480V equipment panel.

[Fallriverbryan]

Is it OK to run 480v electrical lines behind the interior component mounting panel to avoid proximity of control wiring?

 

[Jraef]

OK as in legal, sure, in fact anything with bus bar is built essentially that way. OK as in good practice? No. It tends to lead to people leaving damaged insulation in place and "hoping for the best" because once the rest of the wiring is put in, it becomes impossible to access the power conductors behind the plate to replace them if damaged.

 

[Fallriverbryan]

Thanks. That makes sense. I would be concerned also with screws and such penetrating insulation.

 

[drktmplr12]

A co worker experience an arc flash because someone installed power conductors behind something. He got lucky and fully recovered.

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[Fallriverbryan]

Thanks for the warning. I think without thinking sometimes. I thought the panel being grounded would separate the high and low voltage magnetic fields, which I'm sure it would. Obviously, the equipment needs to be safely serviceable

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[petersonra]

I've done it in cabinets where there is access to the backside of the panel. It's a convenient place to hide wires. For a while it was common to see cabinets coming from Europe done this way instead of using wire duct. It had holes in the panel and the wires were threaded through the holes behind the panel and come out where they needed to come out.

I don't see it as a major safety hazard. If unqualified people are working in the panel they are not safe regardless of what you do to try and protect them. If they are qualified they know about this situation.

I don't do it much because it's actually more work then using wire duct.

 

[GoldDigger]

Thanks for the warning. I think without thinking sometimes. I thought the panel being grounded would separate the high and low voltage magnetic fields, which I'm sure it would. Obviously, the equipment needs to be safely serviceable

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A grounded metal plate or enclosure will prevent electric fields on one side from being noticed on the other.
Magnetic fields, OTOH, will not be shielded much at all.

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