ECN Electrical Forum
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Yo:

Did you see this:
http://www.tvcinc.com/conduit----innerduct/bore-gard---can-fuse/products.aspx

Hotline 1
I know about the Approved & correct methods , But some contractors want to use Water line, Sewer line, ect.
I feel if the Correct method to do the job is out there it should be used. I don't think the AHJ has the power to say , Use whatever . Yoopersup

Point of Info on HDPE:
Called Factory & they told me Water pipe & Conduit HDPE same except water pipe stronger, Comes off same line even. Conduit marked as such. They said you could use water pipe as Conduit but not conduit as water pipe. Interesting hey!

Ernie- I've run into this before and it was explained to me that water pipe is tested for pressure and conduit isn't and that conduit is tested for crush resistance and water pipe isn't.

Like I said talked to factory both same pipe, Come off same assembly line, But more hardner added to Plumbing pipe. According to there there Teck guy Water pipes better. Yes I know & went over testing with him also. He said they put different lables on each.
yoopersup

That is probably important to the people who use RNC for outside hose bibs and such. So far I have never heard of a problem with it and you see a lot of gray pipe on docks and even solar collectors although they usually use ABS for that.

Ultimately, it comes down to either an engineering decision or an administrative one.

Whether a material is adequate for the job is, I would hope, the primary question; "code compliance" is silly if the final effort is a failure.

I've been in a number of situations where it simply wasn't possible to 'meet code' and still have things work. These situations have included 'green' insulation on 'hot wires,' use of steel wire as a conductor, and the use of plumbing pipe as conduit. Mind you, in each of these instances there were details that made the choice the only physically possible choice - I'm not talking about simple convenience.

Perhaps the best example was the use of plastic water pipe as conduit -in the days before there was any listed product - for extremely corrosive conditions. That particular jurisdiction still, to this day, does not allow plastic pipe for either plumbing or electric, but was willing to accept its' use where corrosive conditions justified the use.

Getting closer to the OP, I think we've all used 'non-listed' materials for direct bore .... every time we've passed wires under a sidewalk or driveway. Naturally, my saying this opens up the debate as to 'what constitutes direct boring?" All I can say is that I was using a water pipe with a nozzle on it to drill holes through dirt long before special tool sets were sold, then passing some form of pipe through the hole. If anyone expects me to purchase a 1000 ft. reel of HDPE for a 30" sidewalk job ... keep dreaming.

"Listing and labelling" has its' uses; the presence of a UL label can make it easier to judge whether a product is suitable. That's no comfort, though, for the 'fringe' applications where the circumstances have not been encountered enough for someone to think there's a market to serve.

This job is 160 to 200 ft of 6 inch under a river & up to handholes each side.