Trouble bending 2" EMT...kinks and scrunches

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tesi1

Member
Location
florida
THE STUFF SOLD AS CONDUIT

THE STUFF SOLD AS CONDUIT

there are all kinds of tricks to sometimes not kink or waffle the stuff they sell nowdays as conduit, i have had a greenlee 1818 bender for about 14 years,( bought it new)
it sometimes will bend 1-1/4, 1-1/2, and 2" emt conduit without kinks or waffles, i have tried every trick in the book sometimes they work and most of the times they do not work. greenlee blames it on the conduit maufactuer, & the manufacturers blame it on the bender. i have seen a 6'-3" 275 lb man hanging up in the air on the handle on
brand w... 2" emt conduit and would not bend, it must have been the structural grade emt or imatation chain link fence post conduit???, we have had brand w, and
brand a, kink every other bend, kick or offset, you can get one batch and it will bend ok, the next batch it will kink, split, waffle, or is so hard your bend will not be symetrical
or smooth. what they sell today for emt, imc, and rigid must come off of the same line a plumbers pipe it is hard to thread, bend, or work with in general, it will be
rusty and or rough inside. you can go into a renovation job where you are removing the old conduit and take the straight pieces and reuse them, they will bend and or thread easily. this new stuff nowdays is junk. the only conduit which we use most of the time anymore which is hard to get is republic. and no the manufacter does not stand
behind their product, on either the bender or the so called conduit.
 

krisinjersey

Senior Member
Use mine

Use mine

If you want to drive up here, I'll lend you my hydraulic. Let me know.
I try to avoid using prefab fittings because I've always seen our pipe work as our signature and a good crew can bend almost as fast as a coupling commando (no offense) but to each his own. We have an 882CB for the small pipe and an 881CT that runs upto 4" galv.
 

jeremysterling

Senior Member
Location
Austin, TX
I was using an older 1818 last Friday and the first 2" EMT 90 was perfect (and perfect kick) the second 90 had a very small dimple (yeeuh, I hid it with a touch of cold galv) the third 90 (of three 90's in run) wrinkled up horribly and effectively halted my production.

The fourth try folded up like a piece of 1/2" over your knee. It was 3:30PM, so I had a nice Memorial Day Weekend.

This old bender has a lot of slop.

This morning, I put a 2 pieces of 18 ga sheet metal between the roller and the follow bar and voila, bending success.
 

readydave8

re member
Location
Clarkesville, Georgia
Occupation
electrician
I was using an older 1818 last Friday and the first 2" EMT 90 was perfect (and perfect kick) the second 90 had a very small dimple (yeeuh, I hid it with a touch of cold galv) the third 90 (of three 90's in run) wrinkled up horribly and effectively halted my production.

The fourth try folded up like a piece of 1/2" over your knee. It was 3:30PM, so I had a nice Memorial Day Weekend.

This old bender has a lot of slop.

This morning, I put a 2 pieces of 18 ga sheet metal between the roller and the follow bar and voila, bending success.
sounds like letting bender cool down between uses is working
 

conmgt

Senior Member
Location
2 Phase Philly
If you want to drive up here, I'll lend you my hydraulic. Let me know.
I try to avoid using prefab fittings because I've always seen our pipe work as our signature and a good crew can bend almost as fast as a coupling commando (no offense) but to each his own. We have an 882CB for the small pipe and an 881CT that runs upto 4" galv.

First, thanks very much for the offer and I may need to take advantage of it.
Second, we're in agreement with pipe work. I have a lot of pride in my work and it's the pipe work that people can see. I love the look of well fitted pipe work and get compliments on mine all of the time. The more pipe work I do, the better I get plus you can't always prefab some installations. Some parts just need to be bent.
 
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Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~
Sounds to me like it's the Chinese steel or the conduit itself comes from China.:thumbsdown:

-Hal

don't get me started. i got 1,500' of 3/4" EMT delivered today, and the ends are "lumpy".
that is to say, they are not round. if you cut the pipe back a foot, it's still lumpy.

you have to turn a steel coupling till it finds a place that it starts, and then tap it on with
a hammer. something that is convenient to do 35' up in the air on a zoom boom.
every.single.time.

this stuff is crap.

i am so sick of poorly manufactured stuff. threads that don't fit. locknuts that don't lock.
no quality control. GRC that won't fit on a coupling without cutting new threads.

