CL1- Div1 rated cable or rigid

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lefty

lefty

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Oklahoma
In Alaska on the north slope oilfield they spec. the cable, have you guys ever used it? Times are changing that is for sure, they are looking for economics, speed of installation, what do you guys think of it?
 
3 years ago when I first went up there I was used to rigid, it took a little getting used to the cable, and the seals too. It works well and is a different system it took some getting used to at first, but either way they both have there purpose and place and I like them both.
 
With the right tools and a little practice, my installers find it as easy as rigid and a lot quicker. It comes out somewhat cheaper. The engineers have to be pretty sure of what they're hooking up, because you don't get the "whoops" factor of adding another conductor or three into conduit :wink:
 
most of the time on the slope they have you use an 8/c#12 mc-hl where a 4/c#12 mc-hl would work, they usually have plenty of extra's for future and whoops factor.
 
We've been using it in the refinery since the early 90s. For us overhead cable tray is an alternative to underground conduit in most cases, and sometimes a substitute for triplex or bare conductors on poles. It's better to have it in sight and accessible instead of underground waiting for somebody to dig and hit it. Installation cost the first time around isn't much different for us, but in the future it's a lot easier to add new motor feeders in tray than conduit - trays don't collapse like duct banks do, and you get a lot more future space in a partially full cable tray than you do with the typical amount of conduit spares people include.

For motor control we pull a 9/C #12 for start/stop and run/off pilot lights. This leaves enough spares to put a hand/off/auto or float switch in the circuit without having to figure that out ahead of time.
 
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