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I am living in a building where I wish to run Cat 6 cables to different rooms.

The building is constructed using bricks and concrete.

The electrical wiring is running in PVC conduits.

The electricity is at 220V.

I know the electrical wires cause interference with ethernet cables but I was wondering if it possible to run outdoor certified CAT-6 in the same conduit as the high-voltage electrical wires. The outdoor certified cables have an extra layer of protection so I wanted to know if that would allow both types of wires to be run in the same conduit or not.

isherwood
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Saad
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3 Answers3

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I know the electrical wires cause interference with ethernet cables

That is not the case. Ethernet cables are very immune from power line interference. They are constructed using twisted-pair wiring and differential inputs to the equipment. So any induced signal are self-cancelling.

But you should NOT run AC mains and any low-voltage wiring (such as network, telecom, alarm, cameras, etc.) in the same conduit. You should use at least two, one for HV and one for LV.

jwh20
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    The reasoning being that you want to protect against accidental overloading of low-voltage wiring through short-circuit conditions. – isherwood Dec 08 '20 at 15:40
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    Or overheating or some sort of physical damage event in the conduit or junction box, which might short an AC power wire to a low voltage wire. Even shorting neutral to cable TV coaxial cable jacket could cause all sorts of mischief; at least twice a year we get a question about outside cable TV drops being set on fire. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Dec 08 '20 at 20:48
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You cannot run data cable in the same raceway, conduit, gutter etc. as AC mains electrical wires.

The only exception is low-voltage circuits that are entirely contained within AC mains-rated junction boxes and enclosures. That's how it's legal to install things like the Sense home energy monitor; the entire kaboodle sits inside the service panel (which is obviously mains rated), and nothing but a WiFi antenna sticks out.

What you definitely cannot do is have an Ethernet in the pipe with power wires and have it come out to an Ethernet cover plate where you then plug in a cable and plug it into the back of a PC or Roku box. Of course that's what you wanna do, right? :)

That's why there's no such thing as a receptacle with one 120V socket and one Ethernet socket. That would never be allowed. (well I'm sure someone in China makes it and sells it on Amazon, but it's illegal as heck. Amazon is as junked up as eBay these days).

Fiber optic, however, is a different deal. If the fiber-optic cable is entirely non-conductive (you must check), then yes, that can go in and out of AC mains conduit all it wants. So a receptacle with one 120V socket and one fiber socket is legit. Ethernet-fiber converters are cheap these days.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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  • Searching a similar issue led me here. Looking at this - https://www.amazon.com/RiteAV-Power-Outlet-Ethernet-Decorative/dp/B00I14ZCKU/ref=pd_ybh_a_17?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=BJ6BH0ASX25RZ86D6MEM which seems to be what you described. In my case, there's no conduit, just running wire up a wall. Separate, until they'll get here. Are you saying I shouldn't have them meet in this one box? Two boxes? – JTP - Apologise to Monica Aug 22 '21 at 16:40
  • Can't edit after a couple minutes, sorry - If I need 2 boxes, and yes, I want to do the right thing, am I still ok to run both wire through the same hole in my floor/ceiling studs? was about to drill a single hole to fish these wires thru. – JTP - Apologise to Monica Aug 22 '21 at 16:51
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    Well don't buy that one, it's dodgy Amazon Marketplace stuff (=eBay). But that item is only a coverplate bundled with receptacles. It does not supply a box. The box will either need a divider, or be a special split box where one side is a 1-gang junction box and the other side has an open back. That is a thing in plastic, I'm unaware of any metal ones. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Aug 22 '21 at 18:30
  • Much appreciated! Exactly what I needed to make this happen. – JTP - Apologise to Monica Aug 23 '21 at 10:27
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Bad idea , dont do it .

220v = 2phase ,alot of angry pixies if it goes short circuit , i assume your in the US.

In addition to the above posts , by adding another wire you change the thermal dissipation of that cable within that conduit, potentially derating the permissible current allowed on that cable.You could potentially overheat that cable by adding more cables.

Food for thought...

binaryOps20
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  • The problem is that CM cable insulation isn't rated for what'd happen if 220V somehow power crossed onto the network cabling due to a fault in a box somewhere....(never mind the Etherkiller effects you'd get) – ThreePhaseEel Dec 10 '20 at 00:52
  • True i stand corrected :) – binaryOps20 Dec 10 '20 at 00:59