Conduit and wiring between 2 pieces of equipment.

[jaramsey3]

Thank you for any assistance in advance.
I am a small manufacturer of Sensory Deprivation Tanks and have run into an electrical reviewer that is saying we cannot run a low voltage flexible cable through a conduit as per NEC rules.

We are wanting to locate our filtration and control equipment (engine) in a separate room from the tank to eliminate sound pollution. To do this we have to run 2 cables between the engine and tank. 1 cable has 16 conductors for the LED light, speakers, buttons, and temp sensors all of which are DC. I do not see any reason this cable cannot be installing in a conduit.

The second cable is for a set of 240v 3 amp heater pads that are installed in the tank. This cable is shielded and I could see a requirement for the conduit and cable but I could convert the wire to MC or something else to send the power.

Both cables are from the same manufacturer with the details listed here: http://www.alliedelec.com/images/products/datasheets/bm/SAB NORTH AMERICA/70039027.pdf

The reviewer is quoting from the NEC book which I do not think references anything related to a manufacturer or product.

 

[JFletcher]

Welcome to the forum. You can run cable thru a conduit however you cannot run low voltage (class 2 or 3 circuit) thru the same conduit as class 1 - section 725.136(A).

 

[petersonra]

Thank you for any assistance in advance.
I am a small manufacturer of Sensory Deprivation Tanks and have run into an electrical reviewer that is saying we cannot run a low voltage flexible cable through a conduit as per NEC rules.

We are wanting to locate our filtration and control equipment (engine) in a separate room from the tank to eliminate sound pollution. To do this we have to run 2 cables between the engine and tank. 1 cable has 16 conductors for the LED light, speakers, buttons, and temp sensors all of which are DC. I do not see any reason this cable cannot be installing in a conduit.

I am not aware of any prohibition of running anything like this in conduit.

The second cable is for a set of 240v 3 amp heater pads that are installed in the tank. This cable is shielded and I could see a requirement for the conduit and cable but I could convert the wire to MC or something else to send the power.

Why would you shield power cables like this?

The reviewer is quoting from the NEC book which I do not think references anything related to a manufacturer or product.

I am inclined to agree, but it is not clear to me that the cables are actually part of your product. Just because you are supplying the cable does not mean it is part of your product.

Welcome to the forum. You can run cable thru a conduit however you cannot run low voltage (class 2 or 3 circuit) thru the same conduit as class 1 - section 725.136(A).

Just because it is low voltage does not make it a class 2 or 3 circuit.

You can certainly run class 2 or 3 circuits in a raceway with other circuits if you do so within a barrier such as some kind of tubing. 725.136 (I)(2).

 

[iwire]

Just because it is low voltage does not make it a class 2 or 3 circuit.

Sure ...... but in reality we know that speaker circuits, temp sensors and LED supplies are extremely likely to all be class 2 or 3.

 

[iwire]

You can certainly run class 2 or 3 circuits in a raceway with other circuits if you do so within a barrier such as some kind of tubing. 725.136 (I)(2).

Please provide an example of a code compliant barrier for conduit or tubing.

 

[GoldDigger]

I am not aware of any prohibition of running anything like this in conduit.



Why would you shield power cables like this?


I am inclined to agree, but it is not clear to me that the cables are actually part of your product. Just because you are supplying the cable does not mean it is part of your product.



Just because it is low voltage does not make it a class 2 or 3 circuit.

You can certainly run class 2 or 3 circuits in a raceway with other circuits if you do so within a barrier such as some kind of tubing. 725.136 (I)(2).

The fact that the two parts of the equipment are in different rooms (and the dividing wall is not part of the equipment) seems to me pretty conclusive that this is NEC regulated field wiring.

 

[JFletcher]

Just because it is low voltage does not make it a class 2 or 3 circuit.

You can certainly run class 2 or 3 circuits in a raceway with other circuits if you do so within a barrier such as some kind of tubing. 725.136 (I)(2).

True, one could use innerduct.

 

[iwire]

True, one could use innerduct.

You could, I doubt it would make it code compliant but you could do it.

 

[JFletcher]

You could, I doubt it would make it code compliant but you could do it.

What other codes are you thinking about that might prohibit such an install? Code or not, personally, I think it would be more expensive to run innerduct inside of RPVC or EMT than to run 2 much smaller conduits of either.

OP, there are some cases where some cable types cannot be run through conduit (like NM/Romex in an underground pipe). The cable you linked is listed for wet locations, so even if the conduit went outside/underground, it is still code-compliant.

 

[jaramsey3]

The county electrical reviewer thought that the low voltage cable was a "flexible cord" which cannot be run through conduit, walls, or ceilings. I should be good to go on that front now.

As for the "NEC field regulated wiring" should I have to be required to have UL, ETL, or another company do a field inspection? We did this in June in Sioux Falls SD and it cost about $7k. This project would be similar to a hotel installing a pool or hot tub, do they generally have UL or ETL come out and inspect the installation? It seems like something the electrical inspector should be able to do.