Splice in conduit

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cousinles

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Is there any way aproved by the nec to butt splice in a conduit? I am sure you cant but I heard guys at work talking about doing a "leagal butt splice in the pipe" and thought they were nuts. I did not want to argue with them couse they have 20 years longer than me in the trade.
 
From the 2005 Handbook:

300.13 Mechanical and Electrical Continuity — Conductors
(A) General Conductors in raceways shall be continuous between outlets, boxes, devices, and so forth. There shall be no splice or tap within a raceway unless permitted by 300.15; 368.56(A); 376.56; 378.56; 384.56; 386.56; 388.56; or 390.6.

[Commentary] Splices or taps are prohibited within raceways unless the raceways are equipped with hinged or removable covers. Busway conductors are exempt from this requirement. Splices and taps must be accessible according to 300.15.
 
cousinles said:
Is there any way aproved by the nec to butt splice in a conduit? I am sure you cant but I heard guys at work talking about doing a "leagal butt splice in the pipe" and thought they were nuts. I did not want to argue with them couse they have 20 years longer than me in the trade.
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u su re they werent talking about a cigar pipe?? ;) or just cheating cause they did not want to repull some wire, something they KNOW IS ILLEGAL!!
 
It was paralleled 350 kcmil feeding an 800 amp panel underground through 260' of sch40 PVC they were short on the $35,000 worth of wire so they decided to use crimps a heat shrink and splice it in the pipe. They probably told me it was legal so I would keep my mouth shut I guess it did not work now everybody on Mike Holt forums is going to know. To be honest I could care less what they do as long as I do it the right way.
 
Sounds like cutting corners. Every time I tried to cut a corner it always came back to bite me. That large of a wire pull I would have been 100% sure of my footage and amounts of wire. Seeing how it is in PVC conduit it will have moisture in the conduit. Only time will tell it the splice will go bad.
 
i was on a job once where, two days ahead of time we knew that we would run short of wire for a long pull... what did they do? go to the shop, get some butt splices and crimpers... when they ran out of wire, you heard it over the radio: "hold on, the ground wire is out, just a minute while we crimp on another one"

that went on for atleast 3 parrallel pulls out of 6.
 
cousinles said:
It was paralleled 350 kcmil feeding an 800 amp panel underground through 260' of sch40 PVC they were short on the $35,000 worth of wire so they decided to use crimps a heat shrink and splice it in the pipe. They probably told me it was legal so I would keep my mouth shut I guess it did not work now everybody on Mike Holt forums is going to know. To be honest I could care less what they do as long as I do it the right way.
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You TOLD ON THEM LOL LOL LOL
 
Sounds like someone can`t read a tape and/or didn`t compensate for radius and make up.Either way its worse to try and do what they did then repull the needed length.
 
JES2727 said:
I have found butt splices in 1000' spools of MC cable. I'd bet it happens quite often.

John
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I have seen this too with some old coils of AC cable. Hard to believe but it does happen somewhere in the manufacturing process.
 
cousinles said:
It was paralleled 350 kcmil feeding an 800 amp panel underground through 260' of sch40 PVC they were short on the $35,000 worth of wire so they decided to use crimps a heat shrink and splice it in the pipe. They probably told me it was legal so I would keep my mouth shut I guess it did not work now everybody on Mike Holt forums is going to know. To be honest I could care less what they do as long as I do it the right way.
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The right way to do this is to pull a string through the pipe, measure the string, add enough for your connections on either end and then order your wire. Often you can get wire custom cut anymore, so you don't pay for any more of the stuff than you need.
 
They pulled a true tape to get the length. They took the measurement from end of pipe to end of pipe and told the boss to ad what ever extra he thought he needed for the gear and the panel and he forgot. This is how they ended up short.
 
lile001 said:
The right way to do this is to pull a string through the pipe, measure the string, add enough for your connections on either end and then order your wire. Often you can get wire custom cut anymore, so you don't pay for any more of the stuff than you need.
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Actually they make a product just for this purpose.

Conduit Measuring Tape

But as cousinles describes it is as only as good as the person placing the order. :p
 
infinity said:
I have seen this too with some old coils of AC cable. Hard to believe but it does happen somewhere in the manufacturing process.
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I recall reading once a long time ago that UL actually allows a special kind of splice to be used inside these cables. They make these up in almost continuous lengths and when they run out of wire, they can't just start a new length so they just splice in the end of the old spool of wire to the start of a new one.

Keep in mind just because you cannot do it in the field as part of the installation, does not mean it cannot be done as part of the manufacturing process.
 
dduffee260 said:
Seeing how it is in PVC conduit it will have moisture in the conduit. Only time will tell it the splice will go bad.
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Why would it being PVC have anything to do with it getting moisture in the conduit?

There are waterproof splice kits available. My take is if you are going to put a splice in an underground conduit, you ought to at least use a waterproof splice kit.

Personally, I hate splices. I have chased way too many of them inside control panels and machinery to allow any kind of splice or wire nut to be used. Wires are to be continuous from termination to termination. If you need to make a wire longer, you put in a terminal block.

<added>
If it is extremely inconvenient or near impossible to add a terminal block I accept a crimp on wire nut.
 
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cousinles said:
They pulled a true tape to get the length. They took the measurement from end of pipe to end of pipe and told the boss to ad what ever extra he thought he needed for the gear and the panel and he forgot. This is how they ended up short.
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But wait! That would mean it's the boss's fault. That can't be! I should know; I am a boss.

It's gotta be the new guy's fault! Yeah, that's it! It's in the job-description. Yeah!
 
cousinles said:
Is there any way aproved by the nec to butt splice in a conduit? I am sure you cant but I heard guys at work talking about doing a "leagal butt splice in the pipe" and thought they were nuts. I did not want to argue with them couse they have 20 years longer than me in the trade.
Click to expand...

When I started in the business, my first employer had over 30 years in, and didn't *own* a codebook. Longevity is no guarantee of wisdom.
 
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