Cat5/6 with SWA underground

[Barney12]

4 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

 

 

Now does it make sense? 

 

Yes  .......but..........

 

as @JSHarris has posted it will still go wrong! Mind you most of the gate motors appear to made it Italy which as someone who has owned a few Alfa's and Fiats should have realised is a clue to their general reliability  

Edited February 20, 2017 by Barney12
Typo

[Nickfromwales]

Does that mean @PeterW's better off joining the RAC for maintenance on his gates? 

 

[Jeremy Harris]

My friend up in Yorkshire binned the Italian actuators, that sat in a chamber under and adjacent to the gate posts, and made new ones up with beefy geared motors and a massive chain drive to the new actuating arm.  It helps that he runs a steel fabrication company, making mezzanine floors (http://www.factory-fit.com/) so has access to just about any machine tool etc he needed.  Somewhere I have a photo of the new actuators he made up; they were a work of art compared with the originals.

[Onoff]

My Italian sliding gate motor has yet to cause any issues. Had it about six years now. The gates all in and slides lovely.

 

Of course when I actually get around to fitting the motor I may have issues. Tbh it's a pita to keep getting out and opening the gate manually but the wife and kids are used to it now.

 

I did at least get the rack on after this, set the motor and pinion to height / proper engagement.....trimmed the st/st studs.....must have gotten sidetracked!

 

 

[Trw144]

Hijacking this thread slightly - can my mains power supply to the gate (swa), intercom wiring (cat 6), and switching cable (probably cat 6 again just to run a volt free contact on the gate panel) all go in the same duct?

Edited February 20, 2017 by Trw144

[Onoff]

17 minutes ago, Trw144 said:

Hijacking this thread slightly - can my mains power supply to the gate (swa), intercom wiring (cat 6), and switching cable (probably cat 6 again just to run a volt free contact on the gate panel) all go in the same duct?

 

No, not really for reasons above but it often is.

[Jeremy Harris]

9 minutes ago, Trw144 said:

Hijacking this thread slightly - can my mains power supply to the gate (swa), intercom wiring (cat 6), and switching cable (probably cat 6 again just to run a volt free contact on the gate panel) all go in the same duct?

 

Not really, is the simple answer, as there is a risk of induced current in the signal cables.  I'd stick to the 300mm separation rule, although the SWA can be directly buried rather than go in a duct, if that makes getting the spacing a bit easier to do.  The spacing can be vertical, rather than horizontal, with the power cable deeper by 300mm than the signal cable, but if doing that then make sure that the warning tape is clearly visible above the power cable.  I also use contrasting sand (the local sand here is almost bright orange) over the cable and under the warning tape, so anyone that digs down gets a double warning that there's a power cable there.   My personal preference is to use ducts for everything, really just because it allows for changes fairly easily, but a buried SWA power cable is going to last for many decades, so sticking it a duct is probably a bit OTT.

[Trw144]

Thanks all. Will use duct for control cables and bury the swa. It's only a soft dig about 15m so not too bad