Rigid metal or PVC?

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hardworkingstiff

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Location
Wilmington, NC
How much difference does rigid metal conduit verses PVC make in protecting a card reader on a gas/diesel island when the conduit is underground?

The reason I ask is I was in training today for a fuelmaster card reader and the instructor says they mandate all rigid metal conduit and could not give any reason as to why other than it's company policy.
 
stretch12 said:
emi?
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Does metal conduit underground really offer any more protection than PVC conduit underground? We would stub up in rigid.
and depending on what diesal is classified as per location. i still cant find that one
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I'm not sure what this would have to do with it since 514.8 exception 2 allows for PVC to a classified location.
 
Quote: Does metal conduit underground really offer any more protection than PVC conduit underground? We would stub up in rigid.



in my experiance with conduit under parking lots, its best to use ridged pipe, mainly because semi-trucks can crush pvc conduit, I have had to repair crushed pvc many times. im sure someone on here will say that schedule 80 pvc is stong enough, but I still think steel is stronger, and less prone to damage by sharp rocks and heavy weight or unevenly distributed backfill....
 
I am curious why no one is discussing IMC? It is lighter and less expensive that RGC and is permitted to be used anywhere RGC is used. :-?
 
Yes pull that 40 ton concrete truck right up to the pump. Sure ive only got 11 yards in there. Why are my wheels wobbling? Oh I dont know. Why stop at pvc why not go direct burial??
 
charlie said:
I am curious why no one is discussing IMC? It is lighter and less expensive that RGC and is permitted to be used anywhere RGC is used. :-?
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Not normally used so pipe and fittings will not be well stocked and very expensive at least in my area. Plus cant charge as much as rgc so why not make more for higher quality install. I think most architects work on percentage of job so go figure.
 
I believe it has to do with the operation of their system and not the physical protection. I think the metal conduit provides better grounding (when properly terminated with grounding bushings) and actually may help with lightning strikes.
 
It could be anything, it could be that an engineer with that company feels like our cow friend that all plastic is evil.
 
quogueelectric said:
Not normally used so pipe and fittings will not be well stocked and very expensive at least in my area.
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In my area IMC is cheaper and readily available, never had any trouble with fittings. :grin:

Besides you can fit more conductors in IMC then RMC. :cool:
 
In my experience, if you use IMC at a service station and you have a remodel (new dispensers/sumps/etc., so you have to pull out the old wire, rework the conduit and install new conductors), you will have a difficult time having good conduit to work with. It seems to degrade rather quickly compared to GRS. Of course PVC doesn't degrade, period.

I like PVC for the ease of installation, but I must admit, the conductors pull much easier through the GRS or IMC.
 
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