"Safety" of speaker and power wire in same area

[doitmyself]

I thought that the riser referred to going from one floor to the next. So, in this case, wouldn't going from the basement to the first floor constitute a riser?

I studied this stuff some years ago, but I lost my notes. It's terribly confusing.

While your wire will work, IF there was a fire and IF your methods were not up to code, would there be insurance problems?

 

[JHZR2]

True but it is balloon frame, running alongside floor joist/boards, so if there is a fire, it would already be lapping that.

Good point though...

 

[Ursae_Majoris]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
OK, so I'd go with the 12 ga wire through the house, twisted, then splice to in-wall rated (I assume it could be smaller gage for a short section of the run) then back to this 12ga stuff for the sunlight resistance.

Does that make sense?

How are you doing the splices? For the best sound you will need a continuous connection, otherwise it needs to be soldered. Why do you need sunlight protection? Is it going to a speaker outside?

I've run speaker wires in the attics years go (dropping down to ceiling speaker clusters) and the wires work just fine.

You might be making it more difficult than it needs to be.

 

[Stu_Rock]

I agree that the biggest hazard is fire propagating from the basement to the 1st floor. I think some of the fiberglass sleeving going at least a foot horizontally and a foot into the first floor would probably be an effective firestop.

Also maybe put some at the cable exit in the 1st floor if you have some extra sleeving and want to be extra careful. It sounds like you're in pretty good shape (no splices necessary).

If the cable exit is outdoors, remember to have a loop or bend so there's an outdoor low spot that keeps water dribbles from entering the house. I would not use the sleeving at an outdoor cable exit for fear of water wicking. Caulk to seal the hole would satisfy me.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Ursae_Majoris
I've run speaker wires in the attics years go (dropping down to ceiling speaker clusters) and the wires work just fine.

You might be making it more difficult than it needs to be.


The area where the wire goes up the wall is kind of a "buttler's pantry" off the main house. It has a half-height/depth basement section that is part of the overall deeper basement, and has a non-accessible space over the ceiling. Cant run over top... I wish though. Going up through the wall os the way to go... unfortunately

 

[Ursae_Majoris]

Ahhhh, it makes sense. I would run regular speaker wire all the way thru. Less connections--less problems with sound quality and potential weak points. Put wires in the plastic wire loom outside, caulk the hole on the wall. If you are obsessively compulsive, like me, throw some electrical tape over the wires where they exit the loom on both ends, so wires are not exposed to the elements/UV. Liquid electrical tape over any exposed connections will make them waterproof.

Good speaker wire will have isolation over both wires as well as over the whole wire; do not use cheapo see-thru speaker cables. Make sure that wires are stranded, not solid. I can not tell you how many speaker and mic problems I had were traced back to solid wire cables.