Wiring Ducts Information

Wiring Ducts Information

Wiring ducts are rigid trays typically used as raceways for cables and wires within electrical enclosures. Cable tray systems consist of straight sections, fittings and accessories that form a rigid structural support for cables.  They are generally available two configurations, slotted (the wiring duct has slots or fingers for easy customization and breakout) and slotless (solid wiring ducts that do not have any fingers or slots).

Slotted or Slotless

The choice of slotted or slotless determines the available features or accessories that can be chosen (or are necessary) to allow the wiring duct to function optimally.  Slotted wiring ducts require decisions on slot pitch (the distance from one slot space center to the adjacent slot space center) and finger width (the measured width of wire duct fingers).  Specific features available for slotted wiring ducts include upper and lower scorelines.  These refer to groved or notched sections that can easily be removed to allow for individual finger breakouts (upper) or sidewall breakouts (lower).

Both working with slotted or slotless wiring ducts, the following decisions are necessary, duct width and height.  Application-based features for either type of wiring duct include mounting method, rubber liners and specific designs to handle telephone cables and wires.  Wiring ducts are typically mounted with screws or other mechanical fasteners although some types are available with adhesive backings that allow for quicker attachment.  While they are easier to apply, they may not be sufficient to handle heavy collections of cable or wiring.  Check with the manufacturer as to the strength of the adhesive.  Rubber liners provide a non-slip surface, and are particularly useful in vertical mounting configurations. In general, telephone wires and cables are flatter than most other types of cabling carried by wiring ducts.  Wiring ducts designed to handle telephone and cable wirings are manufactured to handle these flatter cables. 

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