# Structured cabling for powering lamps on a suspended ceiling.



## Konrad.J.Bielecki (7 mo ago)

Hello everyone.
I hope that he will not commit any crime asking for something obvious to an electrician in the USA, but from my European perspective, not all matters related to electrics in the USA are so obvious. I am doing a new project and I am wondering whether it is acceptable to use structured cabling, eg WIELAND GESIS or WAGO WINSTA to connect lighting points in suspended ceilings? The connectors themselves have UL approvals. However, I know from my previous experience that the cabling must always be secured with a conduit or a pipe. Has anyone encountered this type of system?


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## SWDweller (Dec 9, 2020)

I got into several Lightning Distribution Systems for lighting back in the 80's. I hated them.
Every piece was 3/8" flex with a connector that would plug into the back of the light fixtures. How ever when you had special needs like inside and out side lamp switching, night lights, or emergency fixtures you needed the right cable. All cables would fit anywhere on the project. Get one cable wrong and you would hunt for hours to make the correction. Some of the guys I had helping me on the projects did not read the tags as well as others they paid more attention to the lengths of the cable.

From reading on both pages I would wonder about the "cord" that both sites talk about. 
Especially if this was a plenum ceiling.

The system fell out of favor when they changed the tax code and I have not see these for decades.


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## kb1jb1 (Nov 11, 2017)

Structured cabling for lights what is it? Is it like PoE ?


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

kb1jb1 said:


> Structured cabling for lights what is it? Is it like PoE ?


Ive heard you say that before. What does POE stand for? It means low voltage, right?


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## kb1jb1 (Nov 11, 2017)

PoE is power over ethernet. More and more things like lighting and cameras receive their power over the Cat 6 cable. Cameras are the big thing where both signal and power are over the same cable. They also have LED lights that get power from the data switch and can be programmed to do different things.


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## Konrad.J.Bielecki (7 mo ago)

This is definitely a different solution from PoE, one common feature is that, like PoE, it consists of a large number of plugs and sockets. I'm sending a drawing of what it looks like.
This solution works with a voltage of 250V AC and a current up to 16 A. Wire cross-section 1.5 mm2 = ~ AWG 16
I am most interested in the information whether such cables can be used in a suspended ceiling with a 2'x2 'raster without using an additional metal conduit,

*SWDweller *- Thank you for your response. In this project I would have it so much easier because they are lamps independent from emergency and traditional lighting. They form a separate circuit for UV-C lamp only.
These systems are used more often in Europe, they have color coding and coding on the connectors, so it is easier to make some modifications.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

The term "structured cabling" is used differently in the US, they use as a kind of non-technical catch-all term for voice, data, security, sound, and video, usually in a residential setting. 

I think the OP is asking about what it would take to get a European system approved for use in the US, the connectors have UL approval, but that's not enough. Laws vary from state to state and city to city but almost everywhere some version of the National Electrical Code will apply. Electrical installations must also comply with some version of the Internation Building Code and there are also some parts of the local fire codes that affect electrical installations. 

At a minimum, electrical equipment must be listed by UL or some other NRTL (nationally recognized testing laboratory) that the local authorities accept. So just having listed connectors doesn't get you to compliance, long way to go yet. 

The OP is apparently a product engineer from Poland and I suspect might be pretty green, I think most product engineers know that getting their product compliant in foreign markets is way more than you can address in a thread on a forum.


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## Konrad.J.Bielecki (7 mo ago)

splatz said:


> The term "structured cabling" is used differently in the US, they use as a kind of non-technical catch-all term for voice, data, security, sound, and video, usually in a residential setting.
> 
> I think the OP is asking about what it would take to get a European system approved for use in the US, the connectors have UL approval, but that's not enough. Laws vary from state to state and city to city but almost everywhere some version of the National Electrical Code will apply. Electrical installations must also comply with some version of the Internation Building Code and there are also some parts of the local fire codes that affect electrical installations.
> 
> ...


Of course, I know that it is not that simple, I am looking for information whether such installations and solutions are already in use and what they look like. I am in contact with UL and SGS about other projects, and I know from experience that a response from these units usually takes a very long time.
I also know that the UL mark itself on one component does not change anything and it is necessary to verify the whole for compliance with the regulations.
I assumed that if the manufacturer certifies some components, there is a chance that they are already used in your country.


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## Techy (Mar 4, 2011)

there are similar 'Manufactured Wiring Systems' currently in use, Lithonia/Acuity Reloc or Cooper MWS being the ones I see the most


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## Konrad.J.Bielecki (7 mo ago)

Techy said:


> there are similar 'Manufactured Wiring Systems' currently in use, Lithonia/Acuity Reloc or Cooper MWS being the ones I see the most


Thanks a lot to this information I was looking for


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