Here is the scenario, two brick (block) walls opposite of each other, one must have 14 drops and another 12 drops, all data.
What are the recommendations for this job, conduit inside the bricks, no conduit- wires inside the blocks, exterior drop on the wall to the jacks? , and or what type of conduit to be used?
The guys that came out to eyeball the job wanted electricians to drop extra electrical conduits for data only inside the blocks, or externally down along the wall vertically and/or horizontally.

I watched the battle unfold between the two as far as the standards go and which ones apply to whom. Gotta say one thing, the data guys seemed to be pretty clueless in that department.

My suggestion was to run it externally inside the receways similar to these either in the corner and fan out jack out of it, have two at each corner of the wall, or just have them drop vertically about 3 or so providing sufficient amount of jacks.

Is this a computer lab type of setup?

Yes, pretty much

We do that all the time with a school system that we service. We bring a piece of Wiremold 3000 down the wall in the corner, place a flat ell and then continue the run of 3000 for the width of the wall. The covers are cut to allow for the necessary outlet fittings. It works very well.

Of course, they have plastic versions of this technology too.

That is what I would recommend. Panduit makes similar products.

Thanks guys, I'm glad that we think alike , what trips me out the most is that these guys wanted to run data in electrical either solid tubing or flex tubing, I was like "hell no", and them when I heard one of them saying that there is no standart for them since they are low voltage, I just blew a gasket

No need to blow a gasket. Most manufacturers of surface-mount raceways make systems with separate high/low voltage compartments that meet the necessary standards. They also provide the necessary aesthetics in their design to make it 'pretty'.

Thanks Ed, ill try to post an update on how those rj45s end up sticking out of the wall, lol

Sorry, Ed, just though I might throw in a little humor, this has been quite uneasy on me, as my motto is spend a little more of time and $, but do it once and do it correct the first time, then have the lowest bidder do the job within ridiculously short amount of time and budget.

I'm with Ed & Jeff on this one.

Panduit and Wiremold are both good. Personally I prefer Wiremold - and in metal, not plastic, especially if channel could get bumped into and broken. Installation of metal is more expensive, but IMHO well worthwhile.

If you're running cable down a hall on a solid wall and are making the run up at the ceiling line, then plastic is perfect. But down lower, in a lab, where stuff is going to get moved around and bumped - I'd go with metal.

Electrical conduit (especially EMT) will be cheaper to install then Metal Molding, but doesn't look half as good. And, as Ed said they make the molding with split channels for both Electrical and Data. You will need electrical receptacles for all these devices too.

Sam

Like Sam says, EMT is an alternative, but it takes all kinds of boxes, fittings, and bending too.
My high school always used the large Wiremold 4000 series, split for power and data.
https://www.legrand.us/wiremold/raceway/steel-raceway/multi-channel-raceway/4000-large-raceway.aspx

Metal Boxes and conduit run straight up to top of the wall would be the cheapest and would look ok. The wiremold and or panduit would look good also, but would cost a lot more. I would prefer metal conduit on a block wall if it was in in a shop or warehouse. If it's in a office I would use the wiremold or panduit it's more aesthetically appealing. :toast: :toast: