What is a conduit?For an electrician work scope,conduit is a one of famous method for electrical cable route wiring in domestic or industrial sector.
A conduit is a channel or pipe that electrical cable are contained secure inside when do the electrical wiring.We can route the conduit at the surface or con-seal method.
The main purpose of conduit application are to providing a mechanical protection of electrical cable,easy for rewired or modification of circuit,flexibility and look tidy installation.Normally we can found several types material of conduit and it made for different application and condition such as PVC,Steel,Stainless Steel & Flexible.
Types & Size of Steel Conduit
For this post i discussed and elaborate more about STEEL conduit.What is a types and size of steel conduit? For European and Asia country normally they produced and manufactured the steel conduit followed the British Standard Institute (BS).
To provide anti-rust protection,steel conduits through the hot dip galvanized finish process and its known as a Class 4 type of conduit for normal application.For the special application likes explosion proof,flame proof or gas tight,manufactured produced the special solid drawn seamless conduit.
Normally conduits supplied in 3 meters lengths with ORANGE color and external diameters are 16,20,25 & 32 mm.Please consider your conduit sizes and choose a suitable size depend on cable sizes and 10 % of free space required inside the conduit (space factor).
Why space factor so important? It is to prevent high temperature and can cause the insulator damage or brittle.The maximum number of cables which may be drawn into a conduit can be calculated by using the factor system described in the ETCI Rules
Advantages of Steel Conduits
Below i’d listed several of steel conduit advantages and disadvantages for our references.
Advantage
1) Easy for installation and rewired.
2) Can be utilized as the Circuit Protective Conductor.
3) Affords cables good mechanical protection.
4) Minimizes fire risks.
Disadvantage
1) Under certain conditions moisture is liable to form on the inside wall of the conduit.
2) Expensive compared with some other wiring systems.
3) Liable to corrosion where subject to acids, alkalies and corrosive fumes.
4) Not suitable for Hazardous area.