joebell
Senior Member
- Location
- New Hampshire
Is it permissible to run cable tray above a hard ceiling? If I am reading 392.18(E) correctly it seems you can not.
392.18(E)
- Thread starter joebell
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
Good question, that article is somewhat convoluted in that it sends you to different wiring methods. What kind of wiring is going into the tray?
joebell
Senior Member
- Location
- New Hampshire
MC Cable, IMO as long as you secure the cable properly to the tray the installation should be ok. I don't understand why it must be exposed and accessible/
Last edited:
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
I think that the explanation in that area of code is in (F).
Since you have to secure the cable to the tray, trying to remove suspect cable or pull new cable will not be possible if the tray is run through an inaccessible area.
Cable trays, unlike conduit, are not intended for install and forget applications.
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
Cable tray is a support system. If it's supporting MC cables I don't see why it needs to be accessible. If the same MC cable was fastened by some other method to the structure above the same inaccessible ceiling what would be the difference?
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
Maybe it is just because the code panel did not want to complicate things by listing which kinds of wire and cable could be used in an inaccessible cable tray and which could not?
A wiring method that would not be allowed to only be attached to other points in the space for support would not be allowed to run in cable tray either in such a location.
Just a guess....
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