A pancake box is a round steel box roughly 4 inches across and about 1/2 inch deep, screwed directly to a joist, beam or ceiling surface. It holds only a few conductors and is used to mount light fixtures where framing leaves no depth for a standard box, typically fed by a single cable through the back. Only boxes marked for fan support may carry a ceiling fan, so the marking gets checked before anyone hangs one.
No depth above that beam for a real box, screw a pancake box to the bottom of it and come in with MC.
Also heard as
- pancake
- pan box
Related terms
Four-square box
Square steel box, 4 inches on a side, that takes a mud ring or cover and serves as the workhorse junction and device box.
MC cable
Metal-clad cable: insulated conductors, including a green ground, inside interlocked aluminium or steel armor.
Old work box
Box made to fit into an existing finished wall or ceiling through a cut hole, without access to the framing.