Electrical Code Questions Advice Needed

[Michael Roback]

I am reconfiguring some electrical and phone cabling prior to finish tiling and have some code related questions.

1) I need to extend 3/4" steel conduit run but all I have is aluminum conduit. Can I splice on a piece of aluminum conduit?

2) The ground wire had been looped and thus has a piece of jacket missing. This section will now be encased in the conduit. Is there a problem having a section of bare ground wire in the conduit, or should I cover with electrical tape. I know that obviously in the box, bare ground wire is acceptable and common.

3) I want to put a Cat5E low volatage phone line in a box about 2 inches or so from a high voltage duplex plug box. Is there a problem with this? Is there a certain distance that they have to be separated?

4) I notice in one of the boxes, the wire only extends maybe 4" out of the box or so. I know it is on the short side. Any code problem with just extending with pigtails. I have to wire up a double gang plug anyway.

[SueMarkP]

Not sure, but I believe you can if it is a place aluminum is allowed to be used.

Grounds can be bare or green. The conduit is supposed to be bonded to that wire anyway, so having it bare is not a problem. Just don't bury a splice inside a conduit.

Code does not specify a minimum distance, and having the outlet near the receptacle isn't much of a problem. Running the wire alongside the power cable is legal, but not desireable. Ideally, you'd keep LV and HV separated by about a foot.

If this is an existing box, then its not a problem (it may have been the proper length at one time but had to be trimmed a few times over the years). A new cable and device box must meet current code rules for conductor length. It would be better to terminate a short wire on the device than add a pigtail, unless the wire is so short you can't get it to the device. Wires extending 4" out of the box should be plenty of length to terminate on just about anything. I think the minimum code requirement is 6" length from where the wire enters the box.

[Joseph Meehan]

It may be legal, but mixing metals like that can lead to corrosion problems. I suggest getting steel.

[SB]

Just a quick tip when running high voltages along your phone (or data cables)... Try to avoid running them in parallel. If they have to cross each other, do it at a right angle.

Depending what you're running on any particular high voltage line (high voltage meaning your 120/240volt line) you might want to move it further away! Like if you have an old dryer or appliance with a motor on it....this might make the line extra noisy and you'll hear the hum on your data/phone line. Ways around this if you have to run them nearby. Different conduits....run a shielded data cable BUT you may not want to connect the shield to your earth ground in your house. this might end up creating a ground loop which will just pull the noise from your earth ground (of which the conduits of your noisey high V line are connected to).

sb

[SQLit]

Really not a good idea. Aluminum tends to be a lot more active than steel. As long as you find the right fitting you will be ok. It is not a good idea to use a steel threaded coupling on the Aluminum and vice a versa.

Your not allowed to put splices inside conduits. Bare green is fine.

No, If you barrier the box you could put them in the same box. though that would not be a good idea.

That is what I would do.