kherrPremium
join:2000-09-04
Collinsville, IL Reviews:
 ·Charter
| Wiring for geni inlet Although I wanted to install generator capability into the house before the storm, I have read all the threads and found more efficient/ better methods. Installing an interlock in the main panel is a much more streamlined/easier method than what I was going to do. With the outside wiring going under an overhang of the house, what size pvc conduit do I need to pull 4-#10 strands of wire? I don’t want to go too small(PITA to pull) or too big (extra $$$). The area under the overhang (8’ wide) is too iffy to run the gen. there. It’s sloped and only 6’ high max and that area is access to the basement door. I can’t really just mount the inlet on the other side of the panel wall because if it were running, there’d be a cord to trip-on whether it was dark or not. I’d need about 20’ of conduit and 2-45 sweeps. |
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 John GaltForward, MarchPremium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
kudos:5 | Use 3/4"...it is more robust than 1/2" PVC, and the price is not that much more. |
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 alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC
kudos:1 | reply to kherr
I have ran 2 different PVC conduits with both having 4 wires of #10.
3/4" was tight! And this was with lubricant and stranded wiring!
1 1/4" was easy.
So, don't even think of "settling" for 1/2"
You can settle with 3/4.
But you'll be better off with 1" |
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kherrPremium
join:2000-09-04
Collinsville, IL | Sounds like 1" it is. I know there's a big jump in price to 1-1/4 from when I was doing some other work years ago. |
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 IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA
·Comcast
 ·Verizon Broadban..
| reply to kherr
I made the mistake of using 1/2 with 10-3 Romex (when installing the transfer switch) and I could not pull the wire through the conduit body so I had to splice it in the conduit body, which was a nightmare as I had a hard time fitting the wire nuts in.
I made the smart choice of installing the transfer switch in good weather. The HD in Enfield, CT had plenty in stock and they not flying off the shelves.
The Pioneer Valley (Springfield/Chicopee/Holyoke, Massachusetts) area got spared from the worst of Sandy. Once you got out of the city limits (rural parts of Western Mass), they had widespread power outages. Fortunately here we had very little structure damage. From what I see on the Weather Channel, New Jersey looked like New Orleans after Katrina.
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Romney-Ryan and Scott Brown are the Right Choice as they are Hope & Change you can count on. |
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 mattmagPremium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois
kudos:3 | said by IowaCowboy:I made the mistake of using 1/2 with 10-3 Romex (when installing the transfer switch) and I could not pull the wire through the conduit body so I had to splice it in the conduit body, which was a nightmare as I had a hard time fitting the wire nuts in.
Well your first mistake was running NM cable through conduit. And, are you serious? You really spliced the cable inside the conduit with wire nuts???? |
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 jjoshuaPremium
join:2001-06-01
Scotch Plains, NJ
kudos:3 | reply to kherr
Ugly's Electrical Reference will tell you what size conduit you need for what size wiring. It will also tell you the voltage drop that you will encounter using different gauge wiring based on the length of the run. |
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John GaltForward, MarchPremium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
kudos:5 | reply to mattmag
said by mattmag:said by IowaCowboy:I made the mistake of using 1/2 with 10-3 Romex (when installing the transfer switch) and I could not pull the wire through the conduit body so I had to splice it in the conduit body, which was a nightmare as I had a hard time fitting the wire nuts in.
Well your first mistake was running NM cable through conduit. And, are you serious? You really spliced the cable inside the conduit with wire nuts???? Not in the pipe...and yes, NM in conduit is NG. 
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The most powerful weapon in the world is ignorance. Politicians exploit it to achieve almost anything they want.
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 LazManPremium
join:2003-03-26
canada | reply to mattmag
said by mattmag:Well your first mistake was running NM cable through conduit. And, are you serious? You really spliced the cable inside the conduit with wire nuts????
Check out some of his other posts... He does all kinds of crazy stuff... Doubly so because he rent's; doubly so AGAIN because it's an MDU...
3 x 10ga through a 1/2 would be a little snug, but should be completely do-able. Using the right materials, of course... |
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IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA Reviews:
·Comcast
·Verizon Broadban..
| reply to mattmag
said by mattmag:said by IowaCowboy:I made the mistake of using 1/2 with 10-3 Romex (when installing the transfer switch) and I could not pull the wire through the conduit body so I had to splice it in the conduit body, which was a nightmare as I had a hard time fitting the wire nuts in.
Well your first mistake was running NM cable through conduit. And, are you serious? You really spliced the cable inside the conduit with wire nuts???? The conduit is on the exterior portion of the transfer switch install. The wire came out inches above the concrete porch so I had to raise the inlet box a few feet above the porch. I used PVC conduit. The splice was inside a conduit elbow.
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Romney-Ryan and Scott Brown are the Right Choice as they are Hope & Change you can count on. |
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 MsradellP.E.Premium
join:2008-12-25
Louisville, KY
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| said by IowaCowboy:The splice was inside a conduit elbow. Not allowable under any code! All junctions must be accessible. |
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IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA Reviews:
·Comcast
·Verizon Broadban..
| said by Msradell:said by IowaCowboy:The splice was inside a conduit elbow. Not allowable under any code! All junctions must be accessible. This is what the wiring is done it and it is easily accessible. » www.homedepot.com/Electrical-Ele···mvJG9KK0--
Romney-Ryan and Scott Brown are the Right Choice as they are Hope & Change you can count on. |
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mattmagPremium,ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-04-09
NW Illinois
kudos:3 |
I don't care how you justify it, its a hack job to run NM in conduit and then have to splice it mid-run because you couldn't pull it through.
It's just not that big of a deal to get the proper single wires and pull them as it should be done.
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alkizmo
join:2007-06-25
Pierrefonds, QC
kudos:1 | Are you even allowed to use NM in conduit?
In the CEC tables, the conduit fill table lists TW and RW.
In the "Conditions of use" table, there isn't any NM listed in conduits (dry, damp, wet), only RW and TW, again. |
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John GaltForward, MarchPremium
join:2004-09-30
Happy Camp
kudos:5 | said by alkizmo:Are you even allowed to use NM in conduit?
The short answer is 'no'. |
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 AMD PhreakPork eating crusaderPremium
join:2003-12-14
Cell Tower
kudos:1 | reply to IowaCowboy
Hack.
Pull it out and do it again.... |
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