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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8/13/2022
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."
8/13/2022
The device that a power blower shoots through a conduit system when fishing the initial line. It typically has a hard plastic core with a flexible foam body that fits a specific pipe size. It comes in 1/2" through 6" conduit sizes and has a loop at both ends to attach the fish line.
8/13/2022
An adaptor used to affix a lighting fixture directly to an electric box when the fixture and electrical box mounting holes do not line up, (see also 'Fixture Bar').
8/13/2022
These plates are used to conceal mistakes made during the installation or sheet rocking of the wall boxes. If a cutout was made too large or the taping not done properly, there just won't be enough wall behind a normal plate to hide the gap between the wall and the box. A large plate is used for these cases and they come in large and extra-large depending upon how wide the gap is. The part number shown is just to guide you to the correct section of the catalog because these come in multiple gangs, colors and device configurations.
8/13/2022
Described as floor plate plug inserts, these threaded plugs seal-up an unused device opening in a floor box plate. You order them in sizes from 1/2" to 2".
8/13/2022
Connects two pieces of threaded rigid conduit when one piece can't be turned. Comes in aluminum, steel, malleable iron and zinc/die-cast construction in sizes from 1/2" to 5" If the same thing needs to be done for non-threaded pipe, you would use a threadless compression coupling.
8/13/2022
Nylon or Zinc self-drilling anchor used for #8 x 1" screws into sheetrock, (see also 'Sure Wall').
