running cables on a concrete floor

[dandawson]

hey i wonder if anyone can help me out with a few regs. i need to supply power for 8 treadmills in a gym. they are situated in the middle of the room with a pillar at either end of the 8 and there is a suspended ceiling above and a solid concrete floor below. i want to run my cables on a tray above the ceiling, down the pillars in some sort of trunking and i was wondering if there is any type of surface trunking i can use along the floor in front of the machines or whether the floor needs to be chased and cables buried because of a tripping hazard from trunking. many thanks

 

[electronicsuk]

I think you already know the answer - burying the cables is by far the best solution. Obviously you could use rubber cable protectors/ramps/profile or whatever you prefer to call it, but this isn't really what I'd consider a permanent solution.

If you really can't bring yourself to chase the floor then it would probably be better to drop down from the ceiling above the treadmills, although I imagine it would look rather gash.

 

[Steve]

Not sure how much electricity a treadmill requires, but if they are low consumption (<500w), run a couple of 4-way leads down from the ceiling next to them.

 

[Taylortwocities]

I never did see a gym with cables coming down from the ceiling.

Looks OK in a machine shop but I'd like an uninterrupted view of the TV when I'm at the spinning class.

 

[Steve]

I meant drop it down the side of the machine, perhaps zipped to the frame of the treadmill, hence not interrupting the TV view.

 

[RF Lighting]

power pole?

 

[Steve]

power pole?

Sexy.

But can you / would you mount accessories on their side so as to fit double outlets?

 

[RF Lighting]

Use single sockets

 

[Steve]

Use single sockets

I dont want to. Is there anything stopping someone mounting sideways?

 

[RF Lighting]

Other than it looking gash, no I don't suppose there is

 

[electronicsuk]

power pole?

Doesn't solve the problem of chasing the floor, though!

 

[stillp]

Do you know what the protective conductor current of the treadmills is? They might need high integrity earthing, in which case a 13A socket is not much use.

 

[electronicsuk]

Do you know what the protective conductor current of the treadmills is? They might need high integrity earthing, in which case a 13A socket is not much use.

If they're supplied with a 13A plug fitted then there's no problem feeding them from a 13A socket. I very much doubt the CPC current in a single treadmill is going to be any cause for concern, and that's assuming they aren't double insulated. If it's a worry when the protective conductor currents of the multiple loads are combined, a high integrity ring final or radial can be used to feed the outlets.

 

[stillp]

I came across some last year that had protective conductor currents >10mA in spite of being supplied with a fitted 13A plug.
They contained variable frequency inverters with EMC filters.

 

[Spark123]

Do you know what the protective conductor current of the treadmills is? They might need high integrity earthing, in which case a 13A socket is not much use.

As a new member to the forum there is a rule that if you mention HIE you have to be able to tell us how to install it