Friday Picture of the Day - spot the violation

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I would of taken another picture more head on - but the room is only a few feet wide, and there were other conduits in the way.

If you look closely - you can see a screw that holds on the LB cover. Look for a gap where there shouldn't be a gap, and I think you will realize what some creative person did.
 
Looks more like the conduit is just touching the LB cover; I see a bit of a gap where it is sitting on the raised center part of the cover. Are there any conductors in the conduit and are they going thru a hole in the LB cover or is this just a spare pipe?
/mike
 
OK, ran a conduit thru the front (cover side) of the LB. Assume no bushing on end of that conduit, and conduit is not installed with proper connector. Possible support issue on conduit; possible damage to conductors; and 110.3(b).
 
n1ist said:
Looks more like the conduit is just touching the LB cover; I see a bit of a gap where it is sitting on the raised center part of the cover. Are there any conductors in the conduit and are they going thru a hole in the LB cover or is this just a spare pipe?
/mike
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It's not a spare pipe. You had to see it in person, but I could clearly see there were conductors coming out of the conduit into the LB.

John Arendt said:
OK, ran a conduit thru the front (cover side) of the LB. Assume no bushing on end of that conduit, and conduit is not installed with proper connector. Possible support issue on conduit; possible damage to conductors; and 110.3(b).
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Pretty close - as close as you could probably get without seeing it in person.

They stopped the conduit just short of the LB cover. So that's a definate yes on the support issue with the conduit. (The conduit 90'ed out the top of a switchboard to this LB. I think the only support for the entire run of conduit is the locknuts on the top of the switchboard.)

Again, I could see wires between the conduit and LB. So I can only assume they used a hole saw on the LB cover. So yes to the 110.3(B).

That's two violations so far, 3 if we count no bushing.
 
Add that the conduit run is not mechanically complete end to end, and not bonded as one end is floating at LB.

Inginuity of an installer....grade of 'a-' for creativity; 'f+' for code compliance and trade practices/workmanship.:lol:
 
I'd guess they built this around the conductors... 300.18(A)

Also, there may be a bending radius issue if the wires from the back of the LB don't pass straight through the cover.
 
There may be an issue of conductor derating IF there are any existing conductors that remained, and additional conductors from the non-compliant conduit installed thru this LB.
 
I'm not good at knowing exact section numbers but wherever it says you need access to the cables in the condulet.
 
ASG said:
I'm not good at knowing exact section numbers but wherever it says you need access to the cables in the condulet.
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314.29 Boxes, Conduit Bodies, and Handhole Enclosures
to Be Accessible. Boxes, conduit bodies, and handhole
enclosures shall be installed so that the wiring contained
in them can be rendered accessible without removing
any part of the building or, in underground circuits, without
excavating sidewalks, paving, earth, or other substance that
is to be used to establish the finished grade.
 
John Arendt said:
There may be an issue of conductor derating IF there are any existing conductors that remained, and additional conductors from the non-compliant conduit installed thru this LB.
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That's one I hadn't though of. I couldn't see if there were other wires in the LB, but I wouldn't doubt it.


ASG said:
I'm not good at knowing exact section numbers but wherever it says you need access to the cables in the condulet.
Click to expand...



That's one of the other ones I had in mind. Jumper has the code reference.

We've touched on some of these, but I see 110.12(A) - openings shall be guarded or shall provide protection equivalent to the enclosure - (I'm paraphrasing here - I can't copy & paste NEC text like jumper can). I also see 300.16 - if the conduit was allowed to end, a bushing would be required. And 300.18 - raceways shall be installed complete from end to end.

The last one I was thinking about had to do with installing the conductors. But I'm not exactly sure what paragraph it would be. The LB had to be a pull point to get the wires in the conduit, but there isn't enough space between the LB and the conduit to bend the conductors.
 
Looking at the pics, it appears that the original LB configuration was a conduit entering from the block wall and routed to the right parallel with the block wall. That would eliminate the use of the LB as a pull point for the conductors in the non-compliant conduit. I would venture that the conductors penetrate the block wall.

314.29, taken by it's words, may be a stretch...IF the conductors go straight thru this abomonation (pipe to LB) and thru the block wall to never-never land. The theory may be thrown out that removal of the modified cover will allow visual access to the conductors.

:lol::sick:
 
Ok
You were holding a piece of conduit close to the top of the LB while taking the picture.
Not sure about the other posters, but I can clearly see the cover over the LB and I can see clearly see the gap between the conduit and the LB.
The only otherwise thing I can see is the bottom screw of the LB cover being a little difficult to remove, but then again, accessible doesn't mean "WITHOUT ANY EFFORT".
I also can tell there's not gasket on the LB, but it doesn't seem we're talking about a wet location.
Last, it seems the LV cables are not strapped every 4'.
Now.....
If you tell me there's a hole on top of that LB cover and there's wires between the LB and that piece of conduit sitting on top of that LB......
Well, that's a different story.

steve66 said:
I would have to give credit for creativity if this didn't violate so many code sections.

http://i568.photobucket.com/albums/ss124/myphotobucket2221/P1180628.jpg

I'm not sure how many times I walked right under this and never noticed it before.

How many violations can you spot or quote for this conduit run?

PS: I'm not refering to the exposed cables on top of the conduit.
Click to expand...
 
Strife said:
Ok
Now.....
If you tell me there's a hole on top of that LB cover and there's wires between the LB and that piece of conduit sitting on top of that LB......
Well, that's a different story.
Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm saying. There is a hole in the LB cover. The conduit stops about 1/4" short of the LB cover. Wires run out the end of the conduit, and free air the 1/4" to the hole in the LB cover. Then the wires enter the LB (through the hole in the cover), and continue off to never never land (as someone else put it).

I can only assume there is also another set of wires running the normal direction through the LB (coming in through the conduit, and out through the brick wall). If there wern't still wires running that direction, they could have removed the LB, and just connected this conduit to the one in the block wall (the one on the front side of the LB)
 
Raceway used to be a straight run at this point. Someone needed a Tee but did not have one so they installed what we see in the photo
 
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