direct burial/conduit question entering building

3322 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by ScottR, Jun 2, 2009

wombosi

Discussion Starter · May 30, 2009

hi all,
well, finished rewiring the entire garage; all i have to do now is connect the two panels with my #6 underground wire.

two questions:

1) better to enter through the concrete knee wall, and make two 90º turns to get into the stud cavity, run the wire up to the panel,
or
hit the exterior knee wall underground, go up and 90 through the clapboard in the stud cavity?

(my t hinking is the latter idea would be simpler, but might look like crap from the outside. i've already purchased the PVC housing unit for entering the building.)

for t his, the guy at the hardware store was trying to tell me i need an expansion joint in the pvc going into the ground.

i wonder: the only reason i'd be using conduit would be to protect the exposed foot or so of wire coming out of the ground before it enters the building. why then, would i need to go down more than a few inches belpw grade with conduit and expansion joint (expensive)?

can't i just stick a piece of pipe a few inches below grade and be done?

i forget what the second question is, but i think it's up there somwhere....

thanks~!

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kbsparky

· #2 · May 31, 2009

Expansion joints are mainly used on complete conduit systems to counter thermal expansion and earth movement concerns

A simple protection sleeve usually would not require such an accessory, IMO

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nap

· #3 · May 31, 2009

you need to protect the wire to the full depth of the burial which should be 24 inches. I cannot remember if it is required or not but placing a red marker tape 1 foot above that in the trench is a really good idea as well.

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J. V.

· #4 · May 31, 2009 (Edited)

Use one of these to enter the wall outside at the height of your choice. :thumbsup:

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wombosi

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 31, 2009

J. V. said:
Use one of these to enter the wall outside at the height of your choice. :thumbsup:

yes, thanks, that's exactly what i just did.
just a little bummed about the exposed PVC on my nice garage.
tried to see about getting the metal version, but it wouldn't connect to PVC, and apparently you can't b ury EMT. ah, well, can always redo it down the road somehow if it really bothers me.

thanks mate.

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nap

· #6 · Jun 1, 2009

schmolze said:
and apparently you can't b ury EMT.

e.

who said that?

It can. I do not like to but it can.

What I would suggest is using RMC or IMC

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J. V.

· #7 · Jun 1, 2009

Your right nap. I thought it was not allowed to be buried. I have seen it installed in concrete, but never direct burial. See the article below.

358.10 Uses Permitted.
(A) Exposed and Concealed. The use of EMT shall be
permitted for both exposed and concealed work.
(B) Corrosion Protection. Ferrous or nonferrous EMT, elbows,
couplings, and fittings shall be permitted to be installed
in concrete, in direct contact with the earth, or in areas subject
to severe corrosive influences where protected by corrosion
protection and judged suitable for the condition.

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J. V.

· #8 · Jun 1, 2009 (Edited)

schmolze said:
yes, thanks, that's exactly what i just did.
just a little bummed about the exposed PVC on my nice garage.
tried to see about getting the metal version, but it wouldn't connect to PVC, and apparently you can't b ury EMT. ah, well, can always redo it down the road somehow if it really bothers me.

thanks mate.

Very particular person right? One LB and one stub perfectly strait (level horizontally and vertically) and flat against the wall is about as good as you can get. Does your power meter appearance make you lose sleep?

If it bugs you that much, rent a backhoe and dig under the footer and penetrate up inside.

You can adapt PVC to any metal conduit or condulet (LB) with the correct fittings.
You can use one of these to transition from PVC to a metal LB.

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ScottR

· #9 · Jun 2, 2009

schmolze said:
tried to see about getting the metal version, but it wouldn't connect to PVC, and apparently you can't b ury EMT.

IMO PVC is the way to go for looks. You can see plenty of EMT and/or fittings on the outside of buildings that perhaps weren't galvanized in the best way -- rust city. And yours will be at/in the ground.

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