Featured Terms
Electrical Slang
What do a "bug" and a "cherry" have in common?
They are both electrical slang terms!
Curious about what these and other slang terms mean?
Scroll through our collection of slang terminology used in the electrical industry!
Whether you are an electrician, contractor, or just someone trying to understand what your local electrician is jabbering about, use the glossary to learn trade slang and electrical jargon.
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9/21/2021
These spacers are typically used in high-rise concrete deck construction where you pre-situate your conduit and then pour the concrete around it. When you have two or more pipes coming up through the deck and you need to make sure they stay in alignment with each other so they will properly match-up with standard knockouts on junction boxes, you use either Eyeglasses or Nail On Deck Plates. They both come in two or three hole configurations from 1/2" to 1" rigid but the nail-on deck plates have a greater surface area to contact with the wooden deck and are reported to hold the conduit in place better than the typical Eyeglasses.
9/21/2021
The steel conduit hanger is used to secure 1/2" to 4" rigid (GAL) or EMT conduit to some type of support using the hole on top of the hanger. Typically, the pipe is suspended from strut or directly from the concrete using a piece of threaded rod but the hanger is also used to attach conduit directly to an insulator or some other surface. Manufactured by Steel City, Erico (Caddy), Bridgeport and others; the hanger is available with or without the lower bolt and nut. Originally invented by Minneralac in 1904 as the Standard Conduit Hanger.
"I hit my head on another pain hanger."
9/21/2021
When inserted into a conduit run, it provides a means to attach wires or fish line at one end and pull them out through the other. The flat, spring metal design makes it extremely flexible and capable of navigation through elbows and turns. It is typically sold in 1/8, 3/16 and 1/4" widths with lengths from 25 to 100'. For convenience, they are also sold within fish dispenser reels to automatically extend and retract the fish tape but most people buy the inexpensive wire fish only and store it in a short piece of Greenfield.
9/21/2021
When used with AC cable or Greenfield, Anti-Short ® bushings protect the wires from being chafed by the roughs end of the armor at the point of connection. NEC article 333-9 requires their use on AC (armored cable). They are placed between the outer metal armor and the conductors forming a protective shield at the point where the wire is bent during final connection. In the trade, they are referred to simply by their sizes 0 through 8 depending on the size of the cable or Greenfield.
9/21/2021
Holds gem box in sheetrock by offering counter pressure to the box ears.
