Ecmweb 4742 1004719web
Ecmweb 4742 1004719web
Ecmweb 4742 1004719web
Ecmweb 4742 1004719web
Ecmweb 4742 1004719web

What's Wrong Here?

Oct. 26, 2007
Hint: Fill it with ice.

How well do you know the Code? Think you can spot violations the original installer either ignored or couldn't identify? Here's your chance to moonlight as an electrical inspector and second-guess someone else's work from the safety of your living room or office. Joe Tedesco, who has a knack for finding shoddy electrical work, did the dirty work and found this mess. Now it's your turn to identify the violation.

Find the Answer

Nicholas Volpenhein, a project manager with Volpenhein Brothers Electric in Cincinnati, came upon this icy installation, although it was not his company’s doing. “This is what happens when you forget to seal a conduit in a freezer,” he says.

What’s wrong with this picture? NEC 300.7, Raceways Exposed to Different Temperatures (A) Sealing, states: “Where portions of a cable raceway or sleeve are known to be subjected to different temperatures and where condensation is known to be a problem, as in cold storage areas of buildings or where passing from the interior to the exterior of a building, the raceway or sleeve shall be filled with an approved material to prevent the circulation of warm air to a colder section of the raceway or sleeve. An explosionproof seal shall not be required for this purpose."

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About the Author

Joe Tedesco

Tedesco served the industry in many roles during his career. He was a director, senior electrical code instructor for National Technology Transfer, Inc. and American Trainco, Inc.. He was also a codes, standards and seminar specialist for the International Association of Electrical Inspectors and an electrical field service specialist for the National Fire Protection Association in Quincy, Mass. He ran his own business as an NEC consultant and is a Massachusetts licensed master electrician and journeyman electrician and certified electrical inspector (one and two family 2A; General 2B, and Plan Review, 2C). Tedesco also wrote articles for CEE News and EC&M (Code Violations Illustrated and What's Wrong Here?) for more than 15 years and helped launched the Moving Violations video series.

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