sharp pvc male adapters

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electricalperson

electricalperson

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Location
massachusetts
the other day i was feeding in some 4/0 XHHW. about 1 foot into the pipe the wire hit the side of the pvc male adapter and stripped it down to the aluminum. i never seen plastic do this before. has anyone else?
 
I can see how that could happen.

Next time I pull "real" wire in thru PVC adapters, I am going to put a plastic bushing on it.



What did you do to correct the insulation damage. If that nick ends up underground it will very likely fail in a few years due to the water/aluminum combination. I have pulled out a few feeders that had ovviously been nicked during installation. The AL wire turns to white powder.
 
220/221 said:
I can see how that could happen.

Next time I pull "real" wire in thru PVC adapters, I am going to put a plastic bushing on it.



What did you do to correct the insulation damage. If that nick ends up underground it will very likely fail in a few years due to the water/aluminum combination. I have pulled out a few feeders that had ovviously been nicked during installation. The AL wire turns to white powder.
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it didnt happen in the middle of the run. we pulled the wire until the nick came out the other end then cut it. i meggered it at 1000v and it was full scale. i dumped half a bottle of lube down the pipe so i knew there would be conductivity if there were other nicks
 
A bushing should have been installed as per 300.4(G) and IMO as per 352.46. When we pull large conductors, we install the bushing on the feed side, but leave it off on the pull side until the pull is done. The rope tends to notch them and the head tends to break them.
 
chris kennedy said:
A bushing should have been installed as per 300.4(G) and IMO as per 352.46. When we pull large conductors, we install the bushing on the feed side, but leave it off on the pull side until the pull is done. The rope tends to notch them and the head tends to break them.
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I agree.

IMHO a male adapter by itself does not afford the protection required by 352.46 and a plastic busing needs to be used.

Chris
 
electricalperson said:
the other day i was feeding in some 4/0 XHHW. about 1 foot into the pipe the wire hit the side of the pvc male adapter and stripped it down to the aluminum. i never seen plastic do this before. has anyone else?
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I use bushings. Always.

I've had that same issue with a certain brand of 3/4" steel ss connectors once, wish I could remember the brand now, fortunately it was only the ground wire that got it.
 
raider1 said:
I agree.

IMHO a male adapter by itself does not afford the protection required by 352.46 and a plastic busing needs to be used.

Chris
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we spoke with jeff sargent i believe and he said that a pvc male adapter is designed to protect wire. i would have to disagree with him on this right now that this happened.
 
we spoke with jeff sargent i believe and he said that a pvc male adapter is designed to protect wire.
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It SHOULD be. That the kind of thing that really ticks me off. Somebody gets paid good money to design things like this and they can't build a mold with a thicker, rounded edge?

I mean, come on. It's already non conductive smooth plastic. Take an extra step and make it right.
 
220/221 said:
It SHOULD be. That the kind of thing that really ticks me off. Somebody gets paid good money to design things like this and they can't build a mold with a thicker, rounded edge?

I mean, come on. It's already non conductive smooth plastic. Take an extra step and make it right.
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How can you make it thicker?

The ID is required to maintain the same ID as the pipe, so it can't go that way. The OD can't change because then you couldn't use a standard nut or bushing on it.
 
It can be thicker at the end, where it now razor sharp.

Well....not razor sharp but it does seem to come from the thread thickness almost to a point.
 
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