seal off fittings

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elecmen

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Electrician
Hi, To be honest I am a residential electrician that has been asked to replace a sewage pump panel in a private mobile home community. These are 208V 3 phase pumps. The pump panel has a 2" rigid conduit installed with vertical seal off fitting. This conduit has the pumps (2) 4 floats and dry and wet contact sensor wiring in this conduit. I would like to run the floats and the other sensors in another conduit. My question is can those wires be pulled out of the sealed 2"conduit? I have never installed seal off fitting or worked on class 1 div1 locations before. Any help please. Thanks
 
You might be able to break the seal and the sealing compound and reuse the wiring, but I would not bet on it.

I have had luck saw cutting along the length of the seal fitting almost all the way through and then driving a chisel into the saw cut to split the seal fitting, then breaking the sealing compound off the the wires.
 
50 - 50 chance

50 - 50 chance

It depends on how well the seals were made, if they used to much wadding it may of protected the conductors.
 
If the seal is poured well, good chance you will damage the cable trying to get it free.

How is the conduit attached to the panel? If you are just replacing the panel, can't you detach the conduit and lift the panel off the conduit (and conductors), then install the new one back in the opposite sequence?

Since you have not dealt with this before, let me caution you to NOT make any splices in that cord. The design of this system as I understand it is that the cords (power and controls) do not pass vapors, and since their are no splices (except the factory terminations on the motor or floats that are sealed and inaccessible) that the conduit leaving the tank is only for a chase/raceway to get the cords above ground.

Personally, I believe that if you get these cords above ground, then stop the conduit and have an air gap between the controller and the conduit that seals are not required (other than some ductseal on the conduit where the cords exit the ground). Not everyone agrees with me.

As soon as you cut and splice those cords, you are in a mess, do not do that.
 
Get two single jacks (one handed sledgehammer ~ 4lb) and pull the plugs you use to install the fiber and pour the seal. If you look on either side there is a seam from the casting, hold one hammer against the seam and give the other side of the fitting a couple moderate smacks with the other hammer and it'll split in half. Use some common sense as you are doing this because if you get too aggressive you'll damage the wiring. This is also why I use the heavier hammers, you don't have to swing as aggressively as a normal hammer. Remove the compound from the wiring and install one of the two piece repair seal offs in it's place.
 
FE427TP said:
Get two single jacks (one handed sledgehammer ~ 4lb) and pull the plugs you use to install the fiber and pour the seal. If you look on either side there is a seam from the casting, hold one hammer against the seam and give the other side of the fitting a couple moderate smacks with the other hammer and it'll split in half. Use some common sense as you are doing this because if you get too aggressive you'll damage the wiring. This is also why I use the heavier hammers, you don't have to swing as aggressively as a normal hammer. Remove the compound from the wiring and install one of the two piece repair seal offs in it's place.
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Chance of egg shaping conduit doing that or at least when I tried it thats what happened. If the seal is out of the C1D1 area I slice them with cut off wheel in grinder or sawzall. I've dug the compound out of plenty seals off without hurting wires. It just depends on how accessible it is. In the gasoline world its not always easy to get at seal off under dispenser. Never heard of a repair seal off. Got a brand name? Might be handy
 
oldsparky52 said:
What area are you talking about? What are the limits of this area?
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It's no good directly under a gasoline dispenser or in a sump on a gas tank. Within 5 ft of propane dispensing. Any area that's classified class 1 div 1 or zone 1 in 14 code. Why the change from division 1 to zone 1 anyway?
 
wallyworld said:
It's no good directly under a gasoline dispenser or in a sump on a gas tank. Within 5 ft of propane dispensing. Any area that's classified class 1 div 1 or zone 1 in 14 code. Why the change from division 1 to zone 1 anyway?
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read this:
505.1 Scope.
This article covers the requirements for the zone classification system as an alternative to the division classification system covered in Article 500 for electrical and electronic equipment and wiring for all voltages in Class I, Zone 0, Zone 1, and Zone 2 hazardous (classified) locations where fire or explosion hazards may exist due to flammable gases, vapors, or liquids.
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Division 1 and 2 did not go away, pretty sure the zone classification is not new to 2014 either. I don't get into use of zone classification and am not on top of what is all in that section, but as the installer I also am not the one that decides the classification. Since most of what I do is design build on some level, I am not qualified to determine what the classification is and have to assume the worst case for my own liability reasons. If there are flammable gases involved I have to assume it is class 1 division 1 in most cases unless someone qualified wants to give it another classification, or it is clearly spelled out in other 510-516 articles.
 
wallyworld said:
It's no good directly under a gasoline dispenser or in a sump on a gas tank. Within 5 ft of propane dispensing. Any area that's classified class 1 div 1 or zone 1 in 14 code. Why the change from division 1 to zone 1 anyway?
Click to expand...

I got that, but I thought we were talking about a sewer lift station?

My point is that the cord is used in the holding tank. Cords (some of them) are allowed to pass through a Class 1, Div 2 location w/out seals so long as there is not connection made and the cord is properly installed. I believed the intent was always to have the cord leave the classified area and have the controller out of the classified area so that a "sealoff" would not be required. Not everyone agrees, but it makes sense to me.
 
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