The electrician guy took some wiring out of the outlets while he was redoing our kitchen, he said the wires were kinda damp. I thought it was because the conduits were above the insulation in the attic which had cause it to become damp from the coldness up there and the wires are kinda warm when in use. He told me to put those pipe insulation on and it would help a lot. I did that last week and I wonder if I should put insulation batts over them too? Is there something wrong there? What else should I be doing about it?
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Replies
......nothing really,
the temp difference might be in the walls????,,
jam some FG in the pipes in the boxes if you want..
otherwise , don't make yourself crazy
(the groundslots on receps pass air into the boxes)
IMHO the best course is to open the boxes with conduits running between areas with temperature differentials which may cause condensation and to use bulk 'duct seal' compound, commonly sold in one pound blocks for a couple of bucks, to seal the conduit. An easy way to get a good seal is to break off a piece and roll it into a short, thick rope about 4" long or so. With all the wires held to the center of the conduit fill the gap between the outer circumference of the conduit and the wire. Then gently spread the wires apart and stuff a ball of putty right in the middle of the bundle of wire.Ideally you end up with each individual wire surrounded by putty and slightly separated from both the conduit and all other wires. If you just pack around the bundle of wires you end up with a small hole in the center. Similarly if you shoot down the center where the wires touch the conduit it will also leak. You want as close to a air-tight seal as possible.Duct seal has advantages over caulk, foam or fiber stuffing. Duct seal makes a good seal but it is easily removable, foam or caulk can be a real pain, and won't attack the insulation on the wires or fall into your eye and itch like crazy. You could insulate the conduit but, for the most part it is far easier and more reliable just to seal it so the warm, moist air can't get to the cold sections.
Geez 4Lorn, the wires are damp......not submerged.... LOLfor the sake of discussion, he could use an
XP seal-off W / a drain , just pour in the Chico after the waddingbut that would probably mean tearing the walls open.......sometimes, up this way , there is ice inside the gear from underground feeds ....I posted a pcture of a duct bank a while ago, you commented on the neatness,remember?Those conduits went thru other manholes that guys put salamanders in to stay warm...the last pipes out from those to the gear allowed moist air to ENCASE the terminal sectons
it looked like SIberia when we opened those cabinets...
LOL.EP seals would be a tiny bit of overkill. Chico, vaporproof, poured-in-place sealing compound, makes reworking the runs, pulling in and out wires, a real PITA. Especially if they pour too much. Those fittings are also nothing like cheap. On the up side packing and pouring is fun IMO. Packing a 1/2" conduit takes maybe a minute to do a really good job. I use duct seal all the time. Good stuff. It makes a handy general purpose caulk for small spots. It doesn't go bad, unlike tubes of caulk, if stuffed into a tool box for a month or two. Just keep it in a plastic bag to keep dirt and sand away.