# My panel is basically a drain right now...need advice on sealing conduit.



## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

Hey guys, my meter is mounted on pedestal at of driveway then runs about 300' underground straight thru foundation wall about 3" above from basement floor into an lb and then a 3' nipple into bottom of panel. 

Grade runs downhill towards house but even though it's a gradual slope it ends being a huge drop off between the 2 points. I did my best to drop the conduit as deep as I could (8') at top of the hill and bringing it back up towards the house but it wasn't enough. Finally got pipe sealed as best I could (with wires inside) using great stuff, sealed gasket around the lb and filled with more great stuff and haven't had a drip off water since last winter. Came home today and noticed water on the floor,-no leaks from the LB, or the wall behind it. Then I felt a drip from above noticed it was coming from bottom of panel, took off cover and sure as [email protected]&t water was up to connector and overflowing into bottom of panel. Took lb cover off and great stuff was just saturated like a sponge and flowing water when I pulled it back.
Right now I got all water out pipe (at least it's a trickle) and nipple from lb to bottom of panel is dry. I'm looking for the best way to seal everything with wire in place and the section of pipe underground moist likely being wet. I'm not so worried about the nipple coming up into panel cause it was wasn't sealed at all before so even great stuff should hold it back from now on , but I would like to get the conduit coming into the LB from outside closed up tight, any ideas.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

I tried to tell macmikenan that great stuff is not water proof, and is in fact, a sponge. Thanks for this post.


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## Awg-Dawg (Jan 23, 2007)

Ive never seen a pipe sealed before,(not that you cant) It seems like a lost cause.

I would probably put a quazite box in away from the house to let the water drain out there.


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## Hmacanada (Jan 16, 2014)

Where is water coming from?
Seal the other end to try and reduce it getting in the first place.
As dawg said be better to give it a place to soak away


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## chicken steve (Mar 22, 2011)

Ibewye said:


> Hey guys, my meter is mounted on pedestal at of driveway then runs about 300' underground straight thru foundation wall about 3" above from basement floor into an lb and then a 3' nipple into bottom of panel.
> 
> Grade runs downhill towards house but even though it's a gradual slope it ends being a huge drop off between the 2 points. I did my best to drop the conduit as deep as I could (8') at top of the hill and bringing it back up towards the house but it wasn't enough. Finally got pipe sealed as best I could (with wires inside) using great stuff, sealed gasket around the lb and filled with more great stuff and haven't had a drip off water since last winter. Came home today and noticed water on the floor,-no leaks from the LB, or the wall behind it. Then I felt a drip from above noticed it was coming from bottom of panel, took off cover and sure as [email protected]&t water was up to connector and overflowing into bottom of panel. Took lb cover off and great stuff was just saturated like a sponge and flowing water when I pulled it back.
> Right now I got all water out pipe (at least it's a trickle) and nipple from lb to bottom of panel is dry. I'm looking for the best way to seal everything with wire in place and the section of pipe underground moist likely being wet. I'm not so worried about the nipple coming up into panel cause it was wasn't sealed at all before so even great stuff should hold it back from now on , but I would like to get the conduit coming into the LB from outside closed up tight, any ideas.


Polywater is the premiere sealant Ibe.

But it will only serve to back up the h2o, and crack your raceway under 32F

So, drill a small 1/4" hole in the riser for a drain

good luck

~CS~


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

Awg-Dawg said:


> Ive never seen a pipe sealed before,(not that you cant) It seems like a lost cause.
> 
> 
> 
> I would probably put a quazite box in away from the house to let the water drain out there.



Hehe.....if only you could see what it would take to do that. My service runs in a trench with 6 geothermal loops and a well line, I know exactly where the conduit is but this basement will have to flood before that option.