GRC hubs that will NOT accept a standard pipe taper.

they make a damn gauge for setting NPT threads. i have 1/2" and 3/4" inch ones, cause
i have machinists in the family tree. if the lowly son of a tool and die maker can have these
tools, can't a damn company in china afford a pair of them so that the crap they make fits
SOMETHING?

there. i pressed "pause" on the rant button. i think i need a cookie now.
thank you for letting me share.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
don't get me started. i got 1,500' of 3/4" EMT delivered today, and the ends are "lumpy".
that is to say, they are not round. if you cut the pipe back a foot, it's still lumpy.

you have to turn a steel coupling till it finds a place that it starts, and then tap it on with
a hammer. something that is convenient to do 35' up in the air on a zoom boom.
every.single.time.

this stuff is crap.

i am so sick of poorly manufactured stuff. threads that don't fit. locknuts that don't lock.
no quality control. GRC that won't fit on a coupling without cutting new threads.

GRC hubs that will NOT accept a standard pipe taper.

they make a damn gauge for setting NPT threads. i have 1/2" and 3/4" inch ones, cause
i have machinists in the family tree. if the lowly son of a tool and die maker can have these
tools, can't a damn company in china afford a pair of them so that the crap they make fits
SOMETHING?

there. i pressed "pause" on the rant button. i think i need a cookie now.
thank you for letting me share.

They may have a gauge. Problem is it too was made in China:lol:
 

Okie Sparky

Member
Location
NW Oklahoma
don't get me started. i got 1,500' of 3/4" EMT delivered today, and the ends are "lumpy".
that is to say, they are not round. if you cut the pipe back a foot, it's still lumpy.

you have to turn a steel coupling till it finds a place that it starts, and then tap it on with
a hammer. something that is convenient to do 35' up in the air on a zoom boom.
every.single.time.

this stuff is crap.

i am so sick of poorly manufactured stuff. threads that don't fit. locknuts that don't lock.
no quality control. GRC that won't fit on a coupling without cutting new threads.

GRC hubs that will NOT accept a standard pipe taper.

they make a damn gauge for setting NPT threads. i have 1/2" and 3/4" inch ones, cause
i have machinists in the family tree. if the lowly son of a tool and die maker can have these
tools, can't a damn company in china afford a pair of them so that the crap they make fits
SOMETHING?

there. i pressed "pause" on the rant button. i think i need a cookie now.
thank you for letting me share.


eewwwwww! Do I detect some animosity here.:D I feel your pain though, we get GRC pipe here that we can't thread with a pony threader, it will just tear the threads off after threading about 1/2 of the threads. We think the problem is that the pony runs a little fast than the 300. The 300 don't have a problem threading the conduit, only the pony, and sometimes a hand thread will too. We thought at first that the dies on the pony were chipped, they didn't look chipped, but we changed them out anyway. Same results, torn threads. Anyone had any clues or helpful hints.
 
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conmgt

Senior Member
Location
2 Phase Philly
Things were going well for a while. I had some kink free bends and then wham....5 in a row of kinked 90's. Sometimes I could feel it in the handle of the bender. The pressure would just ease up a little and then get hard again.

Is there such a thing as a fab shop for electrical like they have for sprinkler piping or commercial pliumbing? A place that will bend some sticks for you if you bring in the measurements?
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
Buy an electric bender, like a Greenlee 555, etc and don't look back. You'll wish you would've done it sooner.

We try to limit our 1818 to rigid, which it does well. EMT is nothing but frustration.
 

fmtjfw

Senior Member
We found with a Greenlee 555 that the adjustment under the rollers on the left is crucial. It has to be adjusted so that the rollers come fully up when you (or your heavy buddy) stands on the foot lever. If it doesn't come up fully you get kinks. Make sure you are using the EMT shoe and rollers.
 

conmgt

Senior Member
Location
2 Phase Philly
Anyone in/near Philly have a 555 I could borrow for an hour or two. I'd bring the EMT to your location with my measurements and make a few bends...no need to take it with me.
Krisinjersey offered his (thanks Kris) but he's a tad far.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
I'm not sure, but I don't think their dies meet the minimum radius requirements. Seemed like the last time I had some pipe bent at a muffler shop, they could bend some fairly tight 90's.

Their bends are not kink and scrunch free either.
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
KrisinNJersey lent me his 882 over the weekend. It made flawless bends. Thanks Kris!

Good deal. We have one of those as well, the few times I've used it the bends have been pretty much dead on for me as well. I often times forget we have it honestly....
 
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