any electricians here for a quick question?

[pascal32]

I was hoping to mount a metal electrical box to the inside of the new tank stand with metal flex conduit going to it.

Someone mentioned this might no be to code. would it be alright to surface mount the new box. This is a particularly hard section of the wall to flush mount into due to the furnace vent running underneath the wall.

thanks!

 

[pimpinitup6969]

I dont see why it would be a problem to run the conduit through the floor and mount the box on the wall. I work for a real estate company and have seen it done quite a few times. Let me try to get ahold of my friend thats an electrician and see if its up to code.

 

[pascal32]

I would really appreciate the feedback! thanks!

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I believe as long as the wire is protected with metal conduit like that it is good to go.

 

[acdraindrps]

Its been a couple years since I was taught NEC so dont hold me responsible if you are planning on having an inspector come through.

You are allowed to run the FMC (flex metal conduit) in any length for your junction box. You must have a support for the conduit every 4.5 ft. You also must use a socket with a GFI built in, as you are installing the outlet next to water. You are OK to use a surface mount style box.

I would use the liquid tight FMC, since its going inside your stand.

Again, please do not take any of my info as 100% correct. I am not yet a licensed electrician, just fresh out of college where I went for electrical engineering technology. Find out for yourself for piece of mind.

Good luck. PM me if you'd like.

 

[aww_419]

depends on the town or city but usually metal conduit is not necessary inside. Plastic conduit is fine. All conduit and wire needs to be secured and not loose. You can use staples or conduit hooks but I like to use these:

http://images.lowes.com/product/611918/611918067926.jpg

they are cheap and easy to remove and reuseable. you can find these in the plumbing section.

 

[pascal32]

alright, on the wall it's going. sump area is 90% done- just need to connect electrical and build support for external pump!

 

[aww_419]

Are you running this new box to your breaker or fuse box? If so there are a few things you need to make sure that is up to code. Make sure the conduit runs all the way to the fuse box and that the conduit goes about an inch into the bung inside the fuse box. Also you need to use a bracket to secure the line to the bung.

 

[pascal32]

thanks for the tips! the line goes to a ceiling mounted junction box which has 12/3 in it already wired to the panel. I used the metal flex connectors to join to the electrical boxes.

 

[Sir Edward]

The ceiling j/box, what else is running from it?
Not totally sure on this, but with the metal box inside the tank stand, you may want to consider a ground fault breaker to that line.

 

[aww_419]

as long as the gfi is in the box and he uses fmc like chris suggested he should be ok. I would suggest maybe using a little silicone around any wire nuts or joints of the box just to be extra careful. GFI will save you from a fire but really sucks if your not around to notice if its been tripped.

 

[Henry Colf]

home depot sell water proof wire nuts I would use those intead of silicone. JMO....

 

[TimmyNY]

If I was you I would use an exterior box in the stand. costs more but it would be water tight. It would give you peace of mind when your down there spashing water around during a WC

Tim

 

[pascal32]

The wiring is a 12/3 running from the main panel on two breakers. One goes to the garage, the other powers the reef. junction between the two occurs in the sump area ceiling.

The waterproof box is a good idea! There is no sump under the tank, but water could still splash out...

 

[mr.maroonsalty]

I believe the gfci saves your life when the ground is sensed as faulting, and your up to date properly loaded fuse box keeps your house from burning.

 

[spinoleo]

is this just going to be a splice box or are you going to have a plug there

 

[aww_419]

If your putting in more than one outlet only the 1st outlet in the series needs to be gfci. A gfci senses the amount of current that is transferred from hot to neutral. Yes if your hands are in the water and a surge happens on a non gfci outlet you will be shocked or worse. If your hand are not in the water the extra current transferred between hot and neutral will cause an increase in temperature. Basically creating an exposed heating coil which I have seen cause fires. IME even if your using a water safe nut I would still use a bit of extra caution and seal it with some silicone. Just because its water safe doesnt mean that accidents dont happen. Small price to pay for the assurance.

 

[Sir Edward]

I agree. Water safe wire nuts, silicone, yes. I tried to locate the specifics for this wiring application. The only thing I could find that is relative is the codes for spa's a whirlpools. The outlet must be a min of 4" from floor, and require a dedicated line to proper specs (20 amp in this case) and for it to have a ground fault breaker. But not sure if needed in this case, but for 30 bucks for the breaker, I'd spend it.

 

[pascal32]

If your putting in more than one outlet only the 1st outlet in the series needs to be gfci. A gfci senses the amount of current that is transferred from hot to neutral. Yes if your hands are in the water and a surge happens on a non gfci outlet you will be shocked or worse. If your hand are not in the water the extra current transferred between hot and neutral will cause an increase in temperature. Basically creating an exposed heating coil which I have seen cause fires. IME even if your using a water safe nut I would still use a bit of extra caution and seal it with some silicone. Just because its water safe doesnt mean that accidents dont happen. Small price to pay for the assurance.

The first outlet is a GFI. I have two GFI's - one at the sump and one at the tank. I did this in case one trips I don't loose the other. Is there a benefit to also adding a GFI breaker at the panel?

Since you know your electric If a GFI measure hot to neutral - would a grounding probe in the tank draw stray electric and trip the GFI due to the lack of return to neutral?

 

[pascal32]

I agree. Water safe wire nuts, silicone, yes. I tried to locate the specifics for this wiring application. The only thing I could find that is relative is the codes for spa's a whirlpools. The outlet must be a min of 4" from floor, and require a dedicated line to proper specs (20 amp in this case) and for it to have a ground fault breaker. But not sure if needed in this case, but for 30 bucks for the breaker, I'd spend it.

I'm going to switch to a plastic box and use the wirenuts you recommended! thanks for the tips!