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## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

Ibewye said:


> Hey guys, my meter is mounted on pedestal at of driveway then runs about 300' underground straight thru foundation wall about 3" above from basement floor into an lb and then a 3' nipple into bottom of panel.
> 
> Grade runs downhill towards house but even though it's a gradual slope it ends being a huge drop off between the 2 points. I did my best to drop the conduit as deep as I could (8') at top of the hill and bringing it back up towards the house but it wasn't enough. Finally got pipe sealed as best I could (with wires inside) using great stuff, sealed gasket around the lb and filled with more great stuff and haven't had a drip off water since last winter. Came home today and noticed water on the floor,-no leaks from the LB, or the wall behind it. Then I felt a drip from above noticed it was coming from bottom of panel, took off cover and sure as [email protected]&t water was up to connector and overflowing into bottom of panel. Took lb cover off and great stuff was just saturated like a sponge and flowing water when I pulled it back.
> Right now I got all water out pipe (at least it's a trickle) and nipple from lb to bottom of panel is dry. I'm looking for the best way to seal everything with wire in place and the section of pipe underground moist likely being wet. I'm not so worried about the nipple coming up into panel cause it was wasn't sealed at all before so even great stuff should hold it back from now on , but I would like to get the conduit coming into the LB from outside closed up tight, any ideas.


Just for information, do you know for sure that the conductors are run all the way in conduit, and not under-ground cable up until it approaches the house?


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

You can try filling the conduit with Polywater. It's designed exactly for this up to a certain amount of head pressure. That said, if it ever lets go suddenly, you may have a whole conduit full of water suddenly appear in the room. 

But I agree with _Awg-Dawg_: Is this a PVC LB below the panel? If so, I would absolutely look into piping in a small 1/4" drain line off of it. You may think it's hack, but it's much easier to drain water away in a controlled fashion than it is to seal it out.


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## Mich drew (Mar 3, 2013)

The only way to do it right is to dig it up and enter the conduit above grade with an L.B. If you just want to make what you have work, you could drill a hole in the bottom of your existing L. B. and let it drain into a bucket with a hose fitting in the bottom, then run the hose back to your sump crock.
I have never had luck completely sealing a conduit and make it a practice to never enter a basement wall below grade.


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## dronai (Apr 11, 2011)

We had this on a long downhill underground run. We used duct sealer (Putty) In the conduit at the handhole. Worked


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

Mich drew said:


> The only way to do it right is to dig it up and enter the conduit above grade with an L.B. If you just want to make what you have work, you could drill a hole in the bottom of your existing L. B. and let it drain into a bucket with a hose fitting in the bottom, then run the hose back to your sump crock.
> I have never had luck completely sealing a conduit and make it a practice to never enter a basement wall below grade.


Amen. I never enter below grade. No matter what.


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## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Amen. I never enter below grade. No matter what.


I'm biting my lip on that statement.


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## vinci (Dec 12, 2014)

Polywater would definitely be my first choice but depending on how heavy the flow is you might end up needing to follow Mich drew's advice anyway. Could get lucky and have polywater be all you need, though.


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Amen. I never enter below grade. No matter what.


Two quick replies. LB would of been smack dab in front of my house, brand new house at that, I look at those things all day long so I wasn't keen on the idea. Second, I was actually concerned coming above grade would have had the same effect but then I would have to worry about water coming in from top of panel, I see your point on being -an easier fix than what I'm facing, I think I have a good plan though..


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## NacBooster29 (Oct 25, 2010)

At this point I would make provisions to let the water drain. As others said. I've seen the poly water. But if that fails it would cause problems. Maybe use poly water and install a.drain fitting in the bottom of the lb


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

Quick update. I took a peice of 1/2" pex tubing and put a 45 deg angle on the end then gently started tapping up the pipe and have about 3' in getting me past any point I sealed up to this point. I hooked shop vac and drained a ton of water out. Now that I got a clear pipe I put another pex tube next to it but it's about 6" shorter in length. Hoping great stuff has enough pressure behind it to send up pex and then pull out pex as I fill. I'm not familiar with polywater,, does it come in tube like caulk so I could squeeze into pex and up pipe. ?.


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

Plus I figure if this doesn't work I can leave in pex and add a valve over to condensation pump...


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## 3DDesign (Oct 25, 2014)

Open the pedestal and see if water is entering there, if so raise it.


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

Pedestal is 300' up the hill and and goes right into meter cabinet, it's probably 10-12' (at least) higher than here. I know I'm just dealing with run off water from hill, sealing her up is worth a shot but I the end i'll probably end up draining it into a floor drain in basement close by.


