PVC conduit

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pappyLU164

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I'm putting power out to a work shed. There is only going to be a duplex recepticle and lights inside the shed. The recepticle is only for landscape lighting and weed wacker type stuff. Do I need to run 12 stranded or 12 solid according to code?
 
Re: PVC conduit

Thanx, I'm doing this for a buddy and I just wasn't sure if I could use stranded. It's much easier, boy do I know. I'm not up on residential code. It's been a while.
 
Re: PVC conduit

If you're not up on residential code, then don't forget that the receptacle in the shed has to be GFCI protected.

I would use stranded unless I got the solid wire for free. :D
 
Re: PVC conduit

Originally posted by pierre:
I have heard from many union electricians about the myth of solid and stranded.
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Can anyone ellaborate on this? I have not heard the myth. I generally preferr stranded in conduit for the same reasons as others, but I prefer solid in sections of the pull which will be terminated to devices. What's the myth?
 
Re: PVC conduit

I hope no one is taking this as a union/nonunion issue, as it is not meant to be ;)

What I was referring to is during a lot of my inspections on union work, there seems to be a pervading "myth" that solid conductors are not permitted in conduit - that is all.

Looking back on this, I should have left the reference to union work out of this - next time.

[ June 12, 2005, 08:51 PM: Message edited by: pierre ]
 
Re: PVC conduit

Sorry, I may be a bit gun shy.

310.3 Stranded Conductors. Where installed in raceways, conductors of size 8 AWG and larger shall be stranded.

Maybe that is where the thought came from. :D
 
Re: PVC conduit

Pappy, this sounds like a single circuit install to me. If so you will need a disconecting means (a switch will suffice) in the supply conductors at the shed building. If you run a multiwire circuit use a double pole switch for this. For a single circuit no ground rod will be necessary.
 
Re: PVC conduit

If your distance is more than a certain amount you should think about using #10 copper.

12/3 with ground UF cable is not going to cost that much more than 12/2 with ground so you might as well run the extra wire and have 2 circuits out there. Just be sure to use larger protective conduits for the 12/3 WG UF cable where it comes up out of the ground.

Also, solid #12 copper wire used to be the rule for conduit work in Akron, Ohio because solid wire was "cheaper".
 
Re: PVC conduit

I've seen other threads that say stranded is easier to put in conduit, which seems intuitively correct, but why does the calculator here that others have posted not take stranded or solid into account.

For straight runs, is there much difference installing stranded and solid 10AWG for example? I'm guessing the elbows are what makes a difference.
 
Re: PVC conduit

Originally posted by paul32:. . . but why does the calculator (here) . . . not take stranded or solid into account?
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That calculator gives the pulling tension, or the amount of force you would have to impart in order to move the conductors through the raceway. That would not depend on stranded versus solid. However, that is not the same thing as a discussion of what would be ?easier.? I have not done this type of work myself. But intuition tells me that a solid conductor would be harder to pull for the simple reason that it is less flexible.
 
Re: PVC conduit

For the straight pull, I would agree the tension is the same. But for the angled pull, I would think it makes a difference, which isn't in the calculator. It should take extra force on the pull to cause the bend in the less flexible wire.

If the tension really is the same, what makes it harder to install?
 
Re: PVC conduit

One thing that makes it harder is getting it into the conduit. Solid is harder to get straightened out than stranded, and I do believe there is more friction even in straight runs due to the solid not being as flexible.
 
Re: PVC conduit

Stranded wire is very uncooperative when trying to push it into conduit. With a well planned conduit layout, solid wire can be pushed by a single worker a surprising amount of distance -- like 100' or more.
If you have one person pushing and the other pulling, it stands to reason that solid wire can be more easily pulled since the pusher will negate the effects of the first one or two bends.
The calculations seem to be based on using a tension meter to measure strictly a pulling force.
~Peter
 
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