Wiring Under Cabinets Low Voltage Lights

[electricmanscott]

Re: Wiring Under Cabinets Low Voltage Lights

Originally posted by bensonelectric:
I prefer florescent undercabnet lights.

None of the customers I deal with do. It's all halogen all the time! Xenon if you want to be specific.

 

[mthead]

wiring under cabinet low voltage lights

wiring under cabinet low voltage lights

For 2005 NEC class two wiring is now acceptable for in wall wiring of lv lighting. Now for my rude comment of the day. Puck lights are garbage.

Careful there cowboy.That's a very wide interpretation you just treh out there re lv lighting and installation.--What 411.4[A]{2} says-is it is permitted--to be installed"USING WIRING SUPPLIED BY A LISTED CLASS 2 POWER SOURCE AND INSTALLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH 725.52"
You'll find that this change is not the blanket amnesty on wiring for these lites that is assumed at 1st glance.
And you 're right --they are garbage.

 

[electricmanscott]

Cowboy I am not. Horses stink.

Anyway did you read 752.52? They way I folllow it class 2 wiring is allowed.
What do you think?

 

[Pierre C Belarge]

Careful there cowboy.That's a very wide interpretation you just treh out there re lv lighting and installation.--What 411.4[A]{2} says-is it is permitted--to be installed"USING WIRING SUPPLIED BY A LISTED CLASS 2 POWER SOURCE AND INSTALLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH 725.52"
You'll find that this change is not the blanket amnesty on wiring for these lites that is assumed at 1st glance.

This is correct. One will need to be able to interpret Table 11(A) in the back of the book. Mark Ode from UL wrote a short piece on this a while back...google it and you will see there are restrictions with the 725 wiring methods.

Also, most jurisdictions may not even be on the '05 NEC.

Remember that low voltage lighting is treated differently than other low voltage installations. Pretty much one has to use a chapter 3 wiring method. I also see that not many installers seem to be concerned about the voltage drop of "low voltage" installations...low voltage installations are much more sensitive to voltage drop than standard "line voltage" installations.



The "gray" wire mentioned could possibly be UF cable...

 

[stickboy1375]

I use these for all my undercabinet installations... http://www.nslusa.com/xenontask.html

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Pierre,

One will need to be able to interpret Table 11(A) in the back of the book.

Why would we need to look at that table? The code section requires a listed Class 2 power supply. A listed Class 2 power supply will be marked as such.
Don

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Oddly enough I went to a new customers home the other day and she had all these puck lights that were wired with telephone wire.(response to Pierre's Post on VD). I couldn't believe it. And, of course, it was behind the walls.
Interestly enough they have been functioning fairly well for years. Probably it is because there is much less voltage there so the lights are not buring as bright as they could be. This may be in fact saving the installation in its bizarre way. I know it's illegal....

I have basically told my customers to forget about pucks unless you can deal with exposed wiring under the cabinets. I use the xenon like stickboy.

 

[sparky_magoo]

I went on a service call to a house last Summer where I found over 30 pucks wired with 18/2 bell wire. The bell wire ran through the walls to the attic and terminated opn 10 amp x-frmrs.