conduit filled with water/dirt

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Well i thought ive seen it all. How many codes can i come up with that says its a violation to install thhn/thwn wire in conduit that needs to be abandon that is filled with mud and water??

I hear others claim 'well thnn is oil and water resistant'. But thats not the point. Do i think something will happen right away, no, but this is just unacceptable to me as a temporary fix (about a year) without just running new circuits. ok im done venting.
 

jrannis

Senior Member
brother said:
Well i thought ive seen it all. How many codes can i come up with that says its a violation to install thhn/thwn wire in conduit that needs to be abandon that is filled with mud and water??

I hear others claim 'well thnn is oil and water resistant'. But thats not the point. Do i think something will happen right away, no, but this is just unacceptable to me as a temporary fix (about a year) without just running new circuits. ok im done venting.

All of our underground conduits are filled with water that only superman can see through. See lots of THWN, THW, TW AND XHHW2 in them. They seem ok.

I usually swab an unknown pipe out before I use it
 

ultramegabob

Senior Member
Location
Indiana
possibly you could interpret pulling wire through a conduit filled with dirt with being the same as being in direct contact with earth? so any wire you pulled through would need to be rated as direct burial....
 
ultramegabob said:
possibly you could interpret pulling wire through a conduit filled with dirt with being the same as being in direct contact with earth? so any wire you pulled through would need to be rated as direct burial....


Thats about as close as i could get on a code. it just seems like this is just 'hack' work to me. only direct burial cable should be allowed like this!!
 

Don S.

Member
Conduit full of water and dirt

Conduit full of water and dirt

It?s not the water and dirt (that?s dirt, not metallic trash, concrete chips, etc) that?s the problem. It?s the guys pulling and feeding who damage the, otherwise impervious, insulation who set the stage for failure.
 

steve66

Senior Member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
Engineer
I'm wondering how all that dirt & water got in there. Did it just seep in through the couplings, or is there a big gaping hole somewhere in the run.

You could always swab out the conduit and run a mandrell through it.

Is there already a pull string? If not, getting that in might be the hard part.
 

pete m.

Senior Member
Location
Ohio
Have your apprentice stand at the far end of the run and you at the other with a CO2 canister... tell him to let you know when all the dirt and water is blown out of the pipe.:D :D
 

alfiesauce

Senior Member
Be sure not to use any chemical cleaners while trying to clean it. Though I think there are some approved ones out there now. If it's metal pipe be safe and run a ground through it too if you end up using it
 

360Youth

Senior Member
Location
Newport, NC
Don S. said:
It?s not the water and dirt (that?s dirt, not metallic trash, concrete chips, etc) that?s the problem. It?s the guys pulling and feeding who damage the, otherwise impervious, insulation who set the stage for failure.

It seems to me conduit fill would become an issue.

I ran two 3" inch lines under a garage and into mech room for a house we are doing right now and when it came time to pull the wire I could not even push a fishtape for all the water in the pipe. I had a slight panic attack thinking my conduit got craked during concrete pour but after wetvac and leaf blower action we were left with only damp location instead of submersible. Whew. :smile:
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
brother said:
Well i thought ive seen it all. How many codes can i come up with that says its a violation to install thhn/thwn wire in conduit that needs to be abandon that is filled with mud and water??

I hear others claim 'well thnn is oil and water resistant'. But thats not the point. Do i think something will happen right away, no, but this is just unacceptable to me as a temporary fix (about a year) without just running new circuits. ok im done venting.

Most conduits underground end up with water and mud in them eventually.

I would be mostly worried about damaging the wires pulling them through the crud. I'd want to see the conduit cleaned out before trying to pull wires through it.
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
I bet a trailer mounted air compressor would work wonders on a muddy/water filled conduit. Fortunately, I haven't needed to do that yet...;)
 

360Youth

Senior Member
Location
Newport, NC
Cow said:
I bet a trailer mounted air compressor would work wonders on a muddy/water filled conduit. Fortunately, I haven't needed to do that yet...;)


As I said earlier, we used a leaf blower (only about 22' of pipe).
 

ultramegabob

Senior Member
Location
Indiana
Cow said:
I bet a trailer mounted air compressor would work wonders on a muddy/water filled conduit. Fortunately, I haven't needed to do that yet...;)

I did that once on an old rigid conduit under a parkinglot that was full of sand and rust, it blew crap 30' into the air:grin:
 

e57

Senior Member
Run a hose to it - and let it run until it runs clear - swab - repeat.... Swab some more.... Big deal - dirt in conduit, are you looking to dig it up and do it over???? :rolleyes:
 
e57 said:
Run a hose to it - and let it run until it runs clear - swab - repeat.... Swab some more.... Big deal - dirt in conduit, are you looking to dig it up and do it over???? :rolleyes:



Putting a good amount of yellow 77 in front of your last swab could made the pull a lot easier. (lube is our friend)
 
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