Electrician in Denver told me my conduit bends were trash, he was right

I used to think my conduit bends looked fine until I had an older electrician point out that every single 90 I did had a tiny flat spot on the inside. He showed me how to use a hand bender with a steady pull instead of jerking it, and my bends came out perfect after that. I was rushing through a job at a new condo build near downtown, and he stopped me mid-run to show me the difference. Switched from aluminum to EMT pipe too, which helped a ton. Now I take an extra 10 seconds per bend and the inspector hasn't flagged a single one in 3 months. Anyone else have a random old timer call them out on something small?

3 comments

3 Comments

faith272d ago

I mean, I kind of disagree with taking extra time on every bend - sometimes good enough is good enough if the pipe still pulls wire fine and passes code. The old timer I learned from said perfect looks nice but function matters more on a budget job.

nancyramirez2d ago

Hate when that happens but glad you got the pointers early on.

paulnguyen2d ago

@nancyramirez yeah that's the worst feeling. What worked for me was keeping a simple notes file on my phone where I just jot down any helpful pointers or feedback right when I hear them. That way I don't have to rely on memory later. Also started asking people to email me a quick summary after meetings so I have it in writing.