Conduit drains? 1

[oldfieldguy]

As is often the case, we had a little problem and I got asked a question.

We had a low voltage circuit catch fire and burn at one of my sites. The wiring in question was in conduit, installed in a Class I Div. I area and was contained except for some smoke which unfortunately triggered smoke and flame detection and killed some equipment. Naturally management got excited.

Upon opening the conduit in question, they found evidence of some rather small amount of water in the conduit. Normally these conduit systems have drains and vents installed.

The management question is: "Are we supposed to be inspecting these drains?" I've been around this stuff for thirty years and never have had that question asked of me. My quick answer is "Nobody does that."

So, do any of you have programs to periodically inspect drains on conduit installations?

old field guy

 

[resqcapt19]

It is common in this area for the installer to cut a notch in the gasket of a conduit body cover at the low points...assuming non classified areas.

 

[oldfieldguy]

Yes, guys, good comments all around. The conduit in question is in a Class I Div. I area. That keeps me from doing the "cut a deliberate drain" approach unless I install an approved drain, and since the conduit has no openings available in the affected area, we're talking a pretty aggravating task to tear out the conduit to change a "T" to an "X" so we can stick a drain at the bottom.

Seriously, though, we're talking about a couple of spoonfuls of water in a conduit fitting that has no splices inside. I didn't get excited about the water, but my non-electrical boss did.

Roy--

If this was a box, I'd have installed a vent at the top and a drain at the bottom, both rated for Class I Div I. And i make sure that conduit never enters the top of a box unless it's completely unavoidable. No use in having whatever condensate in the conduit dripping down into the middle of the box. Side and bottom entries mitigate that.

old field guy

 

[EEJaime]

I believe we've drained this thread dry.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

EEJaime
SoCal,USA