wire from equipment rack to wall

[ITpro]

Installing three equipment racks in residential basement. We are trying to come up with ideas to professionally complete the installation.

You can see from the picture that the racks will be located approximately two feet from the wall studs. We are installing a dedicated panel on the wall studs. Each rack will have four dedicated circuits, so there will be four gang box in the wall for each rack. My main question is: Does anybody know of something to professionally cover up the black plug wires that will be draped on the floor? Since the men will be working on the back of the racks often the plug wires will be stepped on often. Ideally we would have a raised floor but it is not possible. So, if anybody has any ideas how to cover these floor wires it would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[charlietuna]

We always feed equipment racks from overhead receptacles -- same with the data cabling supported from an overhead tray. Usually the receptacles are mounted on the bottom of the tray facing down..

 

[zbang]

Definitely top feed, although I prefer the receptacles facing out, not down. (Unless you're using twistlock plugs.)

 

[LarryFine]

No pic?

 

[sameguy]

Cord "ramps" are made in heavy rubber ? McGill manuf. ? look at graingers or google. They are made.

 

[Smart $]

No pic?

He posted an indirect link.

Here's a direct link...

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Y1QP25myVJo/S4iijDHuV2I/AAAAAAAADsk/Q9qshJfff64/100_0826.JPG

 

[Smart $]

Cord "ramps" are made in heavy rubber ? McGill manuf. ? look at graingers or google. They are made.

googled products:
http://www.google.com/products?q=cord+ramps&aq=f
http://www.google.com/products?sour...&rlz=1T4ADBF_enUS323US254&q=cord+safety+ramps

 

[hbiss]

Drop it and all other wiring down from the ceiling to the top of the racks. That's the only acceptable way to do it unless the rack is pushed back against the wall.

-Hal

 

[ITpro]

Thanks for the feedback folks! These racks are a little different because they have a built in air conditioner. So they need to be sealed up really airtight. I did find some punch out holes on the very top and so I will install ceiling receptacles and drop the wires into the top of the rack as you suggested. I just need to figure out how to make the punch out holes air tight. Any ideas?

Thanks also for posting the links to the heavy duty floor cable covers.

 

[masterinbama]

Thanks for the feedback folks! These racks are a little different because they have a built in air conditioner. So they need to be sealed up really airtight. I did find some punch out holes on the very top and so I will install ceiling receptacles and drop the wires into the top of the rack as you suggested. I just need to figure out how to make the punch out holes air tight. Any ideas?

Thanks also for posting the links to the heavy duty floor cable covers.

Use one of these fittings to seal your cable entry.

http://www.tnb-canada.com/en/catalogues/online/industrial_MRO/pdf/c5/fittings_03k_eng.pdf

 

[zbang]

Are you using the Liebert racks? The older ones had the power feed coming out at floor level.

 

[hbiss]

I did find some punch out holes on the very top and so I will install ceiling receptacles and drop the wires into the top of the rack as you suggested. I just need to figure out how to make the punch out holes air tight.

I would think that power is only one situation. There must be other wiring going into and out of these racks. What are they being used for? It would be helpful also if you told us who the racks are made by and their part numbers. The manufacturer might have some useful information.

-Hal

 

[ITpro]

Indeed these are Liebert MCR racks. The User Manual is here: http://www.liebert.com/common/ViewDocument.aspx?id=326

From page 23 of the PDF you can see there are three ways for wire to enter the rack:

1) at the very bottom rear of rack (as in my earlier picture)
2) the very top has two round plastic punchouts
3) near the very top of rack there is a horizontal slot

Because there are a huge amount of audio, video, data, control cables going into these cabinets I need to dedicate all the space of the the horizontal slot to those to prevent banding/EMI issues.

The fittings that masterinbama posted seem to be a great way to make the electrical airtight... thanks guys.

Any other thoughts?

 

[hbiss]

From looking at the instructions, making the cable entries air-tight may not even be necessary since the A/C system supply and return is within the rack. Therefore there should be no static pressure between the inside and outside.

-Hal

 

[justin59]

could you build a raised floor behind the rack to route all your cabling?