Burial of EMT

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kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Good idea or not, EMT is now allowed to be buried according to 2017 NEC. 358.10(B) kind of was overhauled. I guess you could bury EMT before but it just mentioned corrosion protection and suitable for the the condition. Now that section is a little more descriptive.
 
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Location
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hbiss said:
The only place I would recommend burying EMT is in the mojave desert. To answer your question, you would use compression fittings. :happyyes:

-Hal
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it's pretty alkaline there, up to 9.0. it won't hold up well.

and we all know EMT won't hold up most anywhere. why
you'd consider it is a bit of a mystery to me, with PVC being
cheaper, faster, and better.
 
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macmikeman

Senior Member
Location
Planet macmikeman
I don't even like putting emt into concrete pours any more. PVC for cement and underground for me. But I do remember a time when we were not allowed to run pvc in Lee County Florida yet by local inspectors. So it was either rigid or emt with self coated lap seal all along the run in underground runs. As I recall, mostly sand there anyway. And UF was the other big deal around there, something almost never seen direct buried in these Islands where I have worked for over forty years now. Emt in concrete pours even up twenty stories off grade level and it turns to rust after a few decades, collapses sometimes and you can't get new wire in or old wire out.
 
Fulthrotl

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Location
HB, CA (19 Hrs. 22 Min. from Winged Horses)
Occupation
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kwired said:
Sure it is, just takes a lot longer to degrade.
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yeah, it does, but it doesn't break down very well, it just gets smaller and smaller.
at some point, at least with the stuff floating in the ocean, it gets small enough
to re enter the food chain, and migrate upward.

whee: combining dinner and recycling in one simple process.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch

however, it's better than emt in dirt. just sayin'.
 
kwired

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
JFletcher said:
RMC can be buried shallower, and a guy is not likely to ram a shovel (or even a backhoe bucket or ditch-witch) thru RMC like UF cable, which gets a little more important as the voltage goes from 120 / 240 to 277 / 480.
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Can depend on size of the backhoe and you have to factor in size of RMC as well. 1/2 RMC - I can do some damage with my mini-excavator, 4 inch RMC - not so easy. 1/2 RMC and a big excavator - not much of a challenge.
 
Coppersmith

Coppersmith

Senior Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I recently ran 60 feet of 1.25" IMC buried with 6" cover in order to avoid having to trench over 18" to put PVC in. It's a lot less hand digging.
 
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petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
kwired said:
What about RMC or IMC on certain occasions or even HDPE?
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I can't recall seeing HDPE ever. I am sure it is in use somewhere but I don't recall it.

JFletcher said:
RMC can be buried shallower, and a guy is not likely to ram a shovel (or even a backhoe bucket or ditch-witch) thru RMC like UF cable, which gets a little more important as the voltage goes from 120 / 240 to 277 / 480.
Click to expand...

I guess if you are trenching by hand 6 inches deep is a lot easier than 18 inches.
 
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