AC cable

Yes they make AC, it technically AC (armored cable) not Armored Cable cable. The shift to MC cable started with designers wanting a solid insulated EGC in the cable. If MC-ap is acceptable then AC should be acceptable also.
 
In my area ( no state electrical license ) appears that most towns require far superior type MC cable must be used in non residential locations rather then flimsy AC cable with its very small guage bare wire touching the convolutions to provide the ground. Wish the NEC would do away with AC cable. Worse most dangerous misuse of type AC cable was somebody ran 14/4 AC cable off of a two phase panel to supply four 20 amp fused circuits to office receptacles. They used the metal jacket as the grounded conductor. It ran thru one damp room that caused the steel jacket to severely rust. Jacket was hot to the touch. Replaced it with conduit.
 
garbo said:
In my area ( no state electrical license ) appears that most towns require far superior type MC cable must be used in non residential locations rather then flimsy AC cable with its very small guage bare wire touching the convolutions to provide the ground. Wish the NEC would do away with AC cable. Worse most dangerous misuse of type AC cable was somebody ran 14/4 AC cable off of a two phase panel to supply four 20 amp fused circuits to office receptacles. They used the metal jacket as the grounded conductor. It ran thru one damp room that caused the steel jacket to severely rust. Jacket was hot to the touch. Replaced it with conduit.
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Two phase? Must have been an old part of town.
 
garbo said:
In my area ( no state electrical license ) appears that most towns require far superior type MC cable must be used in non residential locations rather then flimsy AC cable with its very small guage bare wire touching the convolutions to provide the ground. Wish the NEC would do away with AC cable. Worse most dangerous misuse of type AC cable was somebody ran 14/4 AC cable off of a two phase panel to supply four 20 amp fused circuits to office receptacles. They used the metal jacket as the grounded conductor. It ran thru one damp room that caused the steel jacket to severely rust. Jacket was hot to the touch. Replaced it with conduit.
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I feel the opposite and hate MC cable. Such a waste and all that labor to terminate the egc's. Just another example of everyone going nutty with grounding despite zero evidence of issues.

Someone could miss use MC and use the sheath as the grounded conductor too.
 
garbo said:
In my area ( no state electrical license ) appears that most towns require far superior type MC cable must be used in non residential locations rather then flimsy AC cable with its very small guage bare wire touching the convolutions to provide the ground. Wish the NEC would do away with AC cable.
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When correctly installed there is nothing wrong with AC. Now with MC-ap there is really no difference between AC and MC-ap.
 
electrofelon said:
Physically, the mcap has a much larger bonding strip right? Any idea why that is?
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No idea. Seems like the jacket on MC is thinner so it could be due to that. Either AC or MC-ap would have the same problems with how it's terminated. If MC-ap is good enough then AC should also be good enough. Whether it has the thin bonding strip or the bare #10 aluminum conductor the jacket is a listed EGC.
 
electrofelon said:
I feel the opposite and hate MC cable. Such a waste and all that labor to terminate the egc's. Just another example of everyone going nutty with grounding despite zero evidence of issues.

Someone could miss use MC and use the sheath as the grounded conductor too.
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Use smart or AP MC. No EGC to terminate.30% less labor. No redheads
 
electrofelon said:
Physically, the mcap has a much larger bonding strip right? Any idea why that is?
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The bonding strip shorts the coils on the sheathing so it becomes a conductor instead of an inductive coil, same thing as the strip they added to AC after there were problems the old BX causing fires. Only difference is AC can't be used in places of assembly and MCAP can. I don't know why since the AC sheathing is tougher than the aluminum foil wrapper on MC.
 
ActionDave said:
The bonding strip shorts the coils on the sheathing so it becomes a conductor instead of an inductive coil
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No, it doesn't become an inductive coil. Rather, corrosion causes the wraps to lose conductivity with each other making the corroded section of armor a straight strip of steel like before it was wrapped around the conductors forming the armor. So, just for giggles, if you took a length of stripped armor that you threw on the floor and untwisted and straightened it out, what would the resistance be if you measured a linear foot of it? Then figure the amount of current that there would have to be passing through it to heat it so it glows red.

-Hal
 
hillbilly1 said:
Which is fine if it is exposed, but 90% of commercial is covered by a suspended ceiling. Had one guy pull a string from one end of a Wal-mart to the other, and had a guy tap over a rack of 20 conduits a 1/4”to 1/2” all the way. Suspended ceiling covered it the entire way.
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I think you have a mistype here but I think I get the gist of it. I am a non-union person for the record, and I resent the implication that Union contractors are too slow BECAUSE they demand neat work. It takes very little extra time to install neat work than half-a$$ed work. Top that, if you don't require quality work, your call backs and failed inspections are going to be much higher. I am so thankful I work for a company that encourages neat work.
 
ActionDave said:
The bonding strip shorts the coils on the sheathing so it becomes a conductor instead of an inductive coil, same thing as the strip they added to AC after there were problems the old BX causing fires. Only difference is AC can't be used in places of assembly and MCAP can. I don't know why since the AC sheathing is tougher than the aluminum foil wrapper on MC.
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But the question is why the dramatically larger bonding strip in MCAP? Presumably the bonding strip in AC has been tested and shown to be adequate (even though I have always wondered why that thing is so tiny) so why the dramatically larger strip/conductor in AP? Perhaps just a marketing thing to make it seem much better?
 
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