I usually call the stuff armored conduit, but I'm referring to the galvanized tubes that wiring runs through. Is there a code reason why you shouldn't use it to channel wiring through the walls?
I was thinking of it in terms of making it easier to pull the cable should the need to pull come up in the future, as well as a way to protect the wires from insects and rodents chewing on the cables.
I cannot think of a code reason per se unless the wire will generate too much heat inside the piping (called EMT) but it will add considerable cost to the install. Why not just pull oversize wires for those you think you'll need to upgrade later right up front. I might add as well, that I'm no code expert so take my words with a grain of salt. Cheers, cc
Not at all -- in fact, in some places (Chicago springs to mind), it's required.
Well, if you're going to pull cable through it, it better be big. Usually, individual conductors are pulled instead.
Also make sure to observe the limitation on the number of bends between boxes (no more than four 90-degree bends in one run).
A good compromise is ENT, AKA "smurf tube". It is that blue corrogated stuff at the Home Depot. It is a fairly low labor factor wiring method that is just a bit more than Romex to install. It still alows easy changes. I used a mix of smurf and Romex in my own home, selecting trhe places where I might change my mind. Smurf is also good for low voltrage chases..
I would say the amount of labor involved in running the conduit would be the biggest problem. The plastic tubing around here (in LI) in not allowed to be run inside walls... (guess if there is a fire they dont want you to die from the fumes if this stuff when it burns)
If you wanted added protection from rodents etc, why not just bx (armored) wire??? I'd recommend a nice 12/2 wire that can handle 20 amps if you need it.
... Speaking of wire... WOW COPPER GOT EXPENSIVE!!!! I was over at HD and noticed romex 250ft 12/2 for $$$102.00
2-3 months ago I bought bx for 81 for 250ft. Romex at that time was $60.00.Tom
Eigenvector wrote:
Ain't that the truth. I've had to buy wire at several different times in the last year and a half for various projects. Cost of 250 feet of 12-2:
Feb '05 $32 Nov '05 $38 Jan '06 $56 May '06 $103 -- almost tripled in the last six months.
This sounds more like a testament to the power of the IBEW than the dangers of ENT. It is basically the same plastic as the jacket of Romex or what is in RNC (PVC). I bet they can't use PVC plumbing there either.
If you are going to sleeve the Romex, it should be run as a complete system from one box to the next so that it is properly grounded. If you want to run it from one box to a point before the next box, that would be okay if you install a connector with a smooth bushing at the end. Better would be a plastic insulated bushing. What you don't want is an isolated length of conduit with the wires running through it. Without being grounded, a voltage could be induced into the ferrous metal pipe, turning it into a capacitor. Now should it be a capacitor and a nail from the sheet rock be touching it, one might touch the nail and get a good amount of electricity run through him as he drained the build up to ground.
If you just stick a raw piece of unreamed EMT through the holes of the studs and run wire through it, you want to know what will happen? Probably nothing! Probably about the same thing that would happen if you just left it like it was. Some of us IBEW members need situations like this so we can show you how much we know.
Personally, I like the smurf tube if your not going to install conduit as a complete system. I had ancient cloth covered Romex in my old house. I replaced it with new Romex. I wished I'd left it alone. The squirrels love the outer sheath of the new Romex. They eat it. Now when I shine a flashlight in my attic I get these little reflections bouncing back at me. Some are squirrel eyes and some are bare spots in the Romex. It might be a bad idea to sleeve these intermittently bare conductors with EMT now, don't ya think!
Randy R. Cox
Randy Cox posted for all of us... I don't top post - see either inline or at bottom.
Huh? Cite example
That's nothing.
My main gripe is gophers and direct-buried UF cable.
Consider this scenario: AWG 2-0 aluminum, to a 200A subpanel, in a building about 100 yards away. UF, direct buried. Gopher city. What a pain in the @$$. Too cheap to bury conduit? You'll make up for it in labor costs a couple of years down the road.
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