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Plenum area, non-plenum cable....

#1
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1/24/04 at 4:33pm
  • Joined: December 2003
  • Post Count: 109
While I'm building my basement HT, I bought a bunch of Belken 1694a RG6 cable to cable several upstairs rooms for cable/satellite. In addition, I am wiring for 2 phone lines & a network, using CAT5. In one room, I cannot drill through floor's base plate to run cable from the basement. Looks like for a halfway decent placement, I will need to follow some duct work up.

Question, can non-plenum cable be used in a plenum area if I use conduit (probably PVC)? Or if I buy a small run of plenum cable, can I splice RG6 below so I use my existing (1000'!) stock? Or would I have to run the plenum rated RG6 back to the source? Same question for CAT5.

Thanks!
Bob
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#2
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1/24/04 at 5:11pm
  • Joined: September 2000
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Bob,

Obviously state and local code would dictate wich way you would need to go, but as a rule of thumb, the least amount of splicing, the better(in any of the cabling). Although I am not 100% sure, the PVC conduit probably won't suffice for code and may need to be steel. The code issues for plenum rating have alot to do with the spreading of toxic fumes from the cable material throughout the living area in the event of a fire. Also, some cable materials will "feed" a fire and cause rapid spreading. For safety and insurance reasons, I would go with the plenum rated where needed.

Bill
"Surely you can't be serious."
"I am serious, and don't call me Shirley."
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#3
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1/25/04 at 9:20am
  • Joined: August 2001
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Quote:
Looks like for a halfway decent placement, I will need to follow some duct work up.


When you say "follow" do you mean inside the actual ductwork or just following the wall cavities the ductwork uses?

Plenum rated wire is for use inside the actual duct, very common in commercial buildings and as the above post indicates it has to do with preventing toxic fumes/smoke in a fire.

If you are not inside the actual duct then standard inwall rated wire as per code where you live should be fine.

Luke

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#4
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1/25/04 at 9:40am
  • Joined: December 2003
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Luke - that's interesting. I always thought that plenum rated meant any type of cabling that followed ductwork. In my case it would not be within the ducts, just following ducts from the basement to the main floor. So it looks like I can use non-plenum - thanks!
Bob
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