Debate: Is landing pipe with connectors faster than bending offsets on big jobs?

I tried pre-making all my conduit sections with couplings instead of bending offsets on this warehouse job last week in Dallas, and it cut my rough-in time by like 2 hours. But my journeyman said I'm sacrificing stability for speed so I'm curious which way you guys go on commercial runs.

3 comments

3 Comments

nelson.cameron23d ago

That chunky metal caterpillar comment had me laughing because I've seen the exact same thing. @oscarb71, do you ever use compression fittings instead of set screw couplings for those big runs? I wonder if that would solve the wiggle problem without slowing you down as much as bending offsets. Because the speed gain is real, but I've also had a coupling blow apart when a duct guy leaned a ladder right on it. Maybe we're just stuck choosing between fast installs that fail easy or slow installs that hold up. What's your gut say after messing with both ways?

oscarb712mo ago

Yeah I tried the all-coupling method once on a parking garage and ended up with a whole row of connectors that looked like a chunky metal caterpillar. My foreman walked over and just shook his head without saying anything. I get the speed part, it does save time on the initial layout. But on big commercial runs I've noticed those couplings can wiggle loose over time if the pipe gets bumped around during other trades' work. You ever see what happens when drywallers hit a row of them with a lift? Not pretty. So I still bend offsets most of the time now. It might take a little longer but at least nothing's coming apart behind the sheetrock.

bettywilson2mo ago

Buddy of mine tried that on a hospital job. Drywall crew dropped a sheet of rock right on the line. Couplings popped off like bottle caps. Had to rip out a whole section of ceiling to fix it. He bends offsets now too, swears by it.