonSide note: everybody here and on Twitter recognized the issue and reason for my solution. Everybody on Threads is telling me about mud rings, risers, and extenders as if I didn’t explore every avenue to fix the problem without having to spend hours doing this haha. Most just don’t understand the actual issue so I must have explained poorly. (2/2)
Don Whiteside@snazzyq In fairness, assuming that someone with a 3D printer ignored every other possible solution and jumped straight into 3d printing a solution is possibly the most reasonable assumption in the history of assumptions.
Though it's the opposite of reasonable to think that said 3d printer owner wasn't well aware that they could have solved the problem in another way that would take a tenth as long but just didn't care.
@snazzyq The dimmer switch for my dining room light had a metal bump-out box that looked like it was installed in the 50s. It existed for the same reason you made yours: the cavity (no box, hah) in the wall behind it was too small to hold both the wires and a switch box. Solution? Bump out!
@siracusa Haha! I had a few no-box slices when we moved in but I have since fixed all. This one, however, was screwed into brick with 2” deep studs surrounding it so I didn’t care to trifle with it 😂
Dan Morgan 
Lee@snazzyq Well done! I guess we shouldn’t be surprised at what “small” jobs we can accomplish with 3D printers at home.
Brad@snazzyq That looks really good!
The Virtual Tabletop DMWhat materials have you used for the extender box. Respectfully it is your own house, but appreciating you potentially love in a neighbourhood or estate, isn't this a potential fire risk due to low melting temp materials?
ABS. Which is what boxes are made of that you buy from Home Depot. There is zero heat that should be generated inside a wall box and this isn’t even “inside” the box. As for the “exposed” copper wiring, that’s a ground that I had a nut on to keep track of. It has been wired up to the switch.
Steven HuMost 3d printed filament isn’t fire safe. If you used PLA, PETG, ABS etc you created a hidden unsafe condition where the plastic will melt or catch fire making it more unsafe than leaving it in the open air.
My brother, boxes are made from ABS. If your electrical box is getting even remotely warm, you’ve got something wrong.
RichNice!
I don't know why people are suggesting mud rings; that's for something else. I've used these box extenders in a similar situation:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Smart-Fill-Spacers-1-4-in-2-Gang-Outlet-Box-Spacer-Extender-5-Pack-DG14-5/307424565
I don't know why people are suggesting mud rings; that's for something else. I've used these box extenders in a similar situation:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Smart-Fill-Spacers-1-4-in-2-Gang-Outlet-Box-Spacer-Extender-5-Pack-DG14-5/307424565
Cause people are smarty pants. Haha. THANK YOU for understanding the situation haha I looked at those rings and even bought 2, but I needed nearly 2” of offset and I couldn’t find any retail solution that extended that far.