Discuss Running data alongside external SWA power cable - confused about the best option in the Electrical Forum area at ElectriciansForums.net

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olivervh

This is my first post to what looks like a great forum so please excuse me if parts of this topic have been covered before but I can't seem to find a clear answer...

I'm planning a 40m cable run along a fence to get power and data to a garden studio which will include 4 cables:
  1. 6mm 3 core SWA (for power)
  2. 1.5mm 3 core SWA (for path lighting)
  3. 1.5mm 4 core SWA (to switch the path lighting)
  4. CAT 5 or 6 UTP or FTP SWA (data cable to modem)
It's a difficult run behind lots of foliage so I ideally want to run all 4 cables together but I'm aware that there may well be interference issues between the power and data, so:

  • I'm confused about what kind of data cable it is best to fit in this situation for basic home office use: CAT5/5e/6?
  • I'm unclear about the difference between UTP and FTP cable - is the latter shielded to help protect against interference?
  • I'm also unclear about what effect the SWA will have in terms of shielding the data cable against interference from the power?
Any advice hugely appreciated!
 
The armour of the SWA will prevent low frequency EMI if it's glanded and earthed properly. If there was variable speed drives with high carrier frequencies involved SWA armour won't be an effective screen. Use a screened CAT5 or CAT6 cable as well just for peace of mind (earth the screen). I assume you're using a pipe or some kinda conduit for the comms cable so lay that first in the trench and put the SWA power cables above it, that way the wire will lay at the bottom of the conduit or tube and at least give you 20 or 30mm separation.
 
The armour of the SWA will prevent low frequency EMI if it's glanded and earthed properly. If there was variable speed drives with high carrier frequencies involved SWA armour won't be an effective screen. Use a screened CAT5 or CAT6 cable as well just for peace of mind (earth the screen). I assume you're using a pipe or some kinda conduit for the comms cable so lay that first in the trench and put the SWA power cables above it, that way the wire will lay at the bottom of the conduit or tube and at least give you 20 or 30mm separation.

The data cable is going to be swa by the looks of the OP
 
Thanks for the speedy responses!

@Murdock - The separate 4core cable for the path lighting is to provide a switch at both ends if that makes sense?

@Marvo @LeeSparkyKent - Does using SWA data cable make a difference in terms of avoiding interference and do I need to make sure it is FTP rather than UTP in terms of shielding?
It's planned to run along the inside of my garden fence rather than underground and since all the cables are SWA I wasn't planning to run them through any conduit.
Whichever data cable I use, is it advisable to avoid simply cable tying them together with the power?
Many thanks :)
 
Is the data cable going to be steel wire armoured or just the power/lighting cables?
 
Is the data cable going to be steel wire armoured or just the power/lighting cables?
Yes, that's the plan since I thought that would be essential to avoid the risk of it getting chewed through by foxes etc.. However I was also hoping the SWA might have a positive effect in terms of helping to avoid interference, but am unclear whether it also needs to be an FTP cable?
 
The IEC EMI regs which I work to dictate 100mm separation required, i assume the UK regs require similar. In reality you won't have problems over a 40 meter distance if all the cables are SWA and all the armours are earthed even if they're running together.
 
Cat 5e more than good enough for that distance, also why not use a 7 C SWA, I have just designed a large house front to back garden lighting scheme, 200M run in total length, 11 zones of lighting. Starts out as 19C swa, then drops to 12C, then to 7C. much better than shed loads of separate swas
 
Please tell me your not just planning on clipping all this to a garden fence?
Errr - yes, though I have a feeling you're going to tell me that's a bad idea...
It's a high fence with several inches of vine growing on it so the cable will be completely hidden. There is also a wall on the other side of the fence so it's completely separated from anyone else's property. I was planning to cut access points in the vine every few metres and feed the cable through. Unfortunately digging a trench to bury the cable isn't an option for various reasons.
 
The separate 4core cable for the path lighting is to provide a switch at both ends if that makes sense?

For the lighting. I'd just run one 3 core (using armour as cpc (earth)) or 4 core and put a PIR at each end, thus both PIRs supply all lights. No need for two cables.

Cores: line, switched line, neutral, earth.
 
For the lighting. I'd just run one 3 core (using armour as cpc (earth)) or 4 core and put a PIR at each end, thus both PIRs supply all lights. No need for two cables.

Cores: line, switched line, neutral, earth.
Thanks - interesting idea and it would save on the additional cable run to be sure but at times we'll want to be able to keep the path lighting on along with some separately switched feature lighting in the garden.
 
why not use a 7 C SWA... much better than shed loads of separate swas
Thanks - interesting idea again - I guess the reason is that we'll be putting watertight junction boxes for the path lighting at 3m intervals along the 30m run so I'd assumed it would be better to keep breaking the 3 core and have the separate 4 core just for the switching but I could be wrong?
 

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