ELK <> ALC Interface

[felixrosbergen]

This would potentially leave you with unused openings when you pull the cat5e up from the bottom (which may or may not be a code issue)..and you got lucky the inspector didn't pull any cover plates/switches out I think.

Anybody know if cat5 is properly insulated for HV adjacency? I guess not since this is why they provide the heatshrink sleeves with the switches..or maybe that is just to get the connections covered since at the connections the outer jacket from the cat5 is stripped away.

 

[AceCannon]

This would potentially leave you with unused openings when you pull the cat5e up from the bottom (which may or may not be a code issue)..and you got lucky the inspector didn't pull any cover plates/switches out I think.

Anybody know if cat5 is properly insulated for HV adjacency? I guess not since this is why they provide the heatshrink sleeves with the switches..or maybe that is just to get the connections covered since at the connections the outer jacket from the cat5 is stripped away.

Yes, no question. But the "holes" for the wire to come in are actually little plastic flap valves. They are not punch outs, so they actually re-seal rather nicely on their own when wire is removed.

Dunno abt how close HV wiring can be. I think the biggest issue is a bare, hot copper HV conductor touching a bare cat5e conductor. Then you've got 120v AC live at your ALC controller site frying electronics at best, frying people and house at worst. These ALC switches do not have any bare screw terminals. For my LV connections, I used those telephone beanie connectors, so no cat5e was every even stripped. Of course, if you've got a standard lightswitch in the same box and it has the exposed HV screw terminals, then you've got a potential hot/bare conductor exposed in the box.

FWIW: the Monoprice cat5e I used is CMR rated. From their website:

Question: What are the difference between the various in-wall ratings? (CMG, CMR, CMP) Answer: In-wall ratings have to do with the burn characteristics of cabling and have no direct effect on the functional performance of the cables.

CMG is for general in-wall use. It is equivalent to CL2 & CL3. It is for general commercial and residential in-wall installation applications.

CMR is riser rated cable. These are suitable for situation where cable is passed from one floor of a structure to another.

CMP is for Plenum and is the highest in-wall rating. Plenum cables are specifically designed to go into the Plenum areas of commercial building where air circulation systems are. Plenum cables are formulated so they do not produce toxic gases as they burn.

While it is okay to use a higher rated cable in lower level applications, you should not do it the other way around.

 

[sic0048]

Anybody know if cat5 is properly insulated for HV adjacency? I guess not since this is why they provide the heatshrink sleeves with the switches..or maybe that is just to get the connections covered since at the connections the outer jacket from the cat5 is stripped away.

Although I am not sure of the exact insulation rating of cat5e wire, I know 99% of the wire out there is not rated for 120v. EDT's i-Line ** brand use to sell higher rated cat5e wire by the spool, so someone must make it. But I haven't seen anything similar since i-Line went under.

** i-Line was a hardwire system very similar to the OnQ ALC system. But the company seemingly went belly up a couple of years ago.