dilligaf4lyfe t1_iy4fojm wrote on November 28, 2022 at 5:57 PM

Hey, if you decide to buy a fish tape and try this do not get a metal one. Fiberglass only. Unless you're absolutely sure where it goes, you may wind up pushing a fish tape directly into your panel, and if you're pushing a metal one you're liable to get hurt. And unless you can visually or physically verify it's the same conduit, you shouldn't be sure where it goes.

Generally I'd say hire an electrician, but I'm an electrician, so I'm biased. Right now, if that conduit isn't connected to your electrical system in any way, it's just a pipe in your walls, nothing special about it. The problem is confirming that. Frankly, I'm not recommending you shove even a fiberglass fish tape through, just saying if you decide to push something down an unverified conduit, make sure it isn't conductive.

shikuto t1_iy4p927 wrote on November 28, 2022 at 6:59 PM

My advice in another comment was to take a shop-vac and run it as a blower, then stick the hose onto the conduit/h-box. Have someone else with the panel cover off listening/feeling for air coming out of any conduit.

This is a concerning one for me though. Removing/replacing the cover could be problematic. It’s residential, and I see spare data conduits being left by contractors as… a dubious event. At least outside the context of custom homes.

rdkilla t1_iy4qd2e wrote on November 28, 2022 at 7:07 PM

This is the real tip, I've even seen electricians almost kill themselves with metal fish tape!!!

mcarterphoto t1_iy4k53c wrote on November 28, 2022 at 6:26 PM

OP could shut off the main breaker at the box I'd think? (I only have metal tapes, but I use them more for running cat 5 without conduit).

cyberentomology t1_iy4lgx9 wrote on November 28, 2022 at 6:35 PM

Won’t help if your metal fish tape pops out and into the supply lugs of the main breaker.

shikuto t1_iy4ou70 wrote on November 28, 2022 at 6:57 PM

It will if they have a disconnect before the panel. That’s how I wired my parents home up, so that they could easily and safely work inside of their main panel if necessary.

dilligaf4lyfe t1_iy4p6yz wrote on November 28, 2022 at 6:59 PM

What the other guy said. The main breaker shuts off everything downstream, but everything upstream of the main breaker in the panel is hot (ie the lugs). And they're pretty easy to hit. You'd have to pull the meter to fully deenergize the enclosure, and that's a pain in the ass to deal with. Generally, you need to call the utility, although you can always break that rule, but pulling meters isn't something I'd recommend to a DIYer because depending on the state of the meter base, there's serious risk of pulling a lug off and arcing it to the can.