morningsidemustangs Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Is there an interferance issue with running the control cable in close proxcimity to power cords? Particularly parallel with them. How about building saftey codes, generally speaking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 As usual, this depends on a number of factors:How close are the cords?How much current is running through the power cords? (More current means more magnetic induction.)How long is the run where they are together?How far away is the computer? (Closer means a better signal.)Building codes end at the outlets. But the codes say that power (medium voltage) signal (low voltage) cable can't be run through the same conduit or into the same undivided box.A safety issue will arise typically where water is found. If a LOR controller gets flooded, there is a potential for the power to find its way into the network cable. If the outlets are GFCI protected, this should not be a safety problem, but it could damage some electronics.In one case, someone had an SSR on the lawn. When the lawn flooded, the current found its way back to the digital I/O card in the computer and destroyed the board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morningsidemustangs Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 Steven wrote: As usual, this depends on a number of factors:How close are the cords?How much current is running through the power cords? (More current means more magnetic induction.)How long is the run where they are together?How far away is the computer? (Closer means a better signal.)The plan would have the Cat5 running next to (making contact the whole way) a 10/4 cable caring a 30 amp, 240v for 30-50ft.Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom_K Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 Someone here explained why the RS485 and the 120V power cords won't interfere with each other. Otherwise all of us who run our cat5 next to the power in cord would be having problems.This may not be up to code or whatever, but it works just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Posted February 6, 2008 Share Posted February 6, 2008 morningsidemustangs wrote: The plan would have the Cat5 running next to (making contact the whole way) a 10/4 cable caring a 30 amp, 240v for 30-50ft.Thoughts?Last year I ran Cat5 along with a 16/2 (orange, no ground) cable for about 15 feet in a small slot I cut though the lawn.I wouldn't expect any problems with your run. The reason is that Cat5 cable is "twisted-pair". The reason for the twist is that any interference that gets picked up on one wire will get cancelled out by the same interference on the other wire. The 10/4 cable probably also has a twist to it, and probably a thick jacket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morningsidemustangs Posted February 6, 2008 Author Share Posted February 6, 2008 Thanks for the explination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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