Vintage Sounds

As I gain more experience with pipe I realise that, just like everyone else, I hate rigid conduit. Sure it's durable but I enjoy nothing about carrying it around, bending it or cutting and threading it. EMT is a lot more fun.

We don't use IMC here in Canada(that I know of) so I've never come across it but I've seen it in catalogs and such. It weighs less than rigid. I got the Allied conduit site by googling, and in their IMC specs it says:

Sounds like a pretty good deal, is there any reason it's not used in Canada? If IMC is (supposedly) as durable and can be used everywhere rigid can be, why even bother with rigid? Where is it generally used?

TOOL_5150

I use IMC and rigid all the time, and compression connectors for rigid dont squeeze the IMC all that well in some occasions.

~Matt

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bobelectric

Duquesne Light up this way sez rigid conduit only for services. 3" is really heavy,'4" impossible.

jrannis

If I have a choice, I always use IMC. Its rated the same as rigid for our common use, is much lighter and cheaper.

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BuzzKill

just like rigid, although IMC is a tad lighter

waco

Funny thing. A very old electrician told me the basis for rigid was the old piping for gas-lights (used for early wiring of electric lights) and nobody ever really looked at the style beyond that point. I think it was also good for hazardous atmospheres, but I sure never used it in one.

I use EMT and IMC on the rare occasions I have to use pipe and I sure don't know why they aren't allowed in Canada. I do run an EGC and don't rely on the pipe for grounding, but that's just me.

Amish Electrician

The pipe makers will tell you IMC is alloyed and heat treated to handle, work, and perform just like rigid.

My experience? They're pretty close, but not quite identical. The IMC seems stiffer at the start of bending, but once started seems to bend slightly easier. It's not enough that I might just be imagining the difference, though.

Our PoCo specifies rigid for service masts, but I've never seen anyone check to be sure I didn't use IMC by mistake.

220/221

I haven't seen rigid in decades. Everything's IMC here since the late 70's.

bobelectric

Rigid has a duller finish than imc.

Loose Neutral

How can you not love running rigid pipe? That's the best. I think they run more imc in the south. Here in the NE it's all Rigid or EMT.

JayH

Six inch rigid on the side of a slippery hill at the Chevron refinery in Richmond, CA was far from what I call fun.

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Loose Neutral

Refinery work usually sucks, but running rigid with a good working partner and having a good bender dialed in is always a good time. Especially in a industrial environment .

cdnelectrician

I enjoyed all of the explosion proof work I have done in the past, once you get the hang of working with rigid it CAN be fun! I remember some of the hazardous location boxes we had in one plant, one of them housed control strips and some relays. Needed a forklift to remove the cover after you had taken the 40 some odd bolts out of the front with an impact gun...Not fun lol

RIVETER

I enjoy running all types of conduit. I don't know why, for sure, except that all of my journeymen in the past treated it as if it was an important part of the craft. A little hint to the new people; When you are bending a three point saddle always use a pencil to make your lines. That way if you are a little off center of the obstruction you are crossing you can erase it and re-mark it dead center.

Sco

I specialize in the retail petroleum industry and have had the opportunity to install lots of rigid and imc. There are pros and cons to each. Rigid is heavier and more expensive but it bends easier and is more forgiving, if you need to take a bend out it wont kink. Rigid also takes threads better. Imc is cheaper, lighter, a little harder to bend, it will kink very quickly if you arent careful, especially using a hickey bender and it doesn't thread as well.

Stardrill

How many people use aluminum conduit?
A local food plant requires it.

BuzzKill

Did a big @ss water park a few years ago with it, I love it. The switch gear was stainless and hard as a mofo, less fun there.

Old Spark

We used to run IMC underground at gas stations, but found that the 1" was much harder to bend, the 3/4" a bit harder. I did have the threads oblong on me a couple time while threading with IMC. That's no fun. Had to take the threader head apart to get if off that piece of pipe. We finally decided the savings in material cost got eaten up by more labor, so we went back to rigid. Then finally to PVC coated rigid. We never tried PVC coated IMC.

Sco

Well I would never go back to rigid from imc because of labor savings. I would give a lesson on how to thread pipe. Rigid is a better product but unless it is spec'd I won't use it due to the significant cost difference. Prefer to use pvc and imc on gas stations.

Old Spark

We are now using PVC and O'Cal at the ends at gas stations. We use a 10 stick at each end and join them with FA's. Saw someone use TA to join them and that turned out bad. The threads snapped off of several after the wire was pulled from people walking on the conduit before back fill. Most of the corporate oil companies require the PVC coated (O'cal or Rob Roy) with the pvc as long as we install per nec requirement. But Arco (BP) requires that we use the O'cal end to end with no pvc in the tank hole and to the dispensers. Someone there thinks you can put a hand shovel right through the pvc. I'm sure he has seen sprinkler pipe and thinks that it is the same thing. I like it because the premium O'cal is coated inside also and it hold up really good underground. We have a lot of clay out here and it distroys rigid and IMC.