Hello,

I am new to electrical and would love to learn. I have a question. Can you place Power, Control signal, Feedback, and Digital all into one conduit? What are pros and cons? if it does have cons, can there be an exception if you add something to allow it?

Thank you,
U.S

 

The very first answer to that question is that the TS needs to consult the NEC (National Electrical Code), relative to insulation requirements. They are very detailed and quite useful.

In addition, there are a whole lot of recommendations by respected sources that relate specificly to that topic.

Aside from that, as an engineering professional, I would never do that, UNLESS the control signal and feedback signals use fiber optic cables.

 

The very first answer to that question is that the TS needs to consult the NEC (National Electrical Code), relative to insulation requirements. They are very detailed and quite useful.

In addition, there are a whole lot of recommendations by respected sources that relate specificly to that topic.

Aside from that, as an engineering professional, I would never do that, UNLESS the control signal and feedback signals use fiber optic cables.

thank you for the feed back. it would need to comply with NEC. You stated, it won't be a good idea. can you tell me the reason behind this? is control signal and feedback the most problematic?

This is involve with 24VAC/VDC only

 

Hello,

I am new to electrical and would love to learn. I have a question. Can you place Power, Control signal, Feedback, and Digital all into one conduit? What are pros and cons? if it does have cons, can there be an exception if you add something to allow it?

Thank you,
U.S

You have not told us anything about power current and voltage, control, feedback, digital appliction and specifications. The devil is in the details.

 

What I consult for these situations is the Belden catalogue, they have cables that cater to alsmost all stressfull situations,
I fortunately still have one of thier old catalogus , probabally have to go on-line for the info now.

 

Thisis confusing: "This is involve with 24VAC/VDC only" , so how can that be " Power, Control signal, Feedback, and Digital " ????
Both of those quotes are from the TS posts.
If those are all either DC or "mains frequency", and fairly low impedance circuits, an experienced GUESS says that there should be no problem.
BUT there is a lot of unknown here, which is why it is ONLY A GUESS.

 

Hello,

I am new to electrical and would love to learn. I have a question. Can you place Power, Control signal, Feedback, and Digital all into one conduit? What are pros and cons? if it does have cons, can there be an exception if you add something to allow it?

Thank you,
U.S

Can you and should you are two very different things. Things cannot always be separated (at least not easily).
Sometimes bunch of very different circuits are bundled closely together (even when voltage etc are very different).

An example of this is a hybrid servo cable. A hybrid servo cable can be seen as several shielded cables bundled into what looks like a single cable:
Servo power (3P 600V), Servo brake (24VDC), Servo feedback (whatever). And you can run more than one of those in the same conduit which is common on industrial machines (CNC for example).

But you are probably wondering about individual concoctors rather than cables. So in short, it depends, it is possible but it will cost you. To maintain signal integrity, circuits need isolation, separation, etc. So without knowing what you have there, there is no single answer. for example some circuit may be 24VDC but high power, perhaps PWM controlled, or inductive load etc. placing analog signal near it is a bad idea. This is why signal lines use various forms of signal protection, shielding, twisted pair, galvanic isolation, or non-copper medium (fiberoptic, wireless).

 

Some connection schemes are designed to be resistant to interference and crosstalk. That is always a good choice, but it may be inconvenient in some instances. and it always requires additional effort.

 

The signal levels involved make a big difference in the amount of effort that will be required for adequate isolation.

 

Hello,

I am new to electrical and would love to learn. I have a question. Can you place Power, Control signal, Feedback, and Digital all into one conduit? What are pros and cons? if it does have cons, can there be an exception if you add something to allow it?

I have worked for many years in the industrial electronics field, CNC etc, where power and low voltage signals were all included in a conduit or race-way, Using the high calibre cables (Belden) as mentioned earlier , I don't recall ever having a problem.
Also I conformed to the information from Siemens manual on Equi-potential bonding of the ground terminations. ( I have the paper on it if needed.)
When using the methods outlined in the manual, it allowed the more efficient way concerning shields,, i.e. Grounding both ends of the shield.

 

thank you for the feedback. it would need to comply with NEC.
...
This is involve with 24VAC/VDC only

national standards (NEC,CSA etc) are concerning themselves primarily with potential damage (shock, fire).
thay all deem low voltage (<30V) and low power (usually <=100VA) as low energy and thus inherently safe.
this means you can do almost anything you want, as long as conductors are sized correctly, conduit fill rate is reasonable (so not melting insulation or conduit).
and since NEC standard is free, why not download copy and read it?

 

Also NFPA79 is recommended for those making up electrical enclosures and control cabinets.