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Overheard two electricians arguing about conduit fill at the supply house this morning

I was grabbing some fittings at the supply house and these two guys were going at it about how many THHN wires you can fit in a 3/4 inch EMT run. One guy was swearing you could get nine #12s in there if you 'trained them right', and the other guy was getting red in the face saying the code book says six, period. I mean, I just stood there pretending to look at locknuts for a solid five minutes. It was kind of funny but also, idk, it made me think. I've definitely pushed that limit on a tight job before, telling myself it's fine. But hearing them argue it out loud, with one guy basically saying to ignore the code for convenience, was a wake-up call. Maybe it's just me, but I'm going to be way more careful about my own conduit math from now on. Has anyone else had a moment like that, where hearing someone else say the quiet part out loud made you change your own habit?
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3 Comments
the_jesse
the_jesse19d ago
What's the worst fill you've ever seen?
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perez.willow
Holy cow, nine wires in a three-quarter inch pipe?
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the_simon
the_simon8d ago
Ever try pulling that out in the summer heat?
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