HeadsUp 0 Posted September 23, 2016 Can someone confirm the correct minimum spacing between CAT5e and 240 volts AC cable ? My clients electrician claims they can run together without interference .... I have to run 40 meters ( 131 feet ) and it will run parallel with 240 VAC over that whole distance. The CAT5 will be carrying 2 analogue cameras over 2 twisted pair with 24 Volts AC on two pair using 24 AWG The cameras are 250 watt ( No IR ) , my calculator gives 3 v voltage drop ? What separation between cables ? ps , if i use CAT 7 instead of CAT5, how much difference will that make to spacing with its claimed improved shielding ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeromephone 6 Posted September 23, 2016 Ask the electrician to give you the reference in the national electric code for that one. If running in raceway with high voltage you have to have a physical barrier. You may not get interference but if you get a short you could end up with high voltage on your low voltage wire either wiping out the equipment and or the operator. I do not have the code in front of me but I think you need one foot of open air clearance between low and high voltage wires. the cat 7 is probably 23 gauge so you might get some more load carrying ability. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HeadsUp 0 Posted September 23, 2016 (edited) Ask the electrician to give you the reference in the national electric code for that one. If running in raceway with high voltage you have to have a physical barrier. You may not get interference but if you get a short you could end up with high voltage on your low voltage wire either wiping out the equipment and or the operator. I do not have the code in front of me but I think you need one foot of open air clearance between low and high voltage wires. the cat 7 is probably 23 gauge so you might get some more load carrying ability. Both cables would be in their own PVC conduit , they are outside exposed to risk of lightning and salty ocean air so I don't want to use steel conduit. When you say "high voltage" you are referring to the 240 volt AC ? High voltage usually refers to 50,000 volts Sorry pardon my typo , I meant 5000 volts being HV Edited September 23, 2016 by Guest Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the toss 0 Posted September 23, 2016 I'm not sure if you are worried about the electrical safety aspect or the potential for induced interference. The country you are in would have some bearing on the answer as well. In Australia if each cable is in their own conduit than as far as electrical safety compliance goes they can be side by side. For noise immunity I would have them as far apart as possible. EMI is a fairly inexact science. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HeadsUp 0 Posted September 23, 2016 I'm not sure if you are worried about the electrical safety aspect or the potential for induced interference. The country you are in would have some bearing on the answer as well. In Australia if each cable is in their own conduit than as far as electrical safety compliance goes they can be side by side. For noise immunity I would have them as far apart as possible. EMI is a fairly inexact science. EMI is the issue I want to avoid , but the customer wants a tidy conduit bundle for aesthetics. Will do more enquiries on cat 7 specs but otherwise it's going 10-12 inches away from the mains cabling. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jeromephone 6 Posted September 24, 2016 seperate conduits would meet the code in this country. We were low voltage contractors and anything 110v or higher had to be installed by an electrican so my choice of words was off. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
survtech 0 Posted September 25, 2016 When you say "high voltage" you are referring to the 240 volt AC ? High voltage usually refers to 50,000 volts Sorry pardon my typo , I meant 5000 volts being HV Not when dealing with electrical codes. For many code purposes, anything higher than 30 volts between conductors is considered to be "high". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites