What’s better plastic or steel electrical conduits for a new house build? Appreciate your insights, thank you!

[thailiban2]

Have seen both plastic and steel used as electrical conduits in Thailand, which is better? What are the pros and cons?

 

 

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[emptypockets]

PVC not just in Thailand, anywhere if we are talking a domestic install.

[olfu]

Steel pipe always better but takes more time to install. Plus you have to ground it.

[emptypockets]

10 minutes ago, olfu said:

Steel pipe always better but takes more time to install. Plus you have to ground it.

Absolute nonsense. 

 

Good bye

[Crossy]

Bury it in the wall? PVC, cheap quick, easy.

 

Surface mount? Steel galvanised for that industrial-chic look, not so cheap, more difficult to install and get neat.

 

If you really want the chic look the get out the $$ and use MICC (Mineral Insulated Copper Clad http://www.miccltd.com/fire-survival-wiring/fire-survival-wiring/what-is-micc-cable ), great in that period thatched cottage in the UK. 

 

 

[VocalNeal]

Aluminium

[tjo o tjim]

I would only use metal conduit below 2.5m height where surface mounted and subject to physical damage in Thailand. You simply cannot get all the correct fittings for a complete and electrically continuous system. 

 

For residential purposes and in the wall, plastic is fine if installed correctly. Try to make sure there aren’t more than 2-3 90-degree bends between boxes so cables can actually be pulled through it with everything assembled. 

[matthew777]

In the West I would use metal as its the most attractive and has a cool commercial look to it. It also gives another path to ground so some would consider it safer.

 

The problem is in Thailand the quality of the metal conduit hardware you would purchase at the common hardware store is simply horrendous.  Many of the metal edges are not de-burred and the threads look about as deep as scratches, meaning you struggle to make a solid connection. There is also a complete absence of many metal conduit parts you would need to do the job correct which leads to frustration.

 

I would recommend plastic in Thailand. They have most of the parts needed and it will not rust. 

 

Remember you are not supposed to put conduit in a conduit so that means you need to pull wires.

 

[sometimewoodworker]

6 hours ago, tjo o tjim said:

You simply cannot get all the correct fittings for a complete and electrically continuous system. 

Really? I must be hallucinating then as I seem to have them.

[xylophone]

11 hours ago, Crossy said:

Bury it in the wall? PVC, cheap quick, easy.

I'll go along with that as have part-rewired a couple of houses here.

[transam]

Think in LOS I would go plastic unless you were watching every minute of installation. I would fear future "shocks" with anything metal involved...

 

My 12 year old house has been a nightmare regarding the electrics and I still have something very bad to fix. Hopefully one day a trustworthy sparks will appear..

[thailiban2]

Thanks for all your replies. I was planning to have the conduit embedded in the superblocks. I was worried about using the plastic conduits in the walls incase of accidentally drilling into it and getting a shock. From some comments here, seems to indicate you can earth it if you use metal, is this correct? Does this mean you can’t if you use plastic? If there is no safety advantage of using metal then I think the advantage of the plastic conduit would be lower cost and easier installation....Is my assumption correct?


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[sometimewoodworker]

18 minutes ago, thailiban2 said:

I was worried about using the plastic conduits in the walls incase of accidentally drilling into it and getting a shock.

Correct routing prevents that. Straight up or horizontal from the socket.

 

Dont drill directly above a socket or on the same level, no problem.

 

Use a double insulated drill they all are, problems for the wiring but no shock for you

 

18 minutes ago, thailiban2 said:

From some comments here, seems to indicate you can earth it if you use metal

Yes you can Earth the metal conduit. 

 

While you could attach an earth to any point on the PVC it will do nothing. ????

 

18 minutes ago, thailiban2 said:

I think the advantage of the plastic conduit would be lower cost and easier installation....Is my assumption correct?

Yes

[canopy]

13 hours ago, thailiban2 said:

I was planning to have the conduit embedded in the superblocks

If you want to do it right, blocks must be 5 inch or thicker to allow embedding conduits. Or you can do it the Thai way where it doesn't matter.

 

13 hours ago, thailiban2 said:

seems to indicate you can earth it if you use metal

Metal conduit and boxes must be earthed for safety. Plenty of videos online about how to do this right. But here again the other option is the Thai way where it doesn't matter.

 

[ourdon]

With plastic you can do a complete run with no seams.  No chance of a seam splitting or rusting out.  Other than that it is a faster and easier install and somewhat cheaper.

 

Just make sure that the ends of the roll get sealed (plastic bag taped on) so no water gets in the pipe.

 

I have used plastic conduit and directional drilling on a commercial basis.  They saved me a world of pain.