I need to get two 50amp circuits to my backyard for a swimpa, and I'm mulling over different ways to do this.
I can bury it of course but it's a long route around my concrete patio.
I could also leave it above ground if I build a deck since it can be attached to the bottom of the deck and that shortens it a bit, but still around the patio.

But I had a light bulb go off yesterday. I have a downspout attached to the 4" copolymer/corrugated stuff




Can I run my cables inside of liquidtight flex conduit, and then run those flex hoses through this 4" pipe? It obviously goes right under my patio and pops out on the other side right where I need it.

That downspout is picking up a VERY small area of my roof, about 3x5. Seen at top of pic here


So I'd even be willing to disconnect the downspout from this 4" pipe if that's what made a difference of meeting code or not.

I can put my disconnect boxes (I need 2) on either side of this downspout, one on the short 3' wall, the other in between downspout and window on the right. They both could easily feed into the 4" tube. It cuts out a few dozen feet, and is just easier.

Any code gurus out there? or is this gonna be jurisdiction dependent?

You can....I guess. Would it be a code violation?...absolutely.

Marvin_Zindler said:

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You can....I guess. Would it be a code violation?...absolutely.

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so in absence of the downspout being connected to it, you can't run liquidtight flex inside of 4" copolymer tubing at all?

do you have a reference to NEC where it prohibits this?

I would suspect it would be considered direct burial since the downspout isn't a rated conduit.

The liquitite would need to be rated for such.

NOT an electrician.

Another option would be to knock a hole on your walk next to the wall and push thru a conduit under the walk.

TexAg1987 said:

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I would suspect it would be considered direct burial since the downspout isn't a rated conduit.

The liquitite would need to be rated for such.

NOT an electrician.

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liquidtight flex conduit is rated for direct burial.
and under concrete it's 4".

Check out NEC article 356. Liquid tight is allowed to be direct buried, but it also is intended for installs less than 6 ft. The language doesn't do a good job explaining exceptions for 6ft as it relates to direct buried, so I think you'll get some opinions with inspectors that differ. Even so, this is not truly direct buried if it's run in a pipe, so I'm sure some will want it to be supported.

I think you're kind of inviting an inspector to take issue with it, personally.

I'd just do it the right way......dig around the patio and burry at depth in rigid conduit. 50 amp service is going to be a 6 gauge wire, so I'd probably opt for 2 separate runs of conduit and go ahead and string the wire inside the sticks before making up the joints. Pulling 6 gauge cable without a mechanical pull device sounds awful.

i'm not an inspector by any means. but i can't think of a worse idea than running electrical inside of a downspout drain (i don't care how rated the conduit is).

if you think it's safe, go for it i guess...

sts7049 said:

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i'm not an inspector by any means. but i can't think of a worse idea than running electrical inside of a downspout drain (i don't care how rated the conduit is).

if you think it's safe, go for it i guess...

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Why do you think having it mounted on the side of your house in the rain is any better than in any other area that is wet?

Not sure I follow the logic. A wet location is a wet location. If anything, this flex line has more protection underground inside of a larger conduit compared to on the side of your house or direct buried.

I'm asking if it's specifically restricted by code.. if it is I wouldn't do it. If it's not, then I honestly don't really care about what a hypothetical buyer 15 years from now thinks!

two circuits of this is 8 wires which is pushing $10/lf so shaving off 40 or 50 feet is real money; otherwise I wouldn't care much. But I absolutely am having this inspected and so it needs to be to code.

I'm in Parker. The inspectors are pretty laid back, and def. helpful I email them several times throughout projects that I'm doing.
I've reached out to them about this, we'll see if he responds. I can't find anything that specifically restricts liquid tight conduit being inside of another conduit. But I'm a layman trying to navigate that code book.

BenTheGoodAg said:

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Practically, I think you'll really struggle to pull 6 AWG at this length and could even damage the jacket. Cable in LFNC does not pull equivalently to other rigid conduits for the same diameter.

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Assuming you disconnect the downspout, and aren't actively running water through the corrugated pipe, which is asking for problems IMO. I'd also seal up the ends of the corrugated pipe after install.

LFNC comes in rolls and wants to stay that way. You'd have to soap the everliving **** outta it to try and pull it through a corrugated pipe, and I still think you'd be fighting it. As mentioned above, 356 has requirements for supporting it when you get longer than 6', and I think it'd be easy to make the argument it is not supported.

You might be able to use UF cable. It's listed for direct burial, but with the caveat it cannot be used "where subject to physical damage." The magic is determining what subjects it to physical damage, or what an inspector believes subjects it to physical damage. It also can't be exposed to sunlight unless it's marked sunlight resistant.

But put me in the camp of dig a hole and use UF or PVC and just bury it.

Then you also gotta figure out what to do with the water that used to run down the pipe.

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I can't find anything that specifically restricts liquid tight conduit being inside of another conduit.

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The inside of another what? Not listed. Not to code.