MC Cable vertical installation into breaker panels

[William Lloyd]

Our company is having internal discussions ( arguements) about installing MC Cable into circuit breaker enclosures from the top. The discussion is that ther is no way to make Mc cable look good into these panels. I have explained the various techniques to use, to no avail. If anyone has pictures that I could use to present to the group please respond to this posting.

Thank you all.

 

[Strathead]

Our company is having internal discussions ( arguements) about installing MC Cable into circuit breaker enclosures from the top. The discussion is that ther is no way to make Mc cable look good into these panels. I have explained the various techniques to use, to no avail. If anyone has pictures that I could use to present to the group please respond to this posting.

Thank you all.

"Looks good!" is in the eye of the beholder. I come down on the side of your boss. It can be well done, but it won't have the symmetry and art of well run conduits with matching offsets and couplings. So the only picture I could show you of a good looking application for this is a flush mount panel.

 

[cowboyjwc]

I agree with Strathead. Maybe it won't be as neat as pipe work, but will it work the same? With everyone complaining about how sharp your pencil has to be now days, I'm not sure I would want you to spend a bunch of time bending pipe, just so it looked nice.

 

[mjf]

I don't do much commercial, but when I do I'm usually troubleshooting a problem and while in the electrical room I take notice of the (usually) nice neat and professionally installed pipe work.

No one that is employed at these businesses notices....they just want thier stuff to work properly.

Don't get me wrong, I understand pride in workmanship, but, after the inspector sees it, who else really takes notice besides us electricians?

When I'm working at other panels throughout the building, they're usually flush mounted to the finished surface and there's really nothing to see.

In conclusion, I have no problem with mc cable properly installed with pride in workmanship.

 

[cdslotz]

We had a company standard of not using MC on any home runs.
Always ran MWBC home runs in conduit and split from there.
Even if we used MC Home Run cable, which might have 6 circuits. We would terminate in a wireway then neat
conduit drops into the panels.
Not required. Just a neatness thing

 

[Strathead]

We had a company standard of not using MC on any home runs.
Always ran MWBC home runs in conduit and split from there.
Even if we used MC Home Run cable, which might have 6 circuits. We would terminate in a wireway then neat
conduit drops into the panels.
Not required. Just a neatness thing

Actually, there is a point where MC becomes less cost effective. Anything less than 3 hots neutral ground (roundhouse) of #12's You can pretty much count that MC is cheaper. With the increase in specs requiring dedicated Neutrals, this pretty much stops at 2 circuits. There is a balance with a roundhouse, it depends on length support options, and other factors, but if you can run more than three circuits in a conduit, or you start needing #10's for voltage drop, or the runs get long, the conduit is still cheaper. That is one good reason to establish home runs as conduit.

Edit to add that this is based on my comparison estimating.