Cat5/RG6/Line Voltage Proximity

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A/A Fuel GTX

A/A Fuel GTX

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WI & AZ
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Electrician
I'm doing a motel to condo conversion and the paths for installing my wire are few and far between. There is very limited access between floors and I am wondering what the consequences would be if I used the same chase to run my house wiring along side of my Cat5 and RG6. There would be an area of about 10' or so where the wires would all be within very close proximity to one another. After that, I can maintain proper separation. Any thoughts.....?
 
Don't use this stuff (hybrid) then:

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Probably not a problem, being as I'm in a plant right now that has got cat5 for our ethernet laying across and on our equiptment lines, sometimes laying right in our cable trays. Not saying I like it but too late now.
 
kspifldorf said:
Probably not a problem, being as I'm in a plant right now that has got cat5 for our ethernet laying across and on our equiptment lines, sometimes laying right in our cable trays. Not saying I like it but too late now.
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I wonder if there is a collective amount of contact that would cause signal degradation. I'm just using ordinary Cat5 and RG6. I hate to do this and find out later that there lines on the TV's and noise on the phone lines due to this sharing of line voltage and low voltage wiring methods. I normally try to maintain at least 12" of separation. As I stated, in this case, there would be about 10' of near physical contact.....
 
m73214 said:
What's the difference? Looks like it's double shielded???
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My bad... I didn't realize he had 120v stuff in with the mix. I thought he was talking about RG6 and Cat 5 being together. It's been a long day already....:cool:
 
There is NOT going to be a problem for the coax and I highly doubt there will be any for the CAT5. What kind of cable are you using for the branch circuits? If MC or AC there will absolutely positively NOT be a problem.

-Hal
 
The coax is shielded, and the Category 5's pairs are
twisted (each pair is twisted at a different rate) basically
for noise suppression (e.g. from nearby power). I have
done what you have stated numerous times and never
seen a problem. I think the code was written when
communication wires had neither twists nor shields
and could indeed be a lot more subject to interference.
 
I think the code was written when
communication wires had neither twists nor shields
and could indeed be a lot more subject to interference.

The Code could care less about interference. The purpose of the NEC is to protect life and property, not ensure that something is going to work. So any spacing requirements are there for safety reasons, not to minimize interference or suggest that there will be any.

-Hal
 
if the place is wired in NM i would try to maintain 12" seperation. If its MC, conduit, etc proximity isnt an issue
 
hbiss said:
There is NOT going to be a problem for the coax and I highly doubt there will be any for the CAT5. What kind of cable are you using for the branch circuits? If MC or AC there will absolutely positively NOT be a problem.

-Hal
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Hal.....This installation is all NM-B. Sounds like I should be OK with minimal parallel exposure. As stated, the worst case scenario would be about 10' of intermingling of AC and low voltage lines.
 
m73214 said:
Hal.....This installation is all NM-B. Sounds like I should be OK with minimal parallel exposure. As stated, the worst case scenario would be about 10' of intermingling of AC and low voltage lines.
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I'm just wondering if the line voltage were feeding something with a motor would it be more likely to cause interference with the 10' close proximity parallel run of data/video cable? I have seen cat5 laying on top of line voltage and it has worked fine.
 
hbiss said:
I think the code was written when
communication wires had neither twists nor shields
and could indeed be a lot more subject to interference.

The Code could care less about interference. The purpose of the NEC is to protect life and property, not ensure that something is going to work. So any spacing requirements are there for safety reasons, not to minimize interference or suggest that there will be any.

-Hal
Click to expand...

Of course you are right. Interference is what I had been
told, and it never 100% made sense to me since they
could be in adjacent raceways, or separated in the
same box by a listed divider. I appreciate that your
comment made me think about the
real issue, and it makes sense now. Thanks.
 
MAK said:
I have seen cat5 laying on top of line voltage and it has worked fine.
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I know it's not an issue when the contact is perpendicular but it's the parallel contact I'm concerned about.
 
Tom, as both an electrician and an A/V installer, as well as an HT enthusiast myself, I have placed more line and LV cabling nearer and more in parallel than standards call for, and haven't had an issue yet.

In my HT, each of my main speakers, which include built-in powered subs, are supplied via 14-2 NM, two lengths of #14 speaker wire, and a decent-quality shielded audio cable, all in the same stud bay.

The audio cable and the 14-2 are almost parallel for their entire lengths, about 15' and 25'. There is zero hum in the subs which, at 15" each, would certainly reproduce 60 Hz with no problem if it was present in the signal.

As for networking (CAT-5) and RF (RG-6), the frequencies carried are simply too high for the receiving equipment to receive and pass the 60Hz that might be induced. Even quad-shield RG-6 is overkill in 99% of installations.
 
I feel much better about what I'm about to do after reading all the excellent replies I've received. You guys are the best....
 
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