I'm using 12/2 direct burial cable to get power to my shed. When using the conduit to bring it up from the ground to the breaker box, where does one start to strip the cable? Would it be from where it enters the conduit (that would be buried), or just before it exits the conduit ( inside the breaker box)?
My understanding is you are not allowed to run direct burial through conduit.
Best Answer
For the reason why you can't strip the cable where it enters the conduit, that has to do with rating of the individual wires. While it is possible that the individual wires inside a UF (or NM or any other) cable may be the same type/quality (THWN) that can be run directly in conduit, there is no guarantee. Even if they are "basically the same thing", if the wires are not individually marked to indicate they are manufactured to THWN specifications, you can fail inspection. On the other hand, if you run a cable through conduit where the only purpose of the conduit is to provide protection from damage (e.g., UF cable outside, NM cable inside) then the rating of the wires inside the cable doesn't matter.