Plastic cable channel: types and sizes, materials and application of PVC boxes, installation rules

When conducting open electrical wiring in an apartment, garage or in the country, one of the ways to hide the wires is to use special wall or floor boxes. This design is represented by a plastic cable channel, the purpose of which is to conveniently place electrical networks.

Definition and device

PVC cable duct - a box for electrical wires, which is a rectangular or square product. Most often you can find cables in the shape of the letter "P", but there are round, rectangular and triangular.

The channel is formed by two elements: body and lid with a lock. The cover, tightly installed in the grooves of the profile, protects the wires embedded in it from dirt and mechanical damage. The internal space of the profile is divided by partitions, which allow each wire to have its place.

Some manufacturers produce designs where partitions are included separately, and the buyer can install them independently at his will. Sometimes, along with the mounting box, various docking devices are sold: plugs, connectors, corners, housings for sockets. The boxes are made of different materials: wood, aluminum, plastic, but the most popular is a plastic PVC cable box,

which has several advantages:

• does not burn;
• is an insulator;
• flexible and durable;
• has a low installation cost;
• chemically resistant.

When purchasing boxes, you need to pay attention to the locks - the further use of the product depends on their quality. Today, the best is a double lock, which provides good fixation and allows you to open and close the lid many times.

Types and purpose of cable channels

All cable ducts are divided into two main groups: rigid and flexible. The former are made of dense plastic and metal, and it is better to install them on flat surfaces. The second - in other cases. Today the following types of flexible channels are offered:

• in the form of chains 230 mm long;
• tubular;
• rubber;
• cast.

Floor-standing cable ducts run along the floor to a desk or TV. Due to the fact that the box is flat on one side and rounded on the other, the product is imperceptible and does not interfere with movement. They are made of metal and PVC with an impact-resistant coating. Trays of the floor type can replace carriers and extension cords. Their use is justified in cases where you need to bring wiring to a lighting fixture or a table far from the wall.

Parapet, or trunk, types differ from the floor-standing method of installation (just above the floor level), you can see them in offices and enterprises, less often in houses and apartments. The size of the parapet box is 18x33 mm, the minimum is 7x12 mm.

A modular box with a large cross-section is used to accommodate outlets and therefore most often leads to the workplace. To bring the cable to the corner, angular cable channels are used, which can be straight and rounded. The smallest section is 10 mm, and the maximum is more than 300 mm. Installation is carried out at the junction of the wall and ceiling, floor and wall, so the structures look like a plinth. If the cutting is done correctly, then the boxes look like decorative.

Unlike skirting boards, these products have a drawback: small profile cavities and thin walls, so the likelihood of damage is high. A kind of corner cable channels for electrical wiring are LED trays made of transparent plastic. They are installed on the inside of furniture or at the bottom of a kitchen cabinet door. Flexible, or roll, channel profiles, thanks to the adhesive composition, are firmly attached to the desired surface.

When designing an interior, designers in some cases use decorative cable channels, combining them with the installation of suspended and stretch ceilings. There are several options for decorating boxes:

• "Like wood" for decorating houses in a rural style (Provence, country);
• "Metal" in the style of minimalism, techno and hi-tech;
• boxes in color are suitable for kitsch, avant-garde, pop art.

Installation features

Before proceeding with the installation of cable channels, you should decide whether additional devices (corners, plugs, etc.) will be used. ). If they are planned, then the manufacturer's recommendations must be strictly followed.

The next step is to determine the size of the boxes based on the number of wires to be installed and guided by the rule: the trunk channel should be the thickest, the rest should be thinner. In the presence of uneven walls, cracks may appear in some places or the profile will bend. The step-by-step instructions are as follows:

1. Work starts from the corner of the room.
2. To obtain an even cut when installing a plastic cable, you need to use scissors and a hacksaw for metal, which cut aluminum and thick plastic well.
3. When entering the corner, the joints of the base and the lid do not coincide according to the rules, the lid must be longer than the tray.
4. The boxes are fastened with self-tapping screws on double-sided tape, on liquid nails, screws with dowels, if the wall is made of concrete. The cable profile is mounted on a wooden surface using nails or self-tapping screws, on plastered walls - only with self-tapping screws. Now they began to produce profiles with ready-made holes. This not only saves time, but also allows you to level the surface of the product.
5. If the walls are even, then fastening is done every 50 cm.
6. You need to use a level, tape measure, plumb line for accuracy and accuracy.

After laying in the mounted profiles of the conductors, jumpers are made at a certain distance so that the channel walls do not sag. After the end of the work, it is necessary to close the gaps that have appeared with a sealant.