Why does nobody talk about orange wire nuts on 12-gauge in a deep box?

Every time I open a j-box on a remodel, someone has crammed 4 orange wire nuts full of 12-gauge into a shallow pancake box even though the code says you need 22 cubic inches. It took me getting stuck on a knob-and-tube swap in a 1920s bungalow to realize half my callbacks were just from overheating joints that barely fit. Have you ever found a box that made you wonder if the last guy even owned a tape measure?

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umac7137m agoMost Upvoted

My father in law had a stack of those orange nuts he'd been hoarding since the 80s, swore they were fine for 12-gauge because "that's what they handed out back then." Found a box under a sink last month where he'd wired a disposal and a dishwasher through a single 4-inch square with a mud ring. The thing was so packed I could barely jam the cover on, and the neutral bundle had that faint burning smell like old hair dryer. Sometimes I wonder if the supply houses just sell those things to troll us.