conduit junctions

[januwan]

I am planning to relocate my pool equipment (two pumps, heater and filter) by 6 ft. I dug around (see picture) and found corroded conduit that supply the power to the system.
Looks like I have leak in the plumbing system I have to take care off.
I need to replace the corroded section and I am not sure what should be the correct way. Should I use the wire nuts and access port between the old conduit and new section (extension to the new place) or use some kind of underground junction box

My second question concerns the wall pool lighting. The wires from the niche come in a cooper tubing. I would need to cut it and extend to the new place. I am not aware of any cooper junction boxes so how am I going to splice it and extend to the new location.

Any guidelines/help will be greatly appreciated

[Mike44]

Looks like you've got a pretty difficult situation here. The ends of those elbows of the conduit look like their buried beneath the concrete slab so it might be hard to access it. Ideally, it would be good to cut the conduit at the elbows that are underground, extend the conduit to the new place, and run new wires from the pool light right to the new location. But it would be hell to try and do that, especially under the concrete slab. What if you kept that above ground junction box I see in the front of the picture, remove the grey rusty pipe, and replace it with a new one that leads directly to your new location? I don't know - is that grey pipe the rusty one that you have to replace?? Or is it another one?

I'm not too sure what pipe leads where and what each is for. It's a little hard to see the labels in the picture too because of the size constraints of the attachments. Maybe attach a little drawn out diagram or something too so I can visualize where and how you want to move this stuff becuase I know this won't totally answer your question.

[januwan]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for replaying. I have already given up on any help on this forum that is why my replay is delayed. I know my attachment does not show a lot.
My initial enquiry was about the green pipe (it is a brass conduit, schedule 80 pipe) that protects the pool light. I already ordered new light fixture with longer cord (I was told no splicing allowed for niche light). I cut off the vertical section of the brass conduit. I will cut off the elbow as soon as I drain the pool below light level. I will install the same elbow (this time horizontally) but will use compression fitting that I bought in plumbing supply store and add new section and additional elbow to put the J-box in new location. Initially I was thinking about threaded fittings but as you noticed it would be pain to thread under the concrete.
The grey pipe between main panel and j-box is rigid metal conduit (I believe it is galvanize steel) that is corroded and I will replace it with PVC conduit.
I am also going to replace the corroded conduit from the hose the main panel

P.S. The picture is little confusing because there are two pipes (grey) that hold the main panel. They look like conduit but support the wooden board with timers only.

[Mike44]

Hey, sorry about your experience here without the help and stuff; I sort of saw that no one was responding so I thought that I would at least try and answer it the best I could. That is good that you've found the solution though!

When you do replace the conduits, personally, I prefer to use PVC outside because it can stand up to the elements; plus it won't corrode underground so you'll never really have to worry about it. And yes, make sure there are no splices in the wire coming from the light until it reaches the j-box. You might need to replace the entire wire since you are lengthening the conduit.

Okay, I hope this project goes alright for you!

Michael

[januwan]

Are you kidding me? This is very good forum I benefited a lot from reading many posts. I figured this is not very popular subject and no one has any recommendation. It is better to say nothing than misinform somebody.

I was digging over the weekend to get ready for conduit and wires replacement which brings a new questions. How deep PVC conduit has to be kept underground. Does it make any difference what is on the top?

I spoke with Inspector who advice me; do everything the way it is now and you will be OK. It turns out that water line and electrical is just 6 inches under and only gas line is 14 inches below the ground level.

[Mike44]

Oh! Okay, sorry! That's good, I've found this forum really helpful too - not just the electrical part but also the others!

If I only read the 2nd paragraph that you wrote, I would say that conduit should be around 18" - 24" underground if you are running line voltage through it (as oppsed to low voltage). BUT, after reading the 3rd, it might seem that an exception has been made for pool systems. Again, I'm not sure on this, but if your inspector said that it will be okay to replicate what was initially there, it may be okay. Don't quote me on that part though because I'm not sure as to the complete setup for what was already there. If your pool lights and water jets are around 6" - 12" below the edge of your pool, then typically the pipes and wires will be run at that level to the hook up area. It's "too much work" to trench down the extra foot (at least based on my experiences).

If in doubt, it wouldn't hurt just to contact an electrician or better yet, a pool installer, and get him to take a look to suggest the best approach to take!

Michael