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Water heater wire - conduit or romex?

*Thanks for the pics Jon. Yeah I guess it's time for an upgrade. That's not Flexible Metal Conduit in the hand. It is BX cable.
Reply to
John Grabowski
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*Yeah 1" x 2" or 1" x 3" will be fine for one or two cables. No need to build something substantial. You just want something that won't spilt when you nail staples into it. Use whatever you have available.
Reply to
John Grabowski

"One could misinterpret the above as meaning to staple to the surface of the furring strips."

*That is exactly what was meant. A home made raceway is not required.
Reply to
John Grabowski

...

If so, might as well just staple to the joists for all the good that would do (whether it's what Code says or no and that surely isn't what I recall it saying). I'd at _least_ put it on the edge w/ only one strip so have the barrier if go to the trouble. The only advantage at all of surface-stapling would be it avoids using the cable as a clothesline but in a crawlspace that's not an issue anyway.

$0.02, etc., etc., etc., ...

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Reply to
dpb

Alrighty then, sounds like putting up some 2x2s and stapling UF (damp, enclosed location) to the side of them is going to be the ticket.

Thanks again,

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

This question had been discussed in here several times before, but I'm not really sure of the result--is it ok to use romex inside pvc conduit? Of course the OP didn't specify the distance in the crawl space ---5' or

50'-- but if pvc w/ romex is permissable, it would seem to me to be the best,easiest and probably cheapest way to go. Last 3/4 pvc conduit I bought at Depot, a month or so ago, was $1.05 for 10'. 1/2" was 80 something cents, but 1/2" may be a little small to try and get #10 romex through. An 8' 1x2 would cost more than even the 3/4' conduit, and with conduit ,no need to "build' anything-- just strap the conduit every few feet and you are done. Just wondering-- Larry
Reply to
Lp1331 1p1331

You got 2 dozen answers and nobody mentioned the required disconnect at a water heater. That is where you transition from the cable (RX or UF) to the flex and the discrete wires. As for a cable, how would you secure it? You can use a flex whip without supporting it. A cable needs to be secured within a foot of the termination and supported, following the building finish. I know we have all seen cables going to water heaters but it is a violation. So is the lack of a disconnect.

Reply to
gfretwell

Pretty durn good reason, I'd say!!!

Reply to
clare

Which IS what the code allows - the furring strip supports the cable and makes it difficult for people to hang things from the whire - which is the intent.

I "believe" it needs to be a minimum 1X3, but I could be wrong.

Reply to
clare

I am installing a disconnect near the breaker box (subpanel with a 30A breaker), and running the wire (UF at this point) along the side of a 2x2 under the floor joists (in the crawl space) in a 16 foot run to the water heater.

I had planned on just pulling the UF up through the floor (possibly through a flexible steel conduit at that point) and terminating the UF and steel conduit at the water heater.

Jon

Reply to
Jon Danniken

On 11/15/2009 7:19 AM Existential Angst spake thus:

It suffices for me. Gas water heater or electric water, take your choice.

Reply to
David Nebenzahl

*The circuit breaker can be used as a disconnect if it is within sight of the water heater or if it is capable of being locked in the open position. Otherwise you can just put a two pole 30 amp toggle switch near the water heater.

If you use metal conduit to sleeve the cable it will need to be grounded. Better to sleeve it with PVC or just run metal conduit the whole length of the run and use individual conductors instead of cable which would be cheaper and easier than pulling cable in conduit.

Personally I would not use UF in this instance because it is not needed and not worth the extra money and hassle for the little benefit. If you want protection from moisture use PVC conduit and pull individual conductors. PVC is easy to work with, you can strap it to the underside of the beams, you can bend pieces by heating them in your oven, and the cost will be cheaper than cable. From the disconnect switch box at the heater location you can run a piece of flexible conduit either metal or plastic to the water heater. If it were my house I would run EMT or a combination of EMT and Greenfield, but I have benders and know how to work with that.

Reply to
John Grabowski

The disconnect has to be within site of the water heater.

Reply to
gfretwell

He mentioned the original wires so it's not about replacing something else.

Sure it could be a bunch of things, but we're curious which.

And this certainly explains it. Thanks. Even 10 words would have been enough, but the pictures are better.

Reply to
mm

That's good to know. gfr had me scared.

Even for individual connectors, if there are 90^ or even 45^ bends, or more than one, in the PVC, isn't it hard to pull them? Does a "leader" have to be put in before everything is glued together?

It sounds impossible to pull Romex through 90^ PVC bend.

EMT? Greenfield?

Reply to
mm

*The code limits a total of 360 degrees worth of bends in a conduit run without condulets or junction boxes. However a good practice is to keep it to three 90's or less for ease of pulling. Pulling through four 90's can be hard work. No need to put a "Leader" in the conduit during assembly. Thats what vacuums and fishtapes are for. Pulling romex into conduit is definitely more work than individual conductors, but if the conduit is sized right and you have plenty of La Forcea Bruta the cable will go.
*Electrically Metallic Tubing and Flexible Metal Conduit.
Reply to
John Grabowski

Isn't lots of your existing house wiring in your crawl? All the wire I have ever seen in a crawl is ordinary house wire. And stapled to the bottom of the floor joists. The crawl is ok for ordinary wire. And you can wire tie it to the cold water pipe to get to the top of the heater. You do not need romex, uf, or conduit. Or furring strips.

Reply to
jamesgangnc

Isn't lots of your existing house wiring in your crawl? All the wire I have ever seen in a crawl is ordinary house wire. And stapled to the bottom of the floor joists. The crawl is ok for ordinary wire. And you can wire tie it to the cold water pipe to get to the top of the heater. You do not need romex, uf, or conduit. Or furring strips.

LOL.

Reply to
John Grabowski

And it looks like 14-2 besides, which isn't *nearly* heavy enough for a water heater.

Reply to
Doug Miller

1x2 will work just fine.
Reply to
Doug Miller

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