Receptacle above accessible ceiling

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Michael Harkey

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I need to find whatever is in the NEC governing 120V single phase ordinary receptacle to be installed above an accessible ceiling. I have read elsewhere it is forbidden, but I have not found such explicit language in the NEC. I would appreciate any pointers you may have to code references.
 
It is not the receptacle that is forbidden to be placed above a suspended ceiling. It is the flexible cord that is forbidden to be plugged into such a receptacle. 400.8(5).

Welcome to the Forum.
 
therefore

therefore

So if a receptacle is above an accessible ceilng, it is allowed to plug in a little transformer with integral 120V plug since there is no flexible cord involved in that at 120V. The flexible cord coming out or the little transformer would not be at 120V, but rather 24V going to the apparatus mounted to the ceiling.

The situation is a ceiling mounted patient lift that is itself battery powered, with the little transformer that is part of the charging apparatus as I have described here. The customer wish is to plug the little transformer into a receptace above the accessible ceiling to hide it from view of the patients.
 
Michael Harkey said:
So if a receptacle is above an accessible ceilng, it is allowed to plug in a little transformer with integral 120V plug since there is no flexible cord involved in that at 120V. The flexible cord coming out or the little transformer would not be at 120V, but rather 24V going to the apparatus mounted to the ceiling.

The situation is a ceiling mounted patient lift that is itself battery powered, with the little transformer that is part of the charging apparatus as I have described here. The customer wish is to plug the little transformer into a receptace above the accessible ceiling to hide it from view of the patients.
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This scenario would be allowed.

Roger
 
If the flexible cord passes through the suspended ceiling, it may be a violation of 400.8. even if it is only carrying 24-volts.
 
Haskindm, I agree, I was visualizing something different when I posted.

Roger
 
If this is true then there are thousands of violations out there. Walk through most any office buiding and you will see wireless network access routers mounted on the walls with their LV power cords going into the suspended ceiling.
 
hs545 said:
If this is true then there are thousands of violations out there. Walk through most any office buiding and you will see wireless network access routers mounted on the walls with their LV power cords going into the suspended ceiling.
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It is true, and you are right.

But to be fair, this certainly is not the only violation out there either.

Roger
 
roger said:
But to be fair, this certainly is not the only violation out there either.

Roger
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But it is one of the most common violations in a commercial building. I would add condensate pumps above the ceiling and many different types of A/V equipment especially TV and projector lifts.
 
wall warts above accessible ceiling

wall warts above accessible ceiling

I think the whole issue of heat dissipation is being ignored: Warts typically run warm to hot normally, and that's when mounted vertically in a wall outlet with plenty of natural draft. Now, presumably, you're mounting it horizontally in a confined air space. Then, there's the real problem of the wart transformer loosening in it's receptacle over time due to gravity and causing a high-resistance connection and/or falling out and dropping through the ceiling!
 
receptacle above accessible ceiling

receptacle above accessible ceiling

haskindm said:
If the flexible cord passes through the suspended ceiling, it may be a violation of 400.8. even if it is only carrying 24-volts.
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I'm not an electrician, but I disagree for two reasons: 1) Table 400-4, Flexible Cords & Cables doesn't seem to list low-voltage cables at all! The cables we're talking about typically range from 18-24 AWG, but this table is referring to thick-jacketed power cords only as small as 18 AWG (except for elevator and data processing cables).
2) If any cord with stranded wire is prohibited, wouldn't that also exclude sound and some alarm wiring, which most certainly is allowed above a ceiling? And wouldn't all CL2 wiring also be prohibited?
 
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