ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Auxiliary Gutter Sizing

The "gutter" is actually a WIREWAY. Article 376 will determine what flies, and what doesn't.

376.23 Insulated Conductors. Insulated conductors installed
in a metallic wireway shall comply with 376.23(A)
and (B).

(A) Deflected Insulated Conductors. Where insulated
conductors are deflected within a metallic wireway, either
at the ends or where conduits, fittings, or other raceways or
cables enter or leave the metallic wireway, or where the
direction of the metallic wireway is deflected greater than
30 degrees, dimensions corresponding to one wire per terminal
in Table 312.6(A) shall apply.

(B) Metallic Wireways Used as Pull Boxes. Where insulated
conductors 4 AWG or larger are pulled through a wireway,
the distance between raceway and cable entries enclosing
the same conductor shall not be less than that required by
314.28(A)(1) for straight pulls and 314.28(A)(2) for angle
pulls. When transposing cable size into raceway size, the minimum
metric designator (trade size) raceway required for the
number and size of conductors in the cable shall be used.

(Which, BTW, is the same thing it says verbatim in the Article on Auxiliary Gutters)

I got a laugh at the semantics argument (no offence intended guys) because I'm going through exactly the same thing on a major job I'm doing. The Contractor has installed a gigantic version of what is shown in the picture.

But, when I pointed out that it's not properly sized per the wireway rules, he tells me that it's a pullbox. When I point out that it's not sized properly as a pullbox, he tells me that it's a wireway.

Maybe there's a need in the NEC for a new Article covering Wireboxes and Pullways, where the height is sized as a wireway and the depth is sized as a pullbox.

I LOVE THIS JOB!!!!

Auxiliary gutter, wireway, or pullbox ... reminds me of the old saying that figures don't lie, but liars can figure.

IF that was the only issue, AND the openings were aligned close enough that one gould realistically expect to pull the actual wires straight through, I might turn a blind eys.

As this thread has revealed, this install has a few issues, far more serious, to address. The patient has terminal cancer, and we're debating brands of aspirin...

Ghost, I can't speak for the job you have. I'd put myself in the shoes of the installer and ask: Were the wires pulled, or did they assemble the boxes over the already-pulled wires? (After all, that's another NEC requirement.)

Otherwise, there's a legitimate role for the use of flex or sealtite. If anyone out there is rolling their eyes with disdain, remembering the last time they tried to cut large flex ... might I suggest using an angle grinder with a cut-off blade, positioned the 'long' way, like a roto-split blade?

The last time I cut 4" sealtite flex, I did so with a power bandsaw, which worked MUCH better than an angle grinder.

Hear hear for the porta-band!! But I must say I never even thought of the angle grinder.

Up or over here, we call a wireway a troff; just to add that to the mix. Based on what I saw in the pic, and the sizing explanation from Reno, I kept out of this.

When I saw the pic, that would never fly here. First the POCO would do a LOL, get back in the truck & leave. The AHJ would have a red tag as he walked up. No offense intended, but it's a rip out & start over.