On 12/1/23 05:18, Josh Luthman wrote:
Keep in mind new construction versus having to get around drywall.
Rigid conduit is great if you can get it. If you can, by all means go for it! However, if the outside utility aggregation point is not pretty much on the other side of the wall from the inside media aggregation point, rigid conduit can be a pain even in new construction. Outside of a few select areas (Chicago, parts of NYC) where it's required even in stick-built residential construction for electrical wires (and then it's usually metal, not plastic), most residential electricians almost never use it aside from maybe a short run between the meter base and panel - generally right on the other side of the wall from each other. If the path is complicated, you end up having to piece together fittings to make the path up and keep proper sweep, and of course you can't feasibly get it horizontally into stud framed walls at all unless you can poke it in from the edge which involves an otherwise unnecessary hole in the corner board or you resort to cutting it into 16" pieces and putting it back together with couplers. You can surface mount it to the bottom of floor joists, for example, but then you can't drywall that ceiling without building out a chase. Corrugated plastic conduit like ENT or comm duct can be pulled in essentially like NM cable (Romex). It's easy, fast, and it's a process essentially all resi electricians are familiar and comfortable with. I'm thinking mostly SFU construction here, but a lot of the same concerns apply to MDUs as well. The 4-over style wood framed buildings that have become popular are generally wired in NM and SE cable. There's often no good path for a rigid conduit with proper sweep to every unit. Flexible/corrugated duct is just a lot more, well, flexible.
2" is beyond excessive. We use 1.25" duct for our 288ct *PLUS* up to 6 flat drop cables.
I agree in principle, but it allows for plenty of room for multiple utilities to get in without worrying about tearing up the others' cables. If it's just poking through a wall, you're talking, what 8" of pipe? -- Brandon Martin Mothic Technologies 317-565-1357 x7000