Thoughts on conduit height when foundation low

[pr3dict]

I have this 2 1/2" conduit LB that I need to setup to get into my basement. The siding starts where the concrete ends. As you can see from the picture If I use the LB thats made for this then the penetration will be too high.

A few questions: Can I forgo expansion pipe and just put the LB onto the 90 elbow?

If and when I do that is it ok that half or part of the LB is under ground? If no to these then the only other thing I can think of doing is adding another 90 and having the LB sideways instead of up and down. Thoughts on that?

Thanks!

 

[larry4406]

If your joists are perpendicular to the white foundation wall then your placement of the LB puts you in the joist bay and then into the basement. Even if the the joists are parallel to the wall the first bay should still get you there.

I am not a sparky but I would not bury part of the LB.

 

[pr3dict]

I feel like I read here that I should always try to go through the foundation as it's easier to waterproof back up then going through the wood siding.

Here are pics of the inside.

 

[Terry D]

Dont go through the foundation, go through the rim joist. That is the proper way to do it

 

[pr3dict]

That is counter to everything I've read. Why do you suggest going that route?

 

[Jim greengo]

How deep is that pipe? Looks pretty shallow to me.
I'd get the pipe deeper 1st,then I'd set the expansion joint just above grade level .
Then I'd throw another long sweep 90 on top of it,then run that into the lb.

 

[pr3dict]

How deep is that pipe? Looks pretty shallow to me.
I'd get the pipe deeper 1st,then I'd set the expansion joint just above grade level .
Then I'd throw another long sweep 90 on top of it,then run that into the lb.

The top of the pipe is at 18" below grade. It's a fairly arge pipe so it looks shallow... Not that 18" is that deep. I'm definitely not pulling up that conduit to dig deeper lol. The soil is all clay and rock so it's not easy to dig in.

 

[Terry D]

That is counter to everything I've read. Why do you suggest going that route?

I guess it all depends what you are doing with the pipe once it is inside. I personally dont run to many 2 1/2" conduits inside a house. What size wire is going to in the pipe. Are you going to have to reduce it down to get it on a breaker. Maybe a j-box outside and reduce it down to smaller pipe to go in the house.

What is this feed for. Is it possible to have a j-box outside and splice to a SER cable to go in the house to the panel. I hardly ever drill through a foundation if i dont have to. I dont know what you mean by sealing it. Unless you are talking about drilling through below grade, then you can have sealing issues.

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[pr3dict]

It's one pipe for a few different wires. It has the 4/0 for generator, 1/0 for sub panel, and 6 number 12 wires for the control of transfer switch...


In other words I can't go to ser because I have all that 12. It's just easier to run the conduit until a j box under the panel to split it all up.

As for sealing it up I mean putting a sleeve in the wall and adding silicone around it. I. Ant really do that with wood because then I feel like I gotta deal with flashing and all that other **** to make sure it doesn't soak up again the wood.

 

[Terry D]

You have alot going on in that pipe. Hope your nor over filling it. How long is the pull, how many 90's do you have in there. Putting 2 90's right after each other will make it next to impossible to pull all of that. You could mount a j-box up high and drop out of the bottom with a LB to go through the foundation. The LB will be inverted and wont be underground

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[pr3dict]

I used the conduit fill Calc on southwires website. It said I was at 30% fill. It calculated a 2 1/2" being required.

The run is roughly 270 ft. I have not measured it with conduit tape yet because it's not done.

I do have two 90s next to each other by the garage as it goes up out of the ground and then another 90 to get it parallel with the foundation. I have that section running along the foundation before another 90 makes it go up and along the garage.

Putting a jbox right where I can put it into the wall is going to be a PITA hahah. I just bought 3/4" braided rope and I'm going to rent a cable puller fwiw

 

[pr3dict]

so I just realized the inspector told my I could bury a jbox that was used as a pull box but I'm reading thats a no no. Also can I use a 6x6x6 box as a pull for all these conductors?

The only place I can place this 6x6x6 box to be a pull is right after I make 2 90's and right before I make another 2 90's. That is schedule 80 zone and I'm fairly confident that they dont rate Jboxes 40 or 80 so I should be good. Preferably I'd like to put the Jbox right AFTER the next set of 90s because thats when the really long run of 200 ft begins.

So it would be l body on garage. 90 to the side 90 to the front - 25 feet of straight schedule 80 - schedule 80 90 down, schedule 40 90 down and straight - then the 6x6x6 - 50 feet of straight schedule 40 - 45 elbow - 180ish feet of schedule 40 - 90 up, 90 to the right - Lbody in to the house - L body on other side of the wall - 15 feet - 90 to the left - 15 feet - 12x12 box to separate all the wires to their respective panels.

 

[Terry D]

As far as pull boxes, there is calculations for sizing it. It will depend on how you are configuring it. It will be no smaller that 6 or 8 times the diameter of your 2 1/2 " conduit, plus any other conduits coming out of rhe box. So no, a 6x6 would not even be close. I dont want to rain on your parade, but you possibly should have ran separate conduits.

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[pr3dict]

Oh yeah that hurts lol. What if I use something like this?

https://m.platt.com/platt-electric-...tle-Precast/14191016/Products.aspx?pid=512933

I guess the issue is that it has no bottom. That will be an issue for animals I imagine?