Tips for EMT in dwelling unit

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tom baker said:
I've done a bit of EMT in commercial.
Notching is fairly fast. EMT laid and a 90 down to boxes with a kick, or drill holes and push in from a outside corner.
In Washington State a residential electrician can not wire a house in EMT, but a home owner can. A residential electrician is a restricted to NM with some allowance for RMC and PVC for physical protection.
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Where's it say that?
 
Much as I'd like to pipe a house in EMT, I mostly prefer open spaces. :)

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iwire said:
It is great looking work, even with the NEC violations. :grin: (lack of supports)
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Yeah looked like they ran out of hanger bars.

Anyway having done some of this I have a few tips and tricks.

  1. line laser as a drilling guide - nothing better than straight holes! A little wire lube wont hurt either...
  2. Yes you can bend it in the wall - with a little practice doing 90's and off-sets in the wall can be quite easy. A plumbers tubing cutter helps for tight places as well.
  3. If you cant find a perpendicular wall to get a condiut in from - pull out a stud or two - the conduit will flex enough to get in - a wider first hole and some lube helps out too. Then put the studs back...
  4. Sure "up and over" is a must for corners - but dont worry about doing it elswhere.
  5. Plan to use the conduit! Fill it! 4-11's dont cost much more.
  6. Make it easy on yourself - 90's in and out of these mid-stud-bay is easier than a box on the stud. (keep some tin snips around to modify as nec. ) And if not using any of them for LV you can go straight in and out of them horizontaly with deep boxes.
 
I like jrannis I did alot of commercial hi rise stuff back in the day. Everything was EMT except on the first floor, where PVC was used. Most of the hi rise condos were either on the bay or on the ocean front.
The company I worked for really had a plan. All the slab stub ups and stub downs were bent on the ground. The gang box was designed for the crane to be able to lift it up to the slab, bent pipe and all. Inside the gang box was everything needed for that floor. Down to the connectors installed and boxes taped. If I remember correctly the only strapping that was done was when the conduit was tied to the rebar.

Back in Florida in the 80's, EMT in residential/commercial was very popular. I always ran it up over and down. Never horizontally through the studs. My company felt it was more economical to use more pipe and wire than the man hours it took to feed conduits through stud walls. So easy to bend all of your switch stubs and recept stubs, then just cut and connect.

If I were to ever build my own home, EMT would be my choice. Never ever have to worry about fishing new wires for that fan that wants the lights and fan seperate. Just pull in a new wire.
 
John Valdes said:
If I were to ever build my own home, EMT would be my choice. Never ever have to worry about fishing new wires for that fan that wants the lights and fan seperate. Just pull in a new wire.
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I have, but I didn't use EMT. A 2-gang switchbox (3-gang if split-wired receps and/or recessed lighting, too) and 3-conductor cable to the fan box is all you need.
 
paul said:
EMT in resi is for wimps. A true craftsman would pipe it in GRS with no unions and no notching of studs. :D
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Oh my back! Just the thought. :mad:

I love the old stories about how electricians hated "Thinwall" when it came out because they thought it was too easy and would put them out of work. lol
 
Larryfine. That is exactly what I meant. What happens when the contractor does not pull 3 conductor cable to the ceiling boxes. If its in conduit its easy, if not have fun in the attic.
 
John Valdes said:
What happens when the contractor does not pull 3 conductor cable to the ceiling boxes.
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What happens is we make it work. We're electricians. That's our job. We're supposed to make money on stuff like that. :confused:

And now you don't even need to pull 3 wire cable. They make all kinds of nifty RF gadgets that fill in wall boxes for situations with only 2 wire to the ceiling box.
 
tmbrk said:
Generally an EGC is not required and not pulled. At least in the communities I work in. The EMT is the grounding means.

It is obviously very important that all connectors and couplings are made tight. The scary thing is when you work on a job where indenter type fittings have been used (1980's jobs that I've seen). I've had the pipe pull right out of the fittings. One time I was trying to pull in a switch leg for a split receptacle in an existing installation which used indenter type fittings and couldn't get the tape through. Upon opening the wall we found the pipe had pulled out of the coupling probably right after the initial installation. The outlets probably had no ground the whole time.
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WOW. That's crazy.
 
Originally Posted by paul
EMT in resi is for wimps. A true craftsman would pipe it in GRS with no unions and no notching of studs.
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Oh thats easy - just frame the building around the conduit.
__________________

Laugh now, but it's how they do oil modules.

First, they get a deck for equipment, and skids to set on, and put it close to in place.

Second,put the structural around the outside for walls.

Third, fitters do their gig,

Fourth, electricians and instrument techs finish inside. (GRS is losing ground to MC-HL and cable tray)

Last, wrap the skin on to the building, roof drops on top (you can pull the roof if you have to for change outs).

You now have an oil module read for "plug and play" for whatever function that unit does!

The nice thing about building this way is that the walls are designed to blow off if there is an explosion.

Reworks start with a band saw.
 
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