[AT] OT electrical question

[Ken Knierim]

Charlie,
     I wasn't there but after seeing a few projects and how they morph over
time I'm guessing they started with one setup, beefed things up over time,
and on the later iterations someone thought they were being smart and put
individual phases in separate conduits. I know it wasn't built that way to
begin with as the sawmill had been there awhile and my buddy (he was a
young lad at the time; he's been retired for years now) was working there
when they did one of the big upgrades and had big problems. These things
don't always show up until you put a heavy load on the wiring, and finding
them after they've been there awhile isn't always easy either.

Ken in AZ




On Tue, Aug 29, 2017 at 4:37 PM, charlie hill <charliehill at embarqmail.com>
wrote:

> Ken,  I don't even pretend to be an electrician but after a few decades
> of managing industrial construction projects you start to notice how things
> are done.  I can't even imagine why they would have run multiple legs of
> each phase through a single conduit.  If they wanted to get multiple
> circuits
> into the building it seems to me they would have run one set (3 conductors
> and
> a neutral) through one big conduit to a buss bar at a strategic location in
> the building
> and then split off separate wire bundles in their own conduit to each of
> the
> machines, etc.
>
> Charlie
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ken Knierim
> Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2017 5:54 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] OT electrical question
>
> Use individual (and conduit-rated) wires in conduit.
>
> Romex in conduit doesn't make a happy electrical inspector. Conduit wiring
> is supposed to be individual wires due to heating near ampacity ratings (to
> get the most,safe power through the wire). The added insulation (of the
> Romex) blocks heat dissipation.
>
> Another wrinkle, and going way off the question. If you have a high current
> run you can use more than one conductor in the conduit (such as pairs of 12
> gauge) if it fits correctly (again, there's a percentage fill spec).
> HOWEVER... if it's metallic conduit, make sure you have current feeding in
> both directions balanced in the conduit or it becomes a transformer and can
> melt things. Meaning, don't put the line or "hot" wires in one conduit and
> the "neutral" in a different conduit or you'll have problems (the metallic
> conduit can get hot enough to burn the wires under significant loads). An
> engineer friend of mine (who designed transformers) talked of a sawmill he
> worked at in a previous life that had 3 phase power. The electricians wired
> each phase going through its own conduit (several heavy conductors per
> conduit) coming into the building and it kept setting the wiring and
> electrical housings on fire. After they ran 3 phases through each of the 3
> conduits they ran cool with the same load. oops.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Ken in AZ
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 27, 2017 at 1:53 PM, Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
>
> > If you're talking Romex, I don't believe that can be run through conduit.
> > Mike M
> >
> >
> > On 8/27/2017 4:32 PM, Don wrote:
> > > I thought I would tap into the collective knowledge of this group.  I
> > > need to run some 12 ga. wires through some conduit to to plugs.  For
> > > some reason I cannot remember if it is permissible 12-2 or do I have to
> > > run individual wires.
> > >
> >
> >
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