Separation between Category 6E cable and 12.5KVA Electrical Cable

[Ross Thompson]

What is the separation between Category 6E cable and 12.5KVA Electrical Cable on a two layered basket tray install with the power in the top tray and the low voltage in the bottom tray?

 

[petersonra]

What is the separation between Category 6E cable and 12.5KVA Electrical Cable on a two layered basket tray install with the power in the top tray and the low voltage in the bottom tray?

I don't know. You could probably measure it with a tape measure if you were interested in finding out though.

My guess is you are really asking what the distance should be. I don't believe there is a NEC answer to that question. They would have to be in seperate raceways, and they are.

 

[charlie]

. . . They would have to be in separate raceways, and they are.

Actually, the are in separate support systems.

 

[hbiss]

The installation appears to satisfy the NEC. If you are asking what separation is needed to eliminate interference or something like that, that's not something that the NEC is concerned with.

-Hal

 

[jdsmith]

In our plant the installation specs call for a 60" separation between parallel runs of instrument cable and power cable. Cat 6 is not really instrument cable though. Instrument cable typically carries a DC signal or low frequency AC signal. Cat 6 in ethernet service carries frequencies measured in megahertz. Depending on your application I would see if fiber optic cable can be used instead of Cat 6. The only place I have seen technical guidance on running network cable in close proximity to medium voltage cable is in substation protective relay communication, and in this case optical fiber is the only recommended solution for anything critical. We do have some Cat 6 run in our substations, but it is only for monitoring from a SCADA system - no control signals go over the Cat 6. I see that you are a cabling contractor - you may want to go back to whoever designed this and see if they have thought through the design and see what level of reliability they are looking for.

As others have indicated the NEC does not give a distance because the NEC is only concerned with safety - the NEC doesn't care if you get a lot of packet errors on the Cat 6 cable.

Please post back with an update!

 

[pbeasley]

You can also switch over to shielded CAT6 to eliminate some interference, but there is a definite premium.

 

[petersonra]

You can also switch over to shielded CAT6 to eliminate some interference, but there is a definite premium.

and just how would shielded cat6 cable be any better?

 

[TOOL_5150]

and just how would shielded cat6 cable be any better?

Its shielded! :-? As in it shields EMF from killing your packets. Or you can switch to fiber.

~Matt

 

[Speedskater]

The shield works well for RFI but won't do much for the low frequency EMI. The magnetic field goes right through the thin aluminum foil shield.

 

[TOOL_5150]

Now that I check the prices of media converters, I would just use fiber. you can get copper to fiber converters for as low as $65

~Matt

 

[pbeasley]

Now that I check the prices of media converters, I would just use fiber. you can get copper to fiber converters for as low as $65

~Matt

Just be careful about Mean Time Before Failure on the low cost converters.