How to conduct electrical wiring under a stretch ceiling?

Installing electrical wiring under a stretch ceiling is not difficult, the main thing is to take into account the requirements and standards regarding fire safety and ease of maintenance of the mains. Next, we will consider in detail how to properly do the wiring with your own hands, providing you with step-by-step instructions, clear photo examples and some useful tips from experts.

Electrical Installation Requirements

The first thing I would like to talk about is how to make electrical wiring under a stretch ceiling safe. As you know, a conductor heats up when current flows through it. This process describes Joule-Lenz law.

Photo stretch ceiling in the apartmentIf the electricians are to be installed on a combustible surface, for example, wood, you must consider the following points:

  • According to table 2.1.3 PUE (see. Chapter 2.1 of the EMP) the wiring must be laid with protected wires in a sheath of non-combustible or non-combustible materials, the common VVGng-LS is suitable for this definition. In this case, it is allowed to fasten the wires to a combustible surface directly or in a PVC corrugation.
  • In the case of cables with combustible insulation wiring in metal pipes.
  • When laying in pipes, they can be joined by welding or threaded connections. In the latter case, seal the joints with gaskets made of non-combustible materials.

If you decide to lay electrical wiring on the concrete ceiling, then also lay the cable VVGNG-LS. In this case, it is possible to lay it directly by fixing the cable to the ceiling on dowel clamps or other fasteners or in corrugated pipes.

Another requirement that worries many home craftsmen and electricians is how to deal with junction boxes. Indeed, according to the PUE 2.1.23. Access to the connections and branch wires must be provided. In the case of suspended ceilings, the distribution box mounted on the ceiling will be unavailable for maintenance. In this case, you can be guided by SP 76.13330.2012, which says that you can make wire connections inaccessible if the cores are connected by welding or sleeves.

Features of the electrical wiring

So, now we’ll talk about how to make electrical wiring under a stretch ceiling with your own hands. The step-by-step instructions will show the installation of concrete floors, which is found both in apartments and in private houses.

Stages of electrical work:

  1. Draw the wiring diagram for the ceiling wiring from the distribution panel. Please note that the wire must run strictly parallel and perpendicular to the junction of the wall and ceiling. Junction boxes must be placed so that they can always be opened for repair and maintenance. Do not be negligent in drawing up a wiring diagram, becausewithout it, you can get confusion and the wiring is not only inconvenient, but also unsafe. You can see a comparison of the good and bad wiring options in the photo below.Incorrect wiringPhoto correct cable routing
  2. Transfer the drawing to the surface using a building level (usually laser) or a plumb line.
  3. Using a punch, make holes for the dowel clamps or clips (depending on what you will use for electrical wiring fasteners) The distance between the fasteners should be such that the wire does not sag after installation. As a rule, they take a distance of 50 to 90 cm.
  4. Install junction boxes and clips according to the diagram and fix the wiring under the suspended ceiling. They do this in such a sequence - at first the cable is pulled into the corrugation, for this there is a probe in it (otherwise it is called "pulling" - this is a thin wire). After that, the corrugated pipe is fastened in clips and connected to junction boxes. The wire release from each end of the corrugation must be at least 15 cm for connecting the cores, as shown in the photo.Junction box wires
  5. Connect the wires according to the diagram and conduct a visual inspection of the installation. Then you can ring wiring and check for short circuits between phase and zero. You can do this with a multimeter, an ohmmeter or a regular dial.
    Finished wiring

That's the whole technology of electrical work. As you can see, it is not difficult to conduct electrical wiring under the suspended ceiling with your own hands, the main thing is to be careful and take into account the recommendations provided. We advise you to immediately watch the video example, which shows a finished view of the wiring of the wire along the ceiling.

Video review of the completed power grid

Alternative overlap options

Let's look at the features of laying wiring under a stretch ceiling in a wooden house:

  • Route the cables with the –ng-LS prefix in corrugated PVC pipes (gray).
  • When laying cables with a different type of sheath (from combustible materials), lay them in or without metal pipes. But in this case, you need a substrate of fireproof material, which will protrude a distance of 10 mm in each direction (PUE 2.1.37). The cable itself should be laid at a distance of 10 mm from the combustible surface or in a metal pipe.
  • Running a cable under a stretch ceiling without corrugation is generally not recommended for reasons that there is always a danger of flooding by neighbors from above. In order to once again protect the wiring from moisture, we recommend placing it in the corrugation anyway, especially in the bathroom.
  • When installing, note that metal hose does not replace a metal pipe - it does not have localization ability, installation as in the photo below is possible only with the use of cables with a sheath of non-combustible or non-combustible materials.

Wood flooring cabling

Also read the requirements for laying the wiring on the draft ceiling in the article on wiring under drywall - https://my.electricianexp.com/en/kak-provesti-elektroprovodku-pod-gipsokartonom.html. In it, all issues are examined more deeply, and the requirements are similar.

That's all I wanted to tell you about how to conduct wiring yourself under a stretch ceiling. We hope that now you know how electrical work should go and what to do to make your home electrical network safe!

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4 comments

  • Valery

    I wonder how to make access to junction boxes under a stretch ceiling?

    To answer
    • Sergei

      Valery, according to the new standards (SP 76.13330.2012), connections made by welding or crimping are allowed to be made maintenance-free for control, measurement and maintenance.

      To answer
  • Danil

    Hello, can an electronics technician work on wiring electricity in homes?

    To answer
  • George

    The author of the article needs to get acquainted with the Joule-Lenz law, which makes it clear that the amount of heat generated by the conductor (both in normal mode and in emergency mode, short circuit, for example) depends on the current, and not on the voltage level. 12-volt lighting networks are not a panacea for fire, but safety for people when touching live parts. Oddly enough, 220/12 volt transformers, oddly enough, proportionally (with the same transformation ratio) increase the current value on the low side. So, when short-circuit on a cartridge, for example, short-circuit current it will be limited only by the power of the step-down transformer (power supply), and it will “warm”, melt, the cartridge and cable insulation until the machine breaks down on the 220V side or until the power supply itself fails. By the way, the power supply, if it does not have any current protection on the 12V side, is also a source of fire in the apartment.

    To answer

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