compression fittings ratings for EMT

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reyamkram

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Hanover park, il
Hello to all, first of all I would like to thank you all for your for replays, it is a big help.

From what I understand, regular compression fittings are for damp location, and rain tight compression fittings are for wet location.
Can I used a regular compression fitting in a wet location. I was talking to a co-worker, and they believe a regular compression fitting can be use in a wet location.

What are your profession in put,
Thank you, for any and all in put.
 
reyamkram said:
Hello to all, first of all I would like to thank you all for your for replays, it is a big help.

From what I understand, regular compression fittings are for damp location, and rain tight compression fittings are for wet location.
Can I used a regular compression fitting in a wet location. I was talking to a co-worker, and they believe a regular compression fitting can be use in a wet location.

What are your profession in put,
Thank you, for any and all in put.
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It is normal to find water in conduits of any type. We don’t use thread sealant on threaded conduit. Electrical is not plumbing. Conduit is support and protection…a raceway. It is not “pipe”.
 
reyamkram said:
Can I used a regular compression fitting in a wet location. I was talking to a co-worker, and they believe a regular compression fitting can be use in a wet location.
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No, fittings installed in wet location fittings have to be listed for wet locations. Standard EMT compression fittings are not so listed.

358.42 Couplings and Connectors. Couplings and connectors used with EMT shall be made up tight. Where buried in
masonry or concrete, they shall be concrete tight type. Where installed in wet locations, they shall comply with 314.15.
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314.15 Damp or Wet Locations. In damp or wet locations, boxes, conduit bodies, outlet box hoods, and fittings shall be
placed or equipped so as to prevent moisture from entering or accumulating within the box, conduit body, or fitting. Boxes,
conduit bodies, outlet box hoods, and fittings installed in wet locations shall be listed for use in wet locations. Approved
drainage openings not smaller than 3 mm (1∕8 in.) and not larger than 6 mm (1∕4 in.) in diameter shall be permitted to be
installed in the field in boxes or conduit bodies listed for use in damp or wet locations. For installation of listed drain fittings,
larger openings are permitted to be installed in the field in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions.
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So years ago I believe they only used compression fitting for emt in wet locations. Not exactly sure when the code changed. However now you must use rain tight compression fitting when installing emt in a wet locations. The difference is inside the rain tight fitting there's a plastic ring that when compressed creates a seal around the "conduit". U can see this if u take the fitting apart. Also the emt rain tight connector usually has a rubber ring around the threads just before the lock nut. Also depends on manufacturer but I've noticed they usually make the compression portion of the fitting a different color. I believe this is so an inspector can see the difference and know it's a rain tight fitting. Hope this helps.

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I am in agreement with Post #3 and #4. That said, one of the supply houses I used covers a large area and about 1% of the EMT compression fittings thety sell are actually "raintight", a majority of those to jobs at government installations.
 
Im from Washington and it rains 9 months out of the year probably why they're a common item out here .

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infinity said:
No, fittings installed in wet location fittings have to be listed for wet locations. Standard EMT compression fittings are not so listed.
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Which is absolutely asinine and a money grab in my opinion. The code is very explicit that the inside of a conduit outside a building is a wet location, so WHY do the connecters have to be listed raintight? Makes zero sense.
 
Strathead said:
Which is absolutely asinine and a money grab in my opinion. The code is very explicit that the inside of a conduit outside a building is a wet location, so WHY do the connecters have to be listed raintight? Makes zero sense.
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And it makes even less sense when you know that threaded couplings on rigid and IMC leak far more than the original EMT (non-rain-tight) compression couplings.
 
Strathead said:
Which is absolutely asinine and a money grab in my opinion. The code is very explicit that the inside of a conduit outside a building is a wet location, so WHY do the connecters have to be listed raintight? Makes zero sense.
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I agree, another crappy code requirement. The worst part is that those fittings come with a washer that gets destroyed when you tighten the locknut.
 
Strathead said:
Which is absolutely asinine and a money grab in my opinion. The code is very explicit that the inside of a conduit outside a building is a wet location, so WHY do the connecters have to be listed raintight? Makes zero sense.
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Don't get me started on rain tight EMT fittings😡. In addition to what you said, raceways are already required to be arranged to drain per code. Besides the stupidity of the whole thing, I also can't believe UL approves these things as rain tight - can't tell you how many "rain tight" EMT conduit runs ive seen filled with water. I want to submit a code change as follows: " delete the rain tight fitting requirement. Substantiation: its a pointless requirement and they don't work anyway."
 
If my memory serves me, the change came about when someone at UL got a bee up their _____ & tested compression fitting for water infiltration, and the rest is infamy, there are people here that should be able to either debunk or confirm that.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
There is no requirement for such a listing or marking for threaded couplings....they are straight threaded and cannot be made rain-tight.
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Really? My code book says this,
"344.6 Listing Requirements. RMC, factory elbows and
couplings, and associated fittings shall be listed."

What part of that is an exception for threaded couplings?
 
Strathead said:
Really? My code book says this,
"344.6 Listing Requirements. RMC, factory elbows and
couplings, and associated fittings shall be listed."

What part of that is an exception for threaded couplings?
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I think that Don's comment was that there is no requirement for rigid couplings to be raintight.
 
Strathead said:
Really? My code book says this,
"344.6 Listing Requirements. RMC, factory elbows and
couplings, and associated fittings shall be listed."

What part of that is an exception for threaded couplings?
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The couplings are listed, but there is nothing in the product standard that says the are rain tight.
 
I could be wrong however I think if you get a box of them. It says on the box rain tight & they r ul listed. However if u just got a handful with no box there's no marking to specify rain tight.

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don_resqcapt19 said:
The couplings are listed, but there is nothing in the product standard that says the are rain tight.
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My bad. I realize it is only the compression type, and I couldn't find a 2 1/2" compression Rigid coupling that was listed a few months ago. Didn't get busted though:oops: Don't like breaking the rules when I can avoid it.
 
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