Chicago homes

Status
Not open for further replies.
D

danickstr

Senior Member
Is it true that in Chicago there is no wiring other than in conduit? What type of conduit is allowed (if so)?
 
danickstr said:
Is it true that in Chicago there is no wiring other than in conduit? What type of conduit is allowed (if so)?
Click to expand...
My understanding is that even the residential wiring must be done in pipe. Someone will chime in soon.
 
buckofdurham said:
Imagine piping around all the lvl beams they use today.
Click to expand...

I think they design for those situation. I also think they use metal studs. Not certain.

NYC was the same when I worked there but BX was allowed-- no nm cable at all. Certainly easier than pipe.
 
NYC was wise enough to relax that rule, Chicago not so much.

Chicago folks love to justify this insane rule as the day is long.
- Future upgrades
- T-shooting
- Repair/replacement
- Yada, yada, yada

NO amount of propaganda will convince me that a single or two family residence is better off being wired with conduit. And there is absolutely NO justification that it is "necessary".

ONE city in this great country of ours thinks they know better than ALL the rest, even after what, 120 some years of electrification, and how many editions of NFPA70.
 
My kind of town, Chicago is.....

Yes, it's true, all wiring must be in conduit. FMC is allowed for fishing down walls, for light fixtures in drop ceilings, to motors (for vibration purposes)

Now, if the ceiling space is used for plenum air then we use plenum junction boxes, plenum whips, compression fittings, etc.

The Chicago code was very demanding in the past. In the past few years it's lightnened up. Fire alarm systems were very involved. No addressable systems, all of the initiating circuits had to return to the F/A panel for monitoring via a separate raceway. I did one, not fun.

The worst were the inspectors who were 'politically' appointed.
 
speedypetey said:
NYC was wise enough to relax that rule, Chicago not so much.

Chicago folks love to justify this insane rule as the day is long.
- Future upgrades
- T-shooting
- Repair/replacement
- Yada, yada, yada

NO amount of propaganda will convince me that a single or two family residence is better off being wired with conduit. And there is absolutely NO justification that it is "necessary".

ONE city in this great country of ours thinks they know better than ALL the rest, even after what, 120 some years of electrification, and how many editions of NFPA70.
Click to expand...

I believe there was a study done a short time back that compared the costs of installing conduit versus 'rope'. The difference was around 11% if I remember correctly. I think Don has the percentage.

Conduit does allow for changes unlike 'rope'. Due to conduit being installed in homes decades ago when it was time to replace the cloth covered wire we didn't destroy the house doing so. The old wire was pulled out of the conduit and new wire pulled in. Try doing that with 'rope'

Conduit also offers better protection against damage from screws and nails. 'Rope' offers no such protection.
 
sparky 134 said:
Conduit does allow for changes unlike 'rope'. .
Click to expand...

That is just plain untrue.

Trust me when I tell you that electricians used to working with cables can make changes in finished homes just as well, if not easier then you can in pipe jobs.

See electricians from outside of Chicago are very familiar with both cable and pipe methods so they know from personal experience what can be done. :smile:

On the other hand an electrician from Chicago really does not have any cable experience and only knows what the brothers have told them.
 
sparky 134 said:
Fire alarm systems were very involved. No addressable systems, all of the initiating circuits had to return to the F/A panel for monitoring via a separate raceway. I did one, not fun.
Click to expand...

That is insane, plain and simple. There is no way those rules could ever be justified other than it makes more work for electricians.
 
iwire said:
See electricians from outside of Chicago are very familiar with both cable and pipe methods so they know from personal experience what can be done. :smile:
Click to expand...

LOL, I've just spend the past week installing recessed lighting in a 115 year old house. Lots of careful cutting, snaking, and the occasional patch where we couldn't get around an obstacle or corner.

Actually alterations in really old buildings are not that difficult. Since the original homes had no electricity, the first wiring methods (K&T, BX) were all snaked in, so you can simply use the old wiring methods to pull new NM cable in. :cool:
 
iwire said:
:grin:

It would have been much easier with EMT. :grin:
Click to expand...


I think the point was that if the house was run in EMT or any sort of conduit in the first place that the new wire could simply be pulled in.

You have to admit that we do use a lot of the existing pipe in commercial work.
 
growler said:
I think the point was that if the house was run in EMT or any sort of conduit in the first place that the new wire could simply be pulled in.
Click to expand...

Yes it could, do you think many homes are simply getting refreshed?

Lets say you have a single family home done in EMT and the HO wants to add a bunch of hi hats and switches.

How is EMT going to make that change easier?


You have to admit that we do use a lot of the existing pipe in commercial work.
Click to expand...

Sure, I use the existing pipe from panel out to a good location then come off that with cable to the final destination.
 
mdshunk said:
You guys seen that video on Chicago wiring? Something like "Chicago's solution to aged wiring". In the video, these guys do a service upgrand and pull all new THHN in the whole house and change to new devices in a day.
Click to expand...

I noticed that true to their tradition, they did not pull a ground wire in the EMT. I have no problem using the EMT for the ground path, but when the pipe is mostly site unseen like that, I would be hesitant to do so.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top