Cutting Electrical PVC (WITHOUT CUTTING WIRES)

Posted by on November 29, 2005, 12:15 am

I'm looking for suggestions. I have a 3/4" gray PVC conduit coming
out of the ground, and up the side of a wooden post. It goes to an
outdoor switch about 5 feet, then continues up to a light on the top
of the pole. I want to cut into the PVC and install an outdoor box
with an outlet, about 2 feet from the ground. This sounds simple,
except for one thing. I cant remove the wires (without digging up the
whole yard). The wire is a 12-2 UF cable inside the pipe. I want to
cut the pipe, but not the cable. Any suggestions how to cut? (I
know, very carefully). I need to keep about 6 inches of the cable to
make the connection, but only remove about 4" of the pipe for the box,
so I cant cut it that high.

Mark

Posted by tom on November 29, 2005, 12:43 am

If the PVC is far enough away from any obstruction, you might be able
to use a small pipe cutter. You know, the kind Cool Hand Luke used to
cut the heads off of parking meters. If not, a careful sawing will
work, just takes a little longer. They also make a saw that looks like
a garrote (sp?) that might work. Tom

Posted by Toller on November 29, 2005, 12:51 am

> I'm looking for suggestions. I have a 3/4" gray PVC conduit coming
> out of the ground, and up the side of a wooden post. It goes to an
> outdoor switch about 5 feet, then continues up to a light on the top
> of the pole. I want to cut into the PVC and install an outdoor box
> with an outlet, about 2 feet from the ground. This sounds simple,
> except for one thing. I cant remove the wires (without digging up the
> whole yard). The wire is a 12-2 UF cable inside the pipe. I want to
> cut the pipe, but not the cable. Any suggestions how to cut? (I
> know, very carefully). I need to keep about 6 inches of the cable to
> make the connection, but only remove about 4" of the pipe for the box,
> so I cant cut it that high.

Unless I am misunderstanding it, you will have to run new wire between your
new box and the switch anyhow; the existing wire won't be long enough to add
anything unless you have some slack available. Adding the new wire will be
easy enough, and it won't matter much how you cut the conduit.

But to answer your question, I would use a cutter on a rotary tool. You can
set the depth so that it just hits the conduit without going any further (at
least you can on my PC). Sure, it won't help you much on the backside, but
you can open up the front, and once you do that the back will be easy.

Posted by on November 29, 2005, 3:55 am

>> I'm looking for suggestions. I have a 3/4" gray PVC conduit coming
>> out of the ground, and up the side of a wooden post. It goes to an
>> outdoor switch about 5 feet, then continues up to a light on the top
>> of the pole. I want to cut into the PVC and install an outdoor box
>> with an outlet, about 2 feet from the ground. This sounds simple,
>> except for one thing. I cant remove the wires (without digging up the
>> whole yard). The wire is a 12-2 UF cable inside the pipe. I want to
>> cut the pipe, but not the cable. Any suggestions how to cut? (I
>> know, very carefully). I need to keep about 6 inches of the cable to
>> make the connection, but only remove about 4" of the pipe for the box,
>> so I cant cut it that high.

>Unless I am misunderstanding it, you will have to run new wire between your
>new box and the switch anyhow; the existing wire won't be long enough to add
>anything unless you have some slack available. Adding the new wire will be
>easy enough, and it won't matter much how you cut the conduit.

Yes, I will have to run some new wires. Just a 3 to 4' piece of romex.
But to really have enough wire to work with, I have to cut out at
least 6" of pipe where the outlet goes to get enough wire to work with
on those deep outdoor boxes. The box is only 4" high and thats not
enough wire. I suppose I could replace the pipe, between the outlet
and switch, but hate to buy a 10 foot stick for 2 1/2 feet since I
dont have any on hand. I know that pipe is cheap but I like to avoid
buying stuff if I can. I am wondering how much wire I can cram down
into the pipe ???? If I can cram down 3 inches from the switch box, I
can cut at the top of the outlet and have plenty of wire.

>But to answer your question, I would use a cutter on a rotary tool. You can
>set the depth so that it just hits the conduit without going any further (at
>least you can on my PC). Sure, it won't help you much on the backside, but
>you can open up the front, and once you do that the back will be easy.

I think you got something here. Good idea. Thank You !
I should be able to do something with my dreml tool. I can cut the
back with a hacksaw blade (not in a saw), and keep the wire toward the
front or even put a piece of steel in there as a blocker.

The one advantage I have is the outer shell coating on the UF cable.
If I nick it, no big deal. Better than if it was just single wires.

Thanks

Mark.

Posted by BobK207 on November 29, 2005, 12:00 pm

don't cram any wire down the conduit.

cut about 6 or 8" above the final cut location

slide a pipe of emt (or other "shield" mateial) down over the wire,
passed the final cut.

CAREFULLY cut PVC w/ a hack saw

remove shield, you're good to go.

My local hardware stor seels PVC (pipe or conduit) by the foot, even my
HD has rems

cheers
Bob

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