Chasing for data cable - conduit?

[nero44]

Hello,
I want to add an ethernet socket to the side of my covered up chimney breast. The cat6 lead will come from the loft above, so I'd be looking to chase down from the ceiling. I've recently installed a socket into the same wall and therefore know that I have about 25mm of plaster and then it's solid brick. I used a multitool to cut the box and it worked quite well. Planning to just run one single cat 6 cable. My questions are:

1. will chasing just 25mm depth be enough for one cat6 cable? If I need to go deeper I would need to chase into the brick work which I cannot do myself. In that case I might ditch the whole project and use a wifi extender
2. do I need to use conduit for a data cable? if so, which one is recommended? just some standard oval?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

2. do I need to use conduit for a data cable? if so, which one is recommended? just some standard oval?

You could use oval, which would make it easy to replace the cable without damaging the plaster a second time, if it might need replacing, but why bother? You could simply bury the cable directly, in the plaster. Either way, 25mm of plaster is deep enough without cutting into the brick.

 

[nero44]

ok thanks, that's helpful. yes actually my initial thought was just to put the bare cable in, fix to wall and fill the chase with plaster given that it's just a datacable. makes things much easier.

 

[ebee]

The intention of capping would be purely to protect against a plasterers trowel .
Similarly with conduit too but might also offer a small degree of protection for surface run items if plastic and rather more protection if metal.
As mentioned, conduit might help replacement.
The most important measure of mechanical protection is to use "safe zones"

 

[EFLImpudence]

ok thanks, that's helpful. yes actually my initial thought was just to put the bare cable in, fix to wall and fill the chase with plaster given that it's just a datacable.

Exactly the same for electric (mains) cable.

 

[nero44]

any recommendation of cat6 cable to use in this case? if I go ahead and not use any conduit, is it advisable to use outdoor cat6 for I guess extra protection? or is standard cat 6 like this one fine? If it's plastered over, it is not really exposed to any elements (unless it's a damp wall..) so I am not sure if there is any benefit of using a stronger cable. The routing from the loft onwards will be in flexible pvc conduit.

 

[sparkwright]

If you use conduit, as long as it's about 4mm or more below the surface of the finished plaster, that's probably deep enough.

 

[Sureitsoff?]

If you put in oval conduit you can get more than one cable in, I would put in at least two. With a double box like the one you fitted you could get up to six sockets in standard double faceplate
The cable you linked to is fine, you don't need to use outdoor grade cable. If you directly bury the cable in plaster check it works before you cover it up!!

 

[Taylortwocities]

any recommendation of cat6 cable to use in this case

Why on earth do you think you need Cat 6? For domestic use CAT5e will be more than enough. Unless you have a server farm in your basement and are embarking on BitCoin mining

 

[ebee]

In the past I`ve used Cat6 instead of 5e due to little price diff but that's a while ago now

 

[Sureitsoff?]

Cat 6 is actually cheaper from tlc than cat5e...

 

[SUNRAY]

as the chimney is blocked off, why chase the walls?

 

[nero44]

as the chimney is blocked off, why chase the walls?

mhm, as opposed to having unsightly conduit running up on the wall? Where the socket is, I only have mains, no datacable, but there is an existing data cable just above in the loft.

 

[SUNRAY]

mhm, as opposed to having unsightly conduit running up on the wall? Where the socket is, I only have mains, no datacable, but there is an existing data cable just above in the loft.

drill holes into the disused chimney and use the 9inch void as the conduit.

 

[securespark]

I assume the ethernet cable is not terminated, as you wouldn't get it through oval.

I always run ELV cables in safe zones but AFAIK, there is no requirement to do so.