atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General General Telephone & Systems Information *raceways*

I need to get some raceways that go from the drop down ceiling to the phone location... any suggestions on some good sturdy raceways?

Home Depot? Hardware Stores? others?

With drop down ceiling why not go inside the wall.

Looks much better.

You will need a Wiremold Tele-Power pole. They are designed with two separate compartments, one for low-voltage and the other for high. They have knockouts at the bottom end that accommodate standard "keystone" jack modules and electrical receptacles.

They come in various lengths and include the necessary hardware to secure them to the ceiling grid and the floor (they have a really cool carpet gripper foot) so it's not permantent.

They cost about $125.00 each, depending upon the length you get. They come in lengths up to about 15 feet. We get them from Rexel USA Electrical supply, a national supplier, but any wholesale electrical supply will have them. You won't find these at home improvement stores.

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Ed
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How come there's always enough time to go back and fix it a second time?

Good catch Ev.

I thought he meant next to a wall.

sorry,

i did mean next to a wall. this isnt a new building and the walls are pure concrete, where they have cash register counters about halfway down the wall. the jack needs to stop 6" above the counter for the desk phone to plug in at.

How did the ac get there and data wires to
the registers.?

Square-D and Panduit are the choices. All supply houses.

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Business Phone Systems

Use the power pole anyway! It can be installed in the middle of a room or up tight against a wall. There are no restrictions, and they don't require a dropped ceiling either. As long as it can be attached to something at the top end, that's all that matters.

The power compartment can always be left unused if not needed. If needs expand, it can be used for future fiber, etc. Just because it's a "power" pole doesn't mean you have to use the compartment for that specific purpose.

I guess I have to ask the obvious question, though. Why not use Panduit, Wiremold, etc. if it's just wiring coming down a wall? Maybe I need more detailed information.

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Ed
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How come there's always enough time to go back and fix it a second time?

[This message has been edited by ev607797 (edited August 26, 2005).]

i would use the same track as the a/c and data but they are in brass looking caps that run underneath the building. I asked if i could use them but they said they would have to move all of the cash registers to get to them.... im looking for a good brand to use, and where i might get them.

hmmmm. Actually, the power-pole would work on the one central register! thanks!

The conduit in the cement would be perfect it must go to an idf someplace right. you ahve to move some equipment around anyway so why not use the same pipe as the data ?

otherwise the latch duct from anymaker will work and if you need to you can get it from any supply house like rather be fishing said

First don't laugh at this.

Many times I have used regular gray pvc pipe, 1/2 or 3/4 with elecrical boxes, surface mounted, droped straight from the drop cieling and strapped to the wall. It's cheap, fast, easy and it actually looks pretty good. Many offices use a gray or some variation of gray for carpet, desk tops and wall base trim moulding.
Mark

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Reliable Telephone Service

i like marks idea , either that or just plain old wire mold. I have used gray pvc to but I like to clean the markings of the side or at least put them flat on the wall

or you could act like a network guy and just leave the wire hanging out of the ceiling tile

Yeah skip, I use the pipe cleaner to clean off the lettering but I usually don't glue the joints that makes it easier to relocate. The boxes are great cause you can get them with top and bottom and side pipe entries to run a circuit around a room if required. Around here there are business offices popping up in old warehouses and steel mill buildings where they keep the "warehouse" look by just spray painting everything in the ceiling and not putting a drop ceiling in. PVC Pipe is very effective and low cost in these kinds of space.
Mark


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Reliable Telephone Service

I agree with you guys about using PVC, just place the lettering against the wall and it actually looks pretty good. Everyone seems to be going for that "industrial" look anyway, so it probably fits well.

Only problem is that you can't extend the PVC into a plenum ceiling space even one inch. It will have to stop at the bottom edge of the dropped ceiling's "L" channel. We do it all the time with Panduit, etc. Just butt the "factory" end up tight against the "L" channel and secure the pipe/channel to the box, and clamp everything down. THEN, go back and using a Unibit, drill down through the L-channel into the pipe, Panduit or wiremold as far as it will go without showing from below.

We had an inspector question this because there was a sharp metal edge where the cable passed through the L-channel. We resolved that by using split metal stud bushings (the dark blue 1/2" ones made by Thomas & Betts). They are like sleeves that can be rolled as tightly as necessary around the cable and they spring back out to tighten up to the edges of the hole.

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Ed
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How come there's always enough time to go back and fix it a second time?

[This message has been edited by ev607797 (edited August 28, 2005).]