Q & A of the Day - Is the submains in basket tray a screened power cable?

Published: 8 May 2009 Category: Q&A

Our Voltimum Experts answer your questions on a daily basis in our Technical Expertise area. This Question of the Day, concerning wire basket and cable tray and the laying of cable within, is answered by Legrand:

Q & A of the Day - Is the submains in basket tray a screened power cable?
Question: I'm laying a submains cable in a cable basket with a communications basket 50mm away from the submains basket. According to the Regulations, un-screened power cables and un-screened communications cables are to be separated by 200mm, but if the submains power cable has been specified to have SWA, is this considered then to be a screened power cable?

Please note that I don't want to use cable tray instead of basket.

Answer: Steel wire armour would act as a screen.

Just make sure that the steel wire armour is earthed and that you earth both runs of basket, which will also help with any EMC effects.

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