I am looking to install 3-inch recessed lighting in room under living areas. I have the ceiling down so I am using a new-work kit with rails and a pan. The lights are sold as remodeling and the rest of the parts are sold separately.
So access to the junction with these is gained by dropping the light out of it's clips and pulling the junction through the pan. This is simple enough when there are no lines running into the box. But the box just barely fits through the hole in the pan. Once I put a clamp into one of the knockouts and run a NM-2 cable or two into it, it's nearly impossible to get out. And when I manage it, I worry that the edge of the hole on the pan is damaging the cable. In one of these, I need to run more lines (within the limits stated on the box) and at that point, there's no way it's coming through that pan.
Am I missing something? I can't be the only person to ever have this issue. The only solution I can think of at this point is to cut a slot in each of the pans to allow for the clamp and wire to come down far enough that I can rotate the box of out the hole. For the one junction with more lines, I figure I'll have to dig the remodel clamps out of the trash and wait for the drywall to go up and cut the hole as large as possible. Are there flush clamps that will not protude from the the knockouts or something?
UPDATE: I went by the neighborhood hardware store and got some plastic push-through 'clamps'. They are almost flush with the outside of the box. I'm hoping this will resolve my issue for at least the simple configurations.
Best Answer
The plastic push-in connectors did the trick. I won't say it's super simple to get the box in and out of the pan but it definitely eliminated the issue where the wires were getting jammed against the hole by the clamps.