Which cable outdoors?

[tabbypurr]

Which cable types are now required for:

a) nonburied run to shed, some attached to brickwork, some laid on ground under plants b) surface clipped run to lighting, some lengths under plants some not.

NT

[ARW]

If there is a risk of damage due to strimmers/ cutters etc then you need a cable with an outer earth sheath. So that's SWA or SY.

If not then use NYY-J cable.

[Jeff Layman]

If it's buried under plants, doesn't it have to be in conduit or trunking to avoid damage from spades and forks?

Seems to me that "some laid on ground under plants" is a little unclear. Does it mean only on the surface under the top growth of a plant? Trouble is, it wouldn't take long to get hidden by fallen leaves and other stuff, perhaps making it vulnerable to a spade.

[tabbypurr]

I thought SWA was specifically for that. I just wondered if anything was also acceptable but of course it's not.

I see a fair bit of controversy over SY. This job has to be 100% to all standards, so looks like the non-plant on-wall areas will be NYY-J, and the under bushes one SWA.

Thanks folks

NT

[nothanks]

I hadn't heard of NYY-J until now, why would you use it rather than SWA?

[T i m]

<snip>

I read that as *on* the ground (as most of the options were 'surface runs') under plants (in pots / planters)?

Otherwise wouldn't / shouldn't it have read '*In* ground under plants'?

Cheers, T i m

[Cynic]

Heavy micc with pvc oversheath (provided you have the skill to correctly terminate it)

[T i m]

<snip>

Easier to cut / terminate than SWA but when I looked at it previously I would have still needed to protect it so was back to SWA?

Cheers, T i m

[Tricky Dicky]

Depending on the length of cable run it might not be worth using two types, eg the difference in price according to CEF between 3 core 2.5mm2 SWA and the equivalent Tufsheath is 12p per metre if you have to use additional glands then you may not save much plus one less joint box and a potential point of water ingress.

Richard

[Brian Gaff (Sofa 2)]

Well my armoured cable to the shed and when the garage greenouse and shed were there is still in good nick, but was attached to the fence, most of it still is. I'd not want to bury any kind of cable under a garden myself. The old overhead links were ordinary pvc double insulated for a time but we soon discovered that the sun and the cold did not make it last very long. The plastic shroud of the armoured cable seemms to be a completely different type of plastic that feels a bit like Teflon to the touch, and has lasted well over 15 years. I think, was I doing it again, I'd use a bigger capacity one though, since you could see lights dim when you put on a3kw fan heater. grin. Brian

[ARW]

NYY-J used to be sold under the name Hi-Tuff. It's cheaper than SWA, does not need glanding off and is ideal for outdoor surface mount jobs. It is not suitable for direct burial in the ground unlike SWA.

[ARW]

And the time to make the joints.

[Tim Lamb]

He could shove it down a length of galvanised pipe for the ground level bit. Or is that an offence nowadays?

[ARW]

That would probably be OK.

[nothanks]

Thanks. I hadn't realised it was another name for Hi-Tuff

[Adam Funk]

Outdoors, Underground, in Brickwork, Concrete with the exception of cabling in shaken, vibrated or compressed concrete. and in Water.

The UV-resistance allows for outdoor use.

Doesn't using it where garden tools might hit it count as risk of mechanical damage? (That's why I used SWA clipped to a garden fence to my shed.)

[ARW]

Strictly speaking SWA should be protected from damage:-)

Assuming you are talking about a plastic strimmer wire then I doubt it would damage either cable unless it was a sustained and violent attack of the strimmer. A spade will damage both. I did like Tim Lambs idea of running the cable through galv conduit. You cannot get a spade through that.

It's down to the installer to decide which they are going to fit. I just gave an option to SWA.

I probably should have called it Hi-tuff but ISTR the trade name went out of business.

[Adam Funk]

Hmm!