Hand Hole Splice

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A/A Fuel GTX

A/A Fuel GTX

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Electrician
I have an interesting situation to put out for comments. A detached garage with a sub panel burned to the ground. The sub panel was fed from an underground PVC about 100' from the service equipment. Would it be legal to put a hand hole about 5' from the burned garage, cut the PVC and expose the undamaged conductors and splice some new conductors at that point and re-feed the new garage?
 
Sounds OK to me. I would use a undergound splice kit and glue the pvc back together. What kind of conductors are they?
steve
 
hillbilly said:
Sounds OK to me. I would use a undergound splice kit and glue the pvc back together. What kind of conductors are they?
steve
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The conductors are THWN so were good to go there. I don't know what you mean about reconnecting the PVC. I was just going to use the hand hole as a junction box. Old PVC in, new PVC out each stubbed into the hand hole with no physical connection between the two conduits.
 
m73214 said:
The conductors are THWN so were good to go there. I don't know what you mean about reconnecting the PVC. I was just going to use the hand hole as a junction box. Old PVC in, new PVC out each stubbed into the hand hole with no physical connection between the two conduits.
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What I meant was, If the conductors happened to be rated for direct burial (that's why I asked), you could just splice on new conductors using a underground splice kit [(300.5(E), 300.15(G) and 110.14(B) (2005)]. That way you wouldn't need a hand hole or JB. You could slip the pvc back over the splice and glue it together.
steve
 
Yep, missed that. (Rules, rules, rules...Splice it and direct bury...splice it, put it in conduit, don't bury....."etcetera, etcetera" (as WC Fields would say).
OK, pull it apart (far enough to expose the splice). If the burial depth is 24" or more, cover it up. If less than 24" and more than 18", bury the splice in 2" of concrete. If less than 18", use a hand hole. Is that legal? Yes (IMO). Is that better? No (IMO)
We're still talking about cable that's rated for direct burial so this is all a moot point.
He has THWN.
steve
 
hillbilly said:
Yep, missed that. (Rules, rules, rules...Splice it and direct bury...splice it, put it in conduit, don't bury....."etcetera, etcetera" (as WC Fields would say).
OK, pull it apart (far enough to expose the splice). If the burial depth is 24" or more, cover it up. If less than 24" and more than 18", bury the splice in 2" of concrete. If less than 18", use a hand hole. Is that legal? Yes (IMO). Is that better? No (IMO)
We're still talking about cable that's rated for direct burial so this is all a moot point.
He has THWN.
steve
Click to expand...

THWN for direct burial ????????
 
Jim W in Tampa said:
THWN for direct burial ????????
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Jim...you missed my point. I meant that... since he HAS THWN conductors, my point was moot..In other words, my solution doesn't apply to his problem.

I know that THWN is not rated for direct burial.

steve
 
With the price of copper you may reconsider replacing the conductors.
Its a common repair to dig up the PVC, install sweeps and then a handhole. The 2005 NEC has rules now for handhole enclosures (Art 314) and does not require direct burial rated conductors. You'll need some listed undground splices, the King Drycon work well.
 
If the conductors were damaged by the homeowner doing some digging, I would save them some money by installing the handhole. Since this is a fire issue (and assuming insurance will be covering the expense) I would replace the conductors.

JMO
 
m73214 said:
I have an interesting situation to put out for comments. A detached garage with a sub panel burned to the ground. The sub panel was fed from an underground PVC about 100' from the service equipment. Would it be legal to put a hand hole about 5' from the burned garage, cut the PVC and expose the undamaged conductors and splice some new conductors at that point and re-feed the new garage?
Click to expand...

Sounds smart. How big is the drive way, because handholes can be quite large, unless you are going to order/pour a smaller one?

Lady :)
 
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