Bob Dolph Answers Questions on Tywrapping Cables, Power Supplies

Q: I had an electrical inspector the other day tell me that I had to remove the alarm cable that I had tywrapped to some electrical conduit. I’ve ran cable like that for years and this is the first time I have heard of such a thing. What gives?
A: All I can say is that you have been lucky in the past. Securing cable running to an existing surface-mounted electrical conduit is a shortcut that many dealers have done for years. This is a common shortcut with many installers and most of the time, you can probably get away with it. However, be aware that it goes against NEC electrical code as conduit cannot support additional external cable.

Q: I just recently had a new electrical inspector tell me that all my low-voltage cable in a system power supply had to have a rating of 600V. First I had ever heard of this one. Is he right?
A: In this case, I would consider challenging his ruling.
Many electrical inspectors get excited when low voltage and high voltage share the same enclosure. However, you can point out to the inspector that power supplies are designed with some sort of physical separator between the high- and low-voltage section of the power supply. Make sure that high and low voltage cable exit the panel in their own separate respected areas and that there is at least a 0.25 distance between the high- and low-voltage cables in the enclosure.

 

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