Steel Conduit

[thomo27]

Good Evening

I have my level 2 2330 assessment coming up and one of my tests if working with steel conduit therefore I was wondering if any of the pro's have any advice/tips on working with steel conduit.

I am OK with 90 degree bends , Ive been taught to take the measurement and position the mark at the front of the former , double sets are'nt to bad I tend to position my mark in the middle of the former and put a 45 degree bend in and then measure my distance for example 75mm when flat against a bench then mark this point and place in the former at the same point as my first bend and then do my second bend. Saddle sets seem to be the trickiest , I measure out say 3 feet of conduit , mark the middle and do a 90 degree bend , position on a bench and measure out say 75mm mark the middle of the bend and then mark the conduit , its this bit I find tricky when bending , I find the conduit doesnt sit in the dog nice and snug , any advice would be much appreciated. I am lucky enough to have borrowed a bending machine and the relevant tools so I can put any advice into practice.
Kind regards

Ste

 

[partpdoctor]

hi
by saddle set, i take it you mean a "bubble"...if so....

mark a line for the middle bend and mark two lines either side, say 150mm. now put a mark on your former a bit in from the edge.

next put in your tube and offer up the first mark to the mark on the former and put a small bend in, just guess....

next push the tube through to the middle mark and turn it over. now put this mark next to the former mark and put in a bigger bend.....

now turn it over and push through and line up the last mark with the former mark. you now put in a small bend again just like the first bend...


you now take it out and lay it against a piece of tube. you will see where it is all skew whiff..... drop the bend arm and "tweek" the tube between the former and stop....

i hope nthis makes sense. you cant do a bubble perfect initially, you usually have to mess with it a little....or a lot!

 

[thomo27]

Cheers for the advice, I tried one or two methods and found I had more success by cutting a length say 3 feet , marking the middle and placing the mark in the former and putting a 90 degree bend in , then take it to the bench and measure out 75 mm and place a mark on each of the straight bits where it meets the bench, then offer the mark up to the former (so most of the conduit is in front of you as you bend) and bend until it looks level to the eye and do the same with the other mark.

The conduit I was practicing with was black enamel and the coating crumbled when I bent it which made it harder to see your mark when you wanted to tweak it a bit , I bought some galvanised y'day which is much better. Its all about trial and error and a guess people use the methods they have become accustomed to.

 

[333rocky333]

put a ring of insulation tape round as your mark.

Then you can also put a line on with a marker, both in line to assist getting both square in the former, till you get the nack