EGA Tube?

snipped-for-privacy@o2.co.uk has brought this to us :

Yes,

and yes..

I'd hope in a public building they'd use proper steel conduit - not plastic anything.

EGA just is the MK trade name for plastic conduit.

As for cheaper? I don't think there is much in it.

It's no quicker than trunking.

Safer? I don't think there is much difference in conduit or trunking.

Both conduit and trunking look awful IMHO. They are both used for add on to existing installs where you are not allowed to damage the walls and ceilings.

The actual choice of what is used in the places you mention probably comes down to nothing more than what the architect chooses.

We fit it in prisons. I suppose you could call that a public building.

Usually a charge preceeds admission :-)

Owain

Steel conduit done properly actually looks good in some places. And it's a work of art to fit it.

Yes all that thread cutting and all that, but most of it is seemed and plastic has a better rejection of water etc. Brian

Is this that convoluted stuff that you can bend but looks a bit like it was the sole bit of decoration used in every episode of Blakes 7? Brian

Steel conduit has a certain brutalist aesthetic. Plastic conduit just looks cheap. I'll leave any comments on robustness to the professionals.

EGA was a company that MK bought out.

but you don't need to thread plastic conduit. yes, I have the dies for metric steel.

Brian Gaff laid this down on his screen :

No, it is a direct replacement for steel conduit. Like the steel you can buy a range of accessories such as 1, 2, 3 and 4 way boxes, lids, elbows bends and fixing saddles. Instead of threading, the parts are just glued together. Usually in white, but black is available too.

Kopex?

..and Kopex to you!

Kopex was the spiral steel flexible conduit stuff, sometimes plastic covered, often used as the final section from rigid conduit or steel trunking to the likes of smaller motors.

Kopex has no relationship to the OP's question.

charles expressed precisely :

I probably have the dies around somewhere for 3/4" imperial :oÞ

I used to be a bit of an artist at forming and bending tube. I would get often get through bundles of it a day. Biggest size I used was I think 1 1/2" - several runs and all done with manual made bends - now that took some muscle and technique, to get it to bend at all.

I was replying to a question about Blakes 7:-)

Yup. Much the same as exposed copper tube. Neatly done looks good.

I've never really been convinced how well plastic conduit does protect the cable. It may look better than exposed cables, though.

I've got a conduit bender too. Something else than needs to go on Ebay. ;-)

Going off topic on purpose...

Kopex also make a rather nice all plastic tube with waterproof glands that I used to take my meter tails from the box outside over the wallplater under the roof and directly into the CU.

It is not officially "mechanical protection" (but my route does not demand it) but in reality the stuff is fecking tough and black (so should be UV resistant for outside exposure).

It's also expensive... But in certain scenarios, quite useful.

If you want something lighter to give some scuff protection to small cables running in a splintery crappy environment, Electroflex is nice stuff.