Wondering what are the issues with running 24vac (less than 1amp) in a plenum rated cable in the same cable tray as Cat6 data cables. I have a customer that is concerned with crosstalk with their data. My cabling is for the HVAC control system and runs very little current through the conductors. Along the cable tray the cabling is ran in parallel with the Cat6 with about a 4"-6" gap between the two. There are two instances our cabling penetrates the same 4" conduit through a firewall but seperates immediately after that raceway. Our cabling is not a shielded cable but it does have a plenum jacket. Any help would be appreciated.
Low voltage 24VAC ran in same cable tray, wall penetrations as Cat6 data cabling
- Thread starter anprice1
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- Status
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
If your cable uses twisted pair(s), I do not see any problem at all.
Even if your cable is not twisted, the twists in CAT6 should cancel out most crosstalk, especially at 4" or greater separation.
The worst case would be where your cable comes into close contact with the CAT6 for a distance which is shorter than the twist length in that cable. Since CAT6 has two or more twists per cm, I do not think that this will be a problem!
egnlsn
Senior Member
- Location
- Herriman, UT
- Occupation
- A/V/Security Technician
Agreed -- there will be no issues with his network related to that HVAC cable.
JFletcher
Senior Member
- Location
- Williamsburg, VA
Crosstalk with data is pretty much eliminated with correct wire pulling, securing, termination procedures and cable type. The only thing would be AXT (alien cross talk) but iirc, 6a shielded cable is used for that, and the specs on a cat6 cable system are for 100', not 100m. Plenum jackets have nothing to do with crosstalk, it's for fire rating. Is the system going to be certified?
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