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I am going to run 2 dedicated ac lines and was wondering if anything is to be gained RFI/EMI wise, by using copper pipe as opposed to steel conduit to run ac lines through? I'm going to ground the copper pipe seperately to earth and probably use 10 gauge romex from a square D breaker panel and utilize (2) 20 amp breakers. Anyone have any further suggestions? - Thanks in advance.
Follow Ups:
I WAS indeed going to use the copper pipe as a raceway, but since steel does not have the permeability issues of copper I'll go that route instead. I appreciate your help. I have to go past the furnace with the wiring and was concerned about the electrical garbage given off by heating elements in the furnace, air handler blower motor, humidifier, etc. Most of the house wiring is in that area as well. I was trying to find an inexpensive way of trying to isolate the "important" lines from the necessary ones. "Important" meaning the dedicated lines for my escape place, away from my wife and 2 girls, when the PMS demon's come for a visit.
Have an electrical contractor do an EMT job w/ individual conductors.
Respectfully, you are way over your head knowledge-wise to DIY.If you have the bucks, believe it or not, you can do a stainless steel raceway system with fittings. But you could never put together an all copper system.
speaking theoretically, steel pipe will be a far better broadband shield than copper.For electrostatic noise (this is high frequency noise such as RFI), copper or steel with both make excellent shields. You want the lowest resistance path to ground to be the most effective.
However, for low frequency electromagnetic noise, the copper pipe will be one step above useless. Magnetic fields can only be shielded using materials that have high magnetic permeability. Steel has quite decent permeability while copper has extremely low permeability. So, magnetic fields will go right through the copper, but the steel will do an excellent job of rerouting and containing the fields.
So, you are far better off using a steel pipe than a copper pipe if you want broadband shielding.
If you're going to run a metallic raceway (pipe) why would you bother with Romex? Run THHN or TFFN - it's easier to pull through the pipe.As for differences between copper pipe and EMT - I was unaware of any copper pipe option rated for use as an electrical raceway. It's all for plumbing as far as I know. I'd recommend sticking with UL approved stuff in this case. The EMT may actually have some permeable material in it. as well, which might make it better at shielding the wire within.
Chris
"In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." - Yogi Berra
YOu got the answer elsewhere on AA that this has safety implications and code implications. If you do your research on Tweaks Asylum you may also find posts that contradict your idea on separate grounding as well.I'm not an electrician nor an engineer, so I'm not qualified to tell you what to do instead. Just a note to warn you that they guys here telling you that you're barking up the wrong tree aren't doing it to rattle your cage, but to save you danger and grief IMHO.
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