Jeffrey Cheney

Key skill

Precision Conduit Layout & Installation

This is a skill area on Jeffrey’s resume. The trigonometry behind the bends is on the conduit bending interest page. Nothing here names a project he has not described.

Conduit stub-ups, bends, and offsets laid in gravel beside a foundation wall before a slab pour.
Underslab conduit layout and stub-ups before pour. Open in the work album
Rows of conduit with kicks, offsets, and stub-ups laid out on gravel before a slab pour.
Underslab conduit runs, bends, and stub-ups before the pour. Open in the work album

Layout is the measurement. Installation is the pipe on the wall, straight, supported, and ending in the right knockout. The two fail separately: a perfect bend in the wrong place is still wrong.

Techniques and tools

  • Tape, laser, and torpedo level. A “no-dog” check keeps the two bends of an offset in one plane.
  • Hand bender for smaller EMT. The shoe is stamped with the take-up, or deduct, for a 90. That number belongs to that bender, not to a chart from a different brand.
  • Mechanical or electric benders for larger pipe. Hickeys show up on rigid work.
  • Reamer and deburring tool. A sharp rim cuts the conductor.
  • Couplings, connectors, straps, and minnies (all-thread with strut). Spacing is laid out before the first strap is anchored, or the rack walks.
  • Box offset: a small kick so the connector enters the knockout while the rest of the run stays tight to the surface.
Straight conduit rack into a box Three parallel conduits on a wall entering a square box, with strap marks and an even gap. Straps on a line. Equal centers. Box centered on the rack.
A straight rack is a layout problem first: centers, strap line, and the box sitting on that center.

Commercial work

Above a ceiling or on a deck, the route shares space with duct, pipe, and tray. The print shows the general path. The field layout picks the elevation that stays within the bend budget and still lets someone pull the wire. Couplings are kept out of the wall. Pull boxes go where the total bend between them stays at or under 360 degrees, which is the usual raceway rule (for EMT, see the adopted Article 358).

Safety and code

  • Support spacing and the distance from a box to the first support are in the raceway article. For EMT the familiar rule is within 3 feet of a box and every 10 feet, with exceptions. Confirm the edition on the job.
  • Conduit fill is in NEC Chapter 9, Table 1 and the annex tables. Too many conductors makes the pull harder and can be a code violation.
  • Cutting and threading throw metal. Eye protection, and a reamer, are part of the task.
  • Ladders and lifts used to hang the rack follow the lift page and the employer’s fall-protection rules. MEWP safety.

What's happening now

Conduit hours track the buildings that are actually being wired right now.

Code section numbers, energy-code rules, and utility practices change by edition and by city. The authority having jurisdiction, and the employer’s written program, decide what applies on a given job.