Which is it

[Tulsa Electrician]

I was wonder which is it, a wire way or an auxiliary gutter.
May have covered before if so, sorry.
There is a separately derived system, secondary unfused feeding two panel boards and several branch circuits/ feeders inside an electrical room that all run though this ?. The transformer is on an opposite wall ran up and over into this( wireway or gutter). Which feeds the two panels with main breakers which also has additional conduit's ran into the ( wire way or gutter). Then pipes out of ( wire way or gutter) feeding branch circuit and other feeders. This enclosure if we call it that is above the two panels.
I ask because of the unfused secondary. They are not service entrance conductors. Thank you in advance. Base on 2104 NEC.

 

[tom baker]

Start with section 366.2 and section 376.2.
Of the two, a wire way is the most common.
Gutter is commonly used but not a defined term, so we don’t know the rules that apply.

 

[infinity]

IMO the biggest difference is that the wireway is a raceway. Also a gutter is an auxiliary wiring space only for the equipment on the list in the definition.

376.2 Definition.
Metal Wireways. Sheet metal troughs with hinged or removable covers for housing and protecting electrical wires and cable
and in which conductors are laid in place after the raceway has been installed as a complete system.

366.2 Definitions.
Metal Auxiliary Gutter. A sheet metal enclosure used to supplement wiring spaces at meter centers, distribution centers, switchgear, switchboards, and similar points of wiring systems. The enclosure has hinged or removable covers for housing and protecting electrical wires, cable, and busbars. The enclosure is designed for conductors to be laid or set in place after the enclosures have been installed as a complete system.

 

[oldsparky52]

IMO the biggest difference is that the wireway is a raceway. Also a gutter is an auxiliary wiring space only for the equipment on the list in the definition.

If you connect a gutter with nipples, is it considered a raceway then? If not, how long would the nipple need to be before the gutter/wireway become part of the raceway?

I always struggled with this.

 

[Tulsa Electrician]

I have read both and related information in the NEC. I find after all these years as with other articles it has not been well defined.
Look how many years it took to re-write 250.
Thank you for your responses.
The way I see it at this point, it is what They decide to call it and judge it on those merits. Even though they have called it both.

 

[Tulsa Electrician]

I did find this.

 

[infinity]

I did find this.

The key word from your second photo is supplement as in the definition in post #3.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

In general, if the item in question is connected to the equipment using conduit nipples, it is a wireway.

Auxiliary gutters are actually a rare item. The must be attached to the main equipment in a manner that increases the wiring space for that equipment. Typically an auxiliary gutter will have a large opening that matches up with an opening of the same size in the main equipment effectively increasing the wiring space in the main equipment.

There is no question that the item asked about in this thread is a wireway. There is no requirement to separate unfused secondary conductors from other conductors like there is for service conductors.

 

[Tulsa Electrician]

Thank you.
Wire way it is and all conductors in wire way ok to be together in same raceway. Since the wire way is a raceway. I can see it now. The three inch nipple from wire way to panel with transformer secondary conductors and branch circuit wiring not an issue. Seams wrong to me however to code.

 

[oldsparky52]

And 314.28 applies to these wireways?

 

[infinity]

And 314.28 applies to these wireways?

For metal wireways yes. Similar requirement for non-metallic wireways too.

376.23(B) Metal Wireways Used as Pull Boxes. Where insulated conductors 4 AWG or larger are pulled through a wireway, the distance between raceway and cable entries enclosing the same conductor shall not be less than that required by 314.28(A)(1) for straight pulls and 314.28(A)(2) for angle pulls. When transposing cable size into raceway size, the minimum metric designator (trade size) raceway required for the number and size of
conductors in the cable shall be used.