Question about conduit and residential walls
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Rather than buying the conduit, the tools, the fittings that you would need to install conduit just buy A spool of cat 60 and run more than you need that would be cheaper and much less work since it’s just drilling a hole andpushing it through
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I would keep it simple and get 1/2" metallic EMT conduit. Unless you're running multiple lengths of cat 8.2 ethernet cable through--and you might want to do that, IDK--you shouldn't need larger.
You'll need a bender, a hacksaw and/or cordless band saw (something like this), something to deburr the inside and outside of the conduit after you cut it, and you'll need a hole saw large enough to run the conduit through (for putting holes in studs). You can use stud shoes if you end up needing to reinforce the studs because the hole is large. If you're running through joists, check building code in your area on where they're supposed to go. The strongest location is at the top of a joist, at the bottom of the joist will weaken the joist, and your local building code may require middle.
If I were you, I would suggest not putting more than 360 degrees of bend in any run without also putting in a junction box that you can access once the drywall is installed (this is probably also a building code issue). The more bends you have in a run, the more difficult it is to get your fish tape through the conduit. Unless you don't have any other options, I would not use the elbow fittings except where they will be exposed; you won't be able to push a fish tape through/past them. The tighter the bend in the conduit is, the harder it's going to be to fish wires/cables through.
Oh, and you probably shouldn't use the same conduit for electrical runs.
Hope that helps.
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Thanks for the heads up. I intend to terminate the Cat6A myself after successfully wiring the rest of the main house. (I overbought a giant spool and have been looking for ways to use it). I have a cable snake that I've used in the past - but it's quite annoying to deal with - sometimes the snake comes loose, it's a fiberglass/plastic rolled snake so it is hard to get going in a straight line, etc.
That's where I'm hoping the conduit will make things easier - it's a straight line where there shouldn't be much room for torquing or bending the cable snake.
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Or, run some smaller gauge wire with the cat5 so that you can use it later to pull more through easily.
(The wire you pull through later should also have some small gauge wire attached, for the next time) -
(I'm assuming you're in USA)
The other commenters have correctly described how you could run metallic conduit (EMT) or PVC, and that would be perfectly acceptable for "low voltage" wires like twisted pair Ethernet. But it's also kinda overbuilding it, because EMT or PVC are also suitable for "line voltage" AC electricity. Other conduit types are available, depending on your jurisdiction, since EMT is meant to provide physical protection and PVC is meant for be water-resistant. And both provide physical support for the wires within. None of these qualities are really eequired for Cat 5/6 cabling.
Here in California, it is permissible to use ENT -- with an N -- also known as Smurf tube for its blue color, for line-voltage applications where no environmental protection (physical, UV, vibrations) is required. Smurf tube is made from thin, corrugated plastic in standard sizes, so it's easy to pass through top-plates and anchor to studs. This makes it an excellent choice for organizing low-voltage wires, or for future proofing.
Indeed, if you really wanted to, you could terminate the Smurf tube into standard outlet boxes, so that there's zero exposure to the insulation batts within the wall, for when you later fish the cables through. For a still-acceptable arrangement, the Smurf tube could be anchored just above where you've cut out a hole for the future wall-plate, allowing retrieval of the cable through that hole.
I do think that conduit is true future proofing. Who knows is CAT6, 7, or 8 just gets replaced (finally) with fibre optic cables. Or perhaps you decide to become a ham radio operator and thus need to run specialized coax. Or maybe you really want a 50 ft HDMI cable from the upstairs living room down to the man-cave in this basement. Running wire today is temporary, but conduit is forever haha.
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For how much, I would do one per room as minimum, and one per wall as maximum.
I have not seen it mentioned, but get the fire rated stuff. No good to have the rare fire spread through cables.
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You might find smurf tube easier to run and it's perfectly cromulent to pull cables through.
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lol, smurf tube, never heard that but know exactly what you're talking about.
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When I do runs i do at least 3 lines in case one fails. In my garage I just setup an old router as a wireless bridge with open wrt.
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I'm not even sure what the real name is, that's all I've ever heard it called.
