Conductor damaged from wrong conduit body?

[xguard]

I have a job where the contractor installed 4-1/0 and 1-2awg G XHHW conductors in conduit bodies that are rated for a maximum of 3-1/0 conductors. I plan to have them replace the conduit bodies with the ones rated for the right size/qty conductors. I'm also planning to have the wires Megged and visually inspect the insulation. Is it likely the conductors were damaged and would these tests be adequate to verify they are okay? Or would it be better to scrap the wire and have them pull new?

 

[winnie]

My guess: if the wire was successfully installed and is not damaged, then replacing the conduit bodies with properly sized ones will introduce the probability of damage. Unless you have a teleporter you can't get the existing conduit body out without pulling the wire out, and then you have to pull the wire back in.

What is the actual risk of having the undersized conduit body if the conductors are not damaged? Off the top of my head I have two answers: 1) The wire was actually damaged during the installation, in a way that will accelerate aging and eventual failure. 2) The more constrained conduit body will accelerate insulation wear due to wire motion (eg. vibration, thermal expansion) and will accelerate aging and eventual failure. I personally consider 1) a possibility that you should investigate and 2) unlikely.

But if you subject this installation to additional scrutiny to check for installation damage and you find none, then I'd be inclined to leave it alone.

 

[infinity]

If the contractor was careful with the installation it's possible that the conductors weren't damaged. A megger test would confirm that.