running RG6 & Cat5/6 next to 240VAC lines

[bebster]

I am about to run about 250' of 240V lines from a new house to the street for new electrical service.

It will run in 2 1/2" conduit in a new trench under the driveway. I also want to run Cat5e/6 and RG6 cable in another conduit while the driveway is being dug up.

It will run about 200' to a guest cottage most of the way down the driveway.

It would be easiest to run those cables in a 2" conduit in the same trench, but I'm concerned about them being just a few inches away from the 240VAC for that distance.

Do you think I need to separate the conduits, and if so, by how much?

Thanks!

[wingzz]

as long as they are in different conduits and everything is properly grounded you should have no problems, they don't have to be separated by much just need to be in separate conduits

[DerekWPE]

Be sure to use outdoor rated cat 5 or you will have issues when the pipe fills with water

[henniae]

It is most likely against code to run low voltage in the same conduit as high voltage. Just because the wire is in conduit does not mean that there will be no interference. You didn't mention if you were using metal or plastic conduit. My guess is plastic. Plastic conduit provides no shielding to magnetic interference. As for the distance between the cables I would run them as far apart as you can. I try to keep at least 12 inches space between parallel runs of high voltage and low voltage cable.

[RyanE]

If the CAT5 is being used for Ethernet or something else that uses differential signalling, it'll likely be OK, although as Alan suggests, the further apart you can put them, the better.

If it was going to be some other kind of Low voltage, like line-level audio or video, you would probably be a bit too close.

RyanE

Edited to add: Of course, you're going to be the one who will live with any consequences, so good luck.

[jesh]

First off, run CAT6, you might as well future proof.

Secondly, make sure it's shielded, not unshielded.

Never the cable parallel to electrical cables unless you really must, and if you do, make sure everything is shielded... otherwise you will notice a difference.

[Jeff at Zektor]

Like all cabling, you can get interference if an EMI/RFI source is too close to a signal cable. A useful feature of Zektor's SoloCAT CAT5 extenders is that we transmit the audio digitally. 1's and 0's don't care about noise. We also transmit audio, video and power over a SINGLE CAT5/5e/6 cable up to 1000' with power only required on one side up to 500'. Good luck on your project.

Jeff

[bebster]

I am definitely going to use different conduits for line voltage vs signal cables. And none of the signal cables will carry signals that aren't digital. That is, they will be used for ethernet and cableTV traffic, which I assume can handle a little "hum" and not disturb the digitally encoded signals. (I'm assuming Comcast transmits digitally over their cable).

It sounds like spending the $ for shielded Cat6 cable is something I'll look into. RG6 cable is by its design quad-shielded so I think I'm set there.

[jesh]

I am definitely going to use different conduits for line voltage vs signal cables. And none of the signal cables will carry signals that aren't digital. That is, they will be used for ethernet and cableTV traffic, which I assume can handle a little "hum" and not disturb the digitally encoded signals. (I'm assuming Comcast transmits digitally over their cable).

It sounds like spending the $ for shielded Cat6 cable is something I'll look into. RG6 cable is by its design quad-shielded so I think I'm set there.

Make sure it's solid, too and not stranded.

"Solid has one larger gauge wire in each sleeve. Solid cable has better electrical performance than stranded cable and is traditionally used for inside walls and through ceilings - any type of longer run of cable."

[capww8]

First off, run CAT6, you might as well future proof.

Secondly, make sure it's shielded, not unshielded.

Never the cable parallel to electrical cables unless you really must, and if you do, make sure everything is shielded... otherwise you will notice a difference.

First off, run FIBER, you might as well future proof. It's cheap, and you don't even have to have it terminated right now. Just do it.

[capww8]

I am definitely going to use different conduits for line voltage vs signal cables. And none of the signal cables will carry signals that aren't digital. That is' date=' they will be used for ethernet and cableTV traffic, which I assume can handle a little "hum" and not disturb the digitally encoded signals. (I'm assuming Comcast transmits digitally over their cable).

It sounds like spending the $ for shielded Cat6 cable is something I'll look into. RG6 cable is by its design quad-shielded so I think I'm set there.[/quote']

Make sure it's solid, too and not stranded.

"Solid has one larger gauge wire in each sleeve. Solid cable has better electrical performance than stranded cable and is traditionally used for inside walls and through ceilings - any type of longer run of cable."

eek... you should NEVER see stranded cat5, 5e, or 6... nor should you see stranded RG6...

Also, I don't really think sheilded Cat6 is going to make one hoot of a difference (others may disagree). Run direct-burial (not just outdoor rated) Cat6 (x2), RG6 (x2), and MM Fiber (x2) and you'll never have to worry about it again.