Branch Circuit Raceway Question?

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rwalker125

New member
Location
SF Bay Area, Ca.
Hello All,

I am new to the forum so bear with me.....I work for a university (Electrical) and they occasionally also hire outside contractors to perform work so here is my question with regards to acceptable raceways for branch circuits.

Can existing 277v light fixtures and their supporting raceways (conduits) be used as raceways for separate 120v standard use (receptacles) branch circuits? I had a contractor actually pull the 120v branch circuits from a 120/208v panel into a 277/480v panel to utilize the lighting circuit conduits to eliminate having to run new conduit, the new circuits also pass thru every light fixture...... I have personally never seen this done, is this an acceptable practice as per the NEC? Thanks in advance for any feedback!
 

GoldDigger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
IMO the cheesiest part is the use of the luminaire wire space for totally unrelated circuits. Running through the other voltage panel comes in second, and sharing the conduit is a distant third.
 

MasterTheNEC

CEO and President of Electrical Code Academy, Inc.
Location
McKinney, Texas
Occupation
CEO
Yes, as stated by Dennis (what we agree twice in one day...it's a miracle) and others to be aware of any possible adjustments or corrections involved. However, on the second question I would also direct you to view 312.8 as well to ensure the routing of the specific conductors from one system, into another systems enclosure, then using the same raceway, meets all of the compliance requirements in 312.8, most notable item (3) and 200.6(A) and (D) (if applicable) since you will no doubt have different systems involved here. Also something that may come to mind is "box fill" changes that the original installers of the junction boxes for only the 277V systems never considered since they only figured 277V circuits would be located within. Just things to think about.

Now I better stop...because when I see "supporting" raceways my mind begins to wander to...well, supporting issues and so i will assume you mean supporting in terms of the luminaries themselves are actually supported by a junction box(s) to which the raceways terminate to...it may help me sleep better.

In terms of Cheesy....I've probably seen worse !..Heck I know I have seen worse......;) Sometimes even code compliant is not "Pretty"!

But considering its 5:00PM (ish) here (quitting time) I refuse to let my brain think about it any more (or less). Welcome to the Forum !
 

jimdavis

Senior Member
Your fixtures would need to be listed for use as a raceway or identified for through-wiring. Otherwise that is not a code-compliant install- see(410.64).

The company I work for has pretty high standards. I can't think of any circumstances under which we would do something like that.
 

MasterTheNEC

CEO and President of Electrical Code Academy, Inc.
Location
McKinney, Texas
Occupation
CEO
Ahh..did not notice the through the luminaries part. I guess it could be possible as I have seen them..but doubtful.
 
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