In this scenario, installing 8 vfd loads from control cabinet to an industrial oven using 6x6 wireway. Original estimate was using xhhw-2 conductors and not vfd cabling. The more research I do, the more issues I'm seeing with this install. Would the wireway still work, but use vfd cable instead? What's the consensus?
VFD CABLE OR INDIVIDUAL XHHW-2, MULTIPLE LOADS IN 6X6 WIREWAY
- Thread starter Scozadd
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- Illinois
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- retired electrician
VFD output conductors run in a common raceway with other VFC output conductors is one of the few places I would use a VFD cable. My typical installation is one set of XHHW conductors in rigid steel conduit from the VFD to the motor.
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
I agree. Multiple output cable sets in the same raceway is an absolute requirement for using shielded VFD cable.
VFD mfrs recommend using it in their installation guides because they have no idea how you are going to run your cables. Elsewhere in the world, steel conduit is rarely used, so the shielding is necessary almost all of the time. But if you run individual output cables in a single steel conduit, separate XHHW conductors are fine in most cases.
Just as a reminder, on shielded POWER cables, you always ground BOTH ends of the shield.
VFD mfrs recommend using it in their installation guides because they have no idea how you are going to run your cables. Elsewhere in the world, steel conduit is rarely used, so the shielding is necessary almost all of the time. But if you run individual output cables in a single steel conduit, separate XHHW conductors are fine in most cases.
Just as a reminder, on shielded POWER cables, you always ground BOTH ends of the shield.
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