Air Pressure Testing Conduit

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curt swartz

Electrical Contractor - San Jose, CA
Location
San Jose, CA
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Electrical Contractor
Today I stopped by a Cabana/ADU/Swimming Pool project we are wiring to drop off materials for my guys. I was walking past the large plumbing manifold the pool company had at the equipment pad and noticed something I hand not seen before. They had tied (5) 1" PVC conduits for pool lights together with plumbing Tee's to a single pressure gauge and had them under air test. I guess they do this to identify if someone damages the conduits prior to the equipment install.

In my area typically the pool plumbing contractor will install all underground conduits when they install the plumbing/gas piping. Their electrician will come in at the end of the project to install electrical equipment, pull wires, etc.
 
Conduit is not intended to be water tight. PVC probably is. Rigid isn’t. Air will leak through the threaded fittings since it is dry fitted.

Potable water pipe is supposed to hold 500 PSI for 10 seconds (DIPRA).
 
curt swartz said:
Today I stopped by a Cabana/ADU/Swimming Pool project we are wiring to drop off materials for my guys. I was walking past the large plumbing manifold the pool company had at the equipment pad and noticed something I hand not seen before. They had tied (5) 1" PVC conduits for pool lights together with plumbing Tee's to a single pressure gauge and had them under air test. I guess they do this to identify if someone damages the conduits prior to the equipment install.

In my area typically the pool plumbing contractor will install all underground conduits when they install the plumbing/gas piping. Their electrician will come in at the end of the project to install electrical equipment, pull wires, etc.
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That sounds like the only reason you would do something like that. I wonder how they sealed the other ends at the light.
 
I've always understood that plumbers are not supposed to pressure test PVC with air. Reason being that it can explode and shards of plastic are like shrapnel. They pressure test with water. In this case I suppose 5-10 PSI of air just to see if it holds pressure can't be too dangerous.

-Hal
 
All of the plumbing tests I've seen invlove plugging the outlets and filling the pipe with water. In a high rise building they may do 4-5 floors at a time. The test in the OP is for electrical raceways not plumbing so I guess that air is OK if they use a low pressure.
 
When we built a master bedroom/bathroom on a house years ago (we're licensed for commercial and residential improvement, too), to test the drain system, we used an inflatable bladder to temporarily block the drain.

We then used a hose to fill the system up to the top of the vent, and checked the level a day or three later. After the test, the bladder is removed and a regular plug screwed in place, and can be used as a clean-out later.

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The purpose of this test is to see if the conduit leaks water. Since the pool light niche is underwater level, if the electrical conduit has a leak , the pool now has a leak. Pool light conduits are notorious for being the cause of a pool leaking. Pool light conduits get hit with stakes when they're doing the concrete decks all the time. One of the major architects in our area for commercial swimming pools has it in the specifications that all pool light conduits must be pressure tested.

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