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## dielectricunion (Nov 29, 2012)

mcclary's electrical said:


> Amen. I never enter below grade. No matter what.



I'm working on a job where we sent a 3" pvc conduit through block foundation below grade. My boss and coworker just filled the gap with great stuff.

I didn't feel great about it but I'm the greenest of the bunch; i don't get involved in these types of decisions.

The building already has a mess of problems with groundwater infiltration but why add one more weak spot.

If properly sealed with mortar, isn't it the same as a sewer line through foundation or anything else?


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## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

Yes.


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

dielectricunion said:


> I'm working on a job where we sent a 3" pvc conduit through block foundation below grade. My boss and coworker just filled the gap with great stuff.
> 
> I didn't feel great about it but I'm the greenest of the bunch; i don't get involved in these types of decisions.
> 
> ...


If properly done, yes. But it's always been so much easier to 90 up above grade, and lb in. I've never had a reason to enter below grade.


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## dielectricunion (Nov 29, 2012)

mcclary's electrical said:


> If properly done, yes. But it's always been so much easier to 90 up above grade, and lb in. I've never had a reason to enter below grade.



So in situations where the buried conduit needs to get to a panel located in a basement, you'd come in above grade, then drop down into the basement?


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## 3DDesign (Oct 25, 2014)

dielectricunion said:


> So in situations where the buried conduit needs to get to a panel located in a basement, you'd come in above grade, then drop down into the basement?


Always


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

mcclary's electrical said:


> If properly done, yes. But it's always been so much easier to 90 up above grade, and lb in. I've never had a reason to enter below grade.



That's easier to say to a customer, I would probably say it too, sometimes it's different if it's your own house. Im still in the middle of building and yes I gotta deal with this water problem but one way or another it'll be fixed and forgotten soon. Given the spot where I would have had to put the LB it would have been staring me down for the next 30 years. If I had a do over though I would of put in quasi box and buried the SOB....


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

3DDesign said:


> Always



I can't agree, I should of put a quasi box in or done a better job sealing conduits the first tine but I like the way panel is bottom fed now and leaves more room at top, plus no fittings strapped to front of house.


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## ponyboy (Nov 18, 2012)

dielectricunion said:


> So in situations where the buried conduit needs to get to a panel located in a basement, you'd come in above grade, then drop down into the basement?



No. Go below footing and bring the conduit up through the floor.


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

Well I gave it a try, great stuff blew through the pex without a problem and I was able to pull pex out of pipe and fill in behind me. I was able to fill get 3' worth filled with great stuff plus the nipple up to the panel. 
Time will tell, and in a month or two the great stuff will be out of my hair again. Thanks for the suggestions.


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## cdub347 (Jun 26, 2014)

" no fittings strapped to the house" but instead they got water issues. I would rather have PVC that can be painted strapped to my house , as opposed to water issues. Just my thought . I've never heard of "great stuff" being put in a conduit body before, wouldn't that constrict a lot if heat on the conductors ,?. Concrete is such a bitch to seal it almost always busts a leak unless you use ALOT of silicone and or morter


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

dielectricunion said:


> I'm working on a job where we sent a 3" pvc conduit through block foundation below grade. My boss and coworker just filled the gap with great stuff.
> 
> I didn't feel great about it but I'm the greenest of the bunch; i don't get involved in these types of decisions.
> 
> ...



Sort of, the outside of any pipes passing through the wall all get sealed with mortar or rubber expandable seals, my issue is with groundwater inside the pipe leaking at the LB I have just inside my foundation (just above floor level). I had filled the pipe with great stuff once before and had everything sealed up but never bothered sealing up the nipple from the LB up into the panel. Water pressure had built up and soaked through great stuff and up into bottom of my panel where I noticed a drip today. We've had a lot freeze-thaw weather and rain so ground is really saturated, regardless my issue had to be addressed no matter what. I took some pex tubing and tapped into conduit about 4', drained with shop vac and then used pex as a big straw for great stuff, filling and drawing pex out at same time. Clamped lb cover on so I don't strip out screws, then filled the nipple between panel with great stuff. I may still get water out of lb eventually and would end up draining into basement drain but I'm sure I stopped any water coming up into panel which had the real potential to be a problem.


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

cdub347 said:


> " no fittings strapped to the house" but instead they got water issues. I would rather have PVC that can be painted strapped to my house , as opposed to water issues. Just my thought . I've never heard of "great stuff" being put in a conduit body before, wouldn't that constrict a lot if heat on the conductors ,?. Concrete is such a bitch to seal it almost always busts a leak unless you use ALOT of silicone and or morter


Conductors are water cooled.


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## Clarky (Sep 25, 2011)

I had the same problem on a house I did,the excavator came back and hand dug up where the conduit was , drilled drain hole on the bottom of the conduit, end of problem. I don't care what you do you can't keep water out of conduits!


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## McClary’s Electrical (Feb 21, 2009)

Ibewye said:


> Quick update. I took a peice of 1/2" pex tubing and put a 45 deg angle on the end then gently started tapping up the pipe and have about 3' in getting me past any point I sealed up to this point. I hooked shop vac and drained a ton of water out. Now that I got a clear pipe I put another pex tube next to it but it's about 6" shorter in length. Hoping great stuff has enough pressure behind it to send up pex and then pull out pex as I fill. I'm not familiar with polywater,, does it come in tube like caulk so I could squeeze into pex and up pipe. ?.


So the sponge failed the first time, so you're going to put in a bigger sponge?


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

Ibewye said:


> Hey guys, my meter is mounted on pedestal at of driveway then runs about 300' underground straight thru foundation wall about 3" above from basement floor into an lb and then a 3' nipple into bottom of panel.
> 
> Grade runs downhill towards house but even though it's a gradual slope it ends being a huge drop off between the 2 points. I did my best to drop the conduit as deep as I could (8') at top of the hill and bringing it back up towards the house but it wasn't enough. Finally got pipe sealed as best I could (with wires inside) using great stuff, sealed gasket around the lb and filled with more great stuff and haven't had a drip off water since last winter. Came home today and noticed water on the floor,-no leaks from the LB, or the wall behind it. Then I felt a drip from above noticed it was coming from bottom of panel, took off cover and sure as [email protected]&t water was up to connector and overflowing into bottom of panel. Took lb cover off and great stuff was just saturated like a sponge and flowing water when I pulled it back.
> Right now I got all water out pipe (at least it's a trickle) and nipple from lb to bottom of panel is dry. I'm looking for the best way to seal everything with wire in place and the section of pipe underground moist likely being wet. I'm not so worried about the nipple coming up into panel cause it was wasn't sealed at all before so even great stuff should hold it back from now on , but I would like to get the conduit coming into the LB from outside closed up tight, any ideas.


Dig the conduit up about 10' away from your house.
Drill two holes in the top of the conduit to avoid the conductors
The hole closest to the house, inject hydraulic cement.
The hole on the service side, wrap with fabric.
Repeat in 20 years.

Next time, bring an LB in above grade and plant a shrub in front of it.


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

Stop wasting your time with insulating foam that you know is gonna fail. http://www.polywater.com/ductseal.html

If that don't work, figure out where you can pipe a drain to.


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

mcclary's electrical said:


> So the sponge failed the first time, so you're going to put in a bigger sponge?



Temporarily, 3' of great stuff will help dry up pipe and hold back any water pressure so I can get polywater in their clean. This all happened last night so I had to use what was on shelf.


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

jrannis said:


> Dig the conduit up about 10' away from your house.
> 
> Drill two holes in the top of the conduit to avoid the conductors
> 
> ...



I could definitely fix If I dig up, but it's winter here and I'm not sure the risk of damaging the conductors would be worth (but if used a collar on drill bit I'm sure I could do. I almost used hydraulic cement over the great stuff but I wasn't sure if it okay to use directly on conductor insulation. Have you looked into it before or just assumed it's okay?


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## Ibewye (Apr 24, 2012)

Big John said:


> Stop wasting your time with insulating foam that you know is gonna fail. http://www.polywater.com/ductseal.html
> 
> If that don't work, figure out where you can pipe a drain to.



Thanks for the link, electrical supply store has some and I'm going pick up after work. Hopefully the great stuff I put in will act as the damming strips" to hold back the water.


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