Electricians got a question for you

[UNK]

For what it's worth: When we did our remodel my BIL explained that sheathed romex inside conduit could cause heat buildup when under full load. Basically the sheath and the conduit created a nice thermal insulating dead air space which you didn't want, causing the wires to heat up and potentially short due to insulation damage. He was an ex-lineman who ended up doing CAD substation design and not a true electrician, but he always seemed to have his head around proper wiring solutions.

He is correct. That said conduit fill is based on heat and being able to pull the wires through the conduit. Once you get over a certain amount of wires in a conduit the allowable ampacity per wire goes down and continues to go down as more wires are added.
I dont think a lighting circuit like this is likely to approach full load unless you are using bulbs with higher amp draw such as high intensity bulbs and you have several lights. Hopefully this application is a few fixtures, preferably LED which wont approach the rated amps.

[Wheeler]

You can run 12-3 or 14-3 Romex in EMT or PVC without stripping the jacket. While heat is a concern, it’s not that big of a concern with a single circuit. You’d have more issues with pipe fill and adjustment factors if you were combining multiple circuits in romex in the same conduit. It’s not typically done in a commercial setting but it’s acceptable.

Should you decide to strip the jacket, you’ll need to set a appropriate box on the end of the conduit and use a romex connector to provide strain relief. You’ll also need to bond your metal box with the grounding conductor.

The NEC allows for romex to be used in structures that are less than six stories. Your local inspectors, aka: the Authority Having Jurisdiction, may have a different standard.

[Cory]

Hey Cory, you see all the craziness involving truck drivers right now in Florida. $10000 sign on bonus and $100000 a year? Im thinking you are in Fla not sure though.

I applied for and received a promotion. I went from carpenter's apprentice, to untrained electrician, to HVAC, to electrician again. In under a year. With my promotion I'm going to be primarily a painter, and away from everything electrical.

Still cautiously looking at options elsewhere, but family life is still the priority.

[whomever]

Should you decide to strip the jacket, you’ll need to set a appropriate box on the end of the conduit and use a romex connector to provide strain relief.

FWIW, our inspector didn't require that. The strain relief was a staple within X inches of the conduit (up in the joist bay). And the open end of the conduit (EMT, actually) needed a coupler to prevent chafing.

Your Mileage May Vary Very Much, depending on the local code/inspector.

(I should also note this was all some years ago, and the code may have changed)

[Darth_Uno]

Everything UNK said is correct. And the most correct answer is whatever your jurisdiction tells you to use.

We just ran romex through conduit at my shop (zoned commercial, but basically an oversized residential garage). They let it go because it's just for LED shop lights, and they know we're not changing them. Normally it'd have be wired to handle potential heavier use.

[UNK]

I applied for and received a promotion. I went from carpenter's apprentice, to untrained electrician, to HVAC, to electrician again. In under a year. With my promotion I'm going to be primarily a painter, and away from everything electrical.

Still cautiously looking at options elsewhere, but family life is still the priority.

Congrats Cory, That promotion is fantastic. Much respect for family first you’ll never regret that decision.

[Catshooter]

I would gladly pay double to get away from UF (outdoor "Romex"). It isn't fun, at all. And it takes skill/know how to strip it without nicking the inner jacket.

[DDTSGM]

Thanks for the responses.

When I was talking stripping I was talking about using my cute little Klein wire stripper to strip enough to wire nut or connect to switches.

FWIW - I found a 50 foot roll of 12/2 romex in the back shed and also almost enough 12ga THNN wire to use in the conduit - I did have to buy ground wire.

Thanks again.

[Oldherkpilot]

Thanks for the responses.

When I was talking stripping I was talking about using my cute little Klein wire stripper to strip enough to wire nut or connect to switches.

FWIW - I found a 50 foot roll of 12/2 romex in the back shed and also almost enough 12ga THNN wire to use in the conduit - I did have to buy ground wire.

Thanks again.

It won't matter for this job, but the Klein stripper is for Romex. As far as I can tell, the only way to make stripping UF easy is conning some poor bastard into doing it for you.😁

[Wheeler]

FWIW, our inspector didn't require that. The strain relief was a staple within X inches of the conduit (up in the joist bay). And the open end of the conduit (EMT, actually) needed a coupler to prevent chafing.

Your Mileage May Vary Very Much, depending on the local code/inspector.

(I should also note this was all some years ago, and the code may have changed)

The Authority Having Jurisdiction, aka The Inspector, usually has the final say. If I am transitioning from free aired cable to insulated conductors in a conduit, I want a box where I can access that transition. As long as there’s a possibility to hook that cable, pull the conductors and put strain on the connections or worse, pull that un-insulated grounding conductor across live parts, I’m not satisfied with that option. That’s just good trade craft though.