sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Size of conduit box

I'm planning on each conduit drop for new building construction to have 4 cables and 4 jacks: 2 - Cat 6a with cat 6 jacks,and 2 - Cat 5e with cat 5e jacks.

I expect I should use a 1 inch conduit from the ceiling down to the box. Not sure if a 90 degree sweep will be used or not.

The box should be what I call a "4 square" box, with a single gang reducing mud ring. What dimension for depth of the box?

Do these sound right?
Thanks.

Jim

Take a look at this guide from Hubbell:
https://www.hubbell-premise.com/Literature/10GbECablingInstallationGuidelines.pdf

That's a great paper Jeff, no matter which brand a guy uses.

I like the idea of using angled wall plates, with no 90 degree sweep above. Just push excess slack loop back up the 1" conduit.

Thanks Jeff.

Jim

Nicely done, Jeff, that's an excellent doc.

Yoda, stop by an electrical supply house and check availability and pricing of extra-deep boxes. An alternative is also a 4&11/16" box (sometimes called a 5" box). They're available in a standard depth but being wider can provide a little more "wiggle" room. They have their own single gang mud ring.

Sam

Reading the Hubbel doc that Jeff mentioned, they show lots of angled faceplates. I never used them, but it makes sense.

They also recommend not putting any slack loop in the box, but pushing the slack up the conduit and leaving it in the ceiling. With cat 5e, I always put a small loop inside the box, and it fit ok. Won't be able to do that with 6a.

Jim

If you don't need a fire/sound rating, you could use an open back box with a conduit "tab" on the top and bottom. If you need something enclosed, Raco makes 4 square boxes at least 2 1/8" deep, and mudrings at least 2" deep. We use the deep boxes for cat6 and coax, and the rings are usually 1 1/4" for double layer drywall/soundboard-drywall.

The 2 1/8" deep boxes cost almost 3x as much as the standard 1 1/2" deep boxes, and a 7 x 7" putty pad will not completely cover one (more $$$).

Havent worked with much 1 or 1 1/4" EMT - are boxes readily available with those sized knockouts, or do they have to be punched to size?

Jack

I think I'm going with the Raco 4 square 2 1/8" deep box with 1" knockouts.

Thanks for all the suggestions.
Jim

Can't speak for HD or Loewes but Electrical Supply Houses should have at least the 1" in stock. I've certainly used 1.25" often on jobs (usually for Voice & Data).

Sam

Yoda I do a lot of 3/4 Emt you can fit up to 6 cat 5 or 4 cat6 cables.
Juno

Gentlemen, we need to get our RCDD guys to respond....BUT....the box must support the number and size of the conduits. That dictates the box size while the fill rate dictates the conduit size.

A=B+C....

:read: :idea: