Electrical raceway question

[seamlyne]

Adding outlets in the basement, and looking - for appearance's sake - at using raceway and related fittings. There will be two circuits, each 20 amp. I'm good with electrical issues in general, but having never worked with raceway before, I have a question: do you run individual wires or is the raceway large enough to hold 12/2 Romex?

Thanks!

- Wm



Measure with a micrometer
Mark with a crayon
Cut with an axe.

[HayZee518]

Never run romex inside EMT. Use thhn/thwn wire. Get yourself a EMT bender for whatever sized conduit you'll be using. Practice bending on a few pieces before you start your project. Take up for 1/2 emt will be 5 1/4" for a ninety degree bend and 6" for 3/4 emt. They sell a bender for box offsets called a "little kicker" but you can do the same by making a small bend then reverse the pipe and bend again. With some practice you should be able to make saddle bends for going around small objects on the wall. Use a one hole clip within a foot of any box and no more than three feet between clips for support.. Oh yeah, when you cut the stuff (use a hacksaw)make sure you ream out the inside of the cut end with a knife or rat-tail file to eliminate burrs. The code says what you can put into conduit (fill)for each size. But since you are running only two circuits I wouldn't worry about it. It's only when you run into multiple wires that you have to apply a current de-rating factor and not over 80% fill. Have fun! There are fittings you can use for pulling and changing direction.

[seamlyne]

Thanks, but I won't be using conduit. I guess I should have been more specific: I'll be using PVC raceway, the flat stuff used for surface wiring. So the question still stands: pvc raceway (I've seen the brandname "wiremold"), individual wires or 12/2 romex?

quote:Originally posted by HayZee518

Never run romex inside EMT. Use thhn/thwn wire. Get yourself a EMT bender for whatever sized conduit you'll be using. Practice bending on a few pieces before you start your project. Take up for 1/2 emt will be 5 1/4" for a ninety degree bend and 6" for 3/4 emt. They sell a bender for box offsets called a "little kicker" but you can do the same by making a small bend then reverse the pipe and bend again. With some practice you should be able to make saddle bends for going around small objects on the wall. Use a one hole clip within a foot of any box and no more than three feet between clips for support.. Oh yeah, when you cut the stuff (use a hacksaw)make sure you ream out the inside of the cut end with a knife or rat-tail file to eliminate burrs. The code says what you can put into conduit (fill)for each size. But since you are running only two circuits I wouldn't worry about it. It's only when you run into multiple wires that you have to apply a current de-rating factor and not over 80% fill. Have fun! There are fittings you can use for pulling and changing direction.

Measure with a micrometer
Mark with a crayon
Cut with an axe.

[LazyPup]

Seamline
I assume you are planning to run teh finished appearance wire raceway (Wiremold). Correctly you would still run individual conductors.
THHN or THWN is the wire most often used.
The proper colors are:
White-circuit common
Black-Circuit feed (constantly hot)
RED or Blue..switched power legs (switch secondary to the load device)
Green -Ground. (you must pull a continuous ground in wiremold raceways)

to the best of my knowledge you are never to run romex in conduit.

[seamlyne]

Yep, you've got the right of it, finished appearance wire raceway. I looked at the stuff today, and now have another question. Why the prohibition on using romex, since the end result is the same - three conductors through a channel? Is the 12ga wire in romex different in some way from the 12ga wire on the THHN roll?

Learning with every post,

- Wm

quote:Originally posted by LazyPup

Seamline
I assume you are planning to run teh finished appearance wire raceway (Wiremold). Correctly you would still run individual conductors.
THHN or THWN is the wire most often used.
The proper colors are:
White-circuit common
Black-Circuit feed (constantly hot)
RED or Blue..switched power legs (switch secondary to the load device)
Green -Ground. (you must pull a continuous ground in wiremold raceways)

to the best of my knowledge you are never to run romex in conduit.

Measure with a micrometer
Mark with a crayon
Cut with an axe.

[HayZee518]

All has to do with heating and that outside jacket. Regular type TW wire is solid copper with a thermoplastic insulation - individual conductors is permitted in wiremold. Enclose it in a jacket and it becomes a violation. Jacketed romex within a raceway has no free air around it to dissipate heat.