EMT in a Horse Stable?

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wrobotronic

wrobotronic

Senior Member
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Colorado
Hello All,
I was wondering the take on using EMT in a horse stable. From looking at 547 and 358 I do not think it is allowed and I should use rigid or PVC.

Thank you as always,
WROBO
 
wrobotronic said:
I agree with using pvc. But is my interpretation on EMT correct? Customer is insisting on EMT and I want to be sure my evaluation is correct... EMT is not permitted in ag buildings....
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We put EMT in ag buildings all the time. We're on a dairy project right now with 24,000 ft of EMT installed for barn lighting, so it can be done.

We make a judgement call of what's appropriate. Would I use EMT everywhere on a dairy or ag building? Absolutely not. Do I use it in a steel dairy barn up high away from cows and manure? Sure.

Down low at ground level, it's a mix of pvc, pvc coated rigid, and rigid depending on the location.

Your best bet would be to run it past your inspector. There's no sense having to do it twice if your inspector doesn't agree with what you install.
 
If it is within reach of the animals even RMC doesn't always totally withstand the abuse it may see, but holds up the longest.
 
That's exactly right Kwired.

I should add, I never install it where they can reach it. Ever. Not even rigid.

If I have to run it through an area in pens or the like, I have someone weld in steel guarding out of drill stem, plate, you name it so the animals can't even touch it.

As a matter of fact, we're picking up a new dairy customer that mentioned their previous electrician ran rigid conduit down a fence right where the cows could reach it. The cows were starting to tear the conduit up and he had to unhook the wiring in it because he was afraid the cows were going to short it out.
 
Cow said:
That's exactly right Kwired.

I should add, I never install it where they can reach it. Ever. Not even rigid.

If I have to run it through an area in pens or the like, I have someone weld in steel guarding out of drill stem, plate, you name it so the animals can't even touch it.

As a matter of fact, we're picking up a new dairy customer that mentioned their previous electrician ran rigid conduit down a fence right where the cows could reach it. The cows were starting to tear the conduit up and he had to unhook the wiring in it because he was afraid the cows were going to short it out.
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I don't like to put anything within reach of animals either, but have had occasions in winter where a watering unit lost underground line, ground is frozen and you need to run RMC on the fence or something to get them going again. This starts out as temp situation but usually ends up being permanent. Most breeds of beef cattle won't mess with it other then if you put it in a convenient place to rub against as a scratching device. Since you are around the dairy industry, you probably know very well that Holsteins seem to be the hardest on equipment, anything in their reach better be pretty solid and secure, as they will mess with everything they can.

A feed yard I done occasional work for used to have holstiens on it, they weren't milking them, but I believe they would transfer them to dairy farms. Anyhow they managed to reach through the fencing and pop the lid off a quazite box outside the pen and chew insulation off all the conductors inside. This was for area lighting and was off during the day - so none of them were electrocuted. I would have never designed it that way, but at same time any other breed of cattle wouldn't have bothered it either.
 
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