I'm installing a subpanel that is fed by 3 #1 conductors and a #4 ground (Al, XHHW-2, individual wires). I would like to use a 2-piece clamp to secure to the subpanel and to protect the wires from the metal case. However, my understanding (possibly wrong) is that individual wires cannot be clamped. Is that true?
If that is true then how do I go about securing/protecting the wires as the enter the panel? We are still on NEC 2014.
Here is the original plan. Run individual conductors from the main panel to subpanel. The wires will be buried in 2" conduit. This 2" conduit will come out of the ground into an LB box, which will feed the wires into my workshop wall (this wall will be closed off, so the wires will be protected, so no need for conduit inside the wall, right?). The wires will then go into the panel. Do these wires need protected/clamped together as they enter the panel, or do I need to put conduit in the wall?
Best Answer
The wall isn't enough, you need a conduit there
What you're missing is that you can't have loose wires outside of a recognized Chapter 3 wiring method (i.e. cable, conduit, or some other sort of raceway), and "wires loose in a wall" isn't a wiring method that the NEC provides for. So, you need to run a short length of conduit between the LB and the panel; most often, though, you can do this with a PVC box adapter fitting instead of a short length of conduit, though, as the LB will be set up to be directly opposite a knockout on the back of the panel if you've laid out your run properly.