plastic wireway - not wire duct

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petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
anyone have any experience using it? Care to share model numbers you have had good experience with?

I am looking at it for a system in a hose down area that probably would not last long if it was just painted.

I started out to think maybe just make a big plastic pipe (2 X 4" possibly) into a chase and run cables through it, but I am having second thoughts as it would require a lot of labor to drill holes in the wall of the pipe to thread the cables in, along with the hassle of trying to thread 40 some cables through the pipe to the end.

I am not sure the code applies in this application, but in looking at the nonmetallic raceway section it seems to suggest that signaling circuits are not subject to derating as CCC. It specifically exempts control circuits for motor starters.

I have mostly small 24 VDC solenoid valves, so that would seem to be a similar type of circuit. If I had been thinking up front I could have made them class 2 circuits but I didn't.

OTOH, it is part of a factory assembly so does not really have much to do with the code. But, it got me to thinking some. You know how dangerous that can be.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
anyone have any experience using it? Care to share model numbers you have had good experience with?

I am looking at it for a system in a hose down area that probably would not last long if it was just painted.

I started out to think maybe just make a big plastic pipe (2 X 4" possibly) into a chase and run cables through it, but I am having second thoughts as it would require a lot of labor to drill holes in the wall of the pipe to thread the cables in, along with the hassle of trying to thread 40 some cables through the pipe to the end.

I am not sure the code applies in this application, but in looking at the nonmetallic raceway section it seems to suggest that signaling circuits are not subject to derating as CCC. It specifically exempts control circuits for motor starters.

I have mostly small 24 VDC solenoid valves, so that would seem to be a similar type of circuit. If I had been thinking up front I could have made them class 2 circuits but I didn't.

OTOH, it is part of a factory assembly so does not really have much to do with the code. But, it got me to thinking some. You know how dangerous that can be.

Why not use Panduit wire duct? Unless they're hitting it with a 1-1/2" hose stream it should do just fine.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
appearance as much as anything. it also is not all that sturdy. it is not intended to be out in the open where it can get whacked. covers tend to fall off, etc.

I suppose you could try sewer and drain perforated pipe, but I don't think it's all that sturdy and I'm pretty sure it's not listed as a raceway.
 

just the cowboy

Inactive, Email Never Verified
Location
newburgh,ny
I have seen pipe like you said

I have seen pipe like you said

I have seen pipe like you said for process tubing and cables, Drilled and tapped for strain relief connectors, strings blown in for pulling.
 

JFletcher

Senior Member
Location
Williamsburg, VA
I have used 5400 series Wiremold in hotels as it is 4" (maybe 6"?) high and matches existing carpet cove base. Has a lot of room and an internal dividing rib so you can run power and comm cable together. Its not cheap, and not waterproof, but its pretty sturdy and can be washed down. You need a mitre saw with a trim blade to cut it well.

5400 will not hold 40 cables unless they were all like 20/2.
 

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
Would aluminum cable tray be an option? I think anything you find with a cover will most likely just hold water in, being in a hosedown area.
 

Aleman

Senior Member
Location
Southern Ca, USA
We use some plastic pipe chases with holes where needed in wash down areas. Or just hang plastic pipe with open corners or space between sections where you can break cables out.
Looks ok. For smaller quantities of cables we use SS unistrut with the snap in covers. But mostly we use stainless wire tray or basket in combination with the strut. Tray for the main
runs and strut or narrow tray for smaller runs. You can get covers for the tray if you want. I haven't seen any installations using plastic duct other than regular PVC conduit. Regular
duct you see in panels probably would look bad but would work. It would get really dirty I think.
 
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