Tubing for wire

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

I am about to run a tubing system in my truck to house all the wiring. This is not only to protect the system, but I hope it will help with electrical interference.

So question:

Will a solid rubber tubing system help protect against electrical interference better than, say a rubberized steel piping system?

Seems like the rubber one would, but I was thinking about signal cable from source units are usually twisted pairs wrapped in a metallic layer and then wrapped in thick rubber.

Thanks for anybodies insights!!

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[lionfamlee Premium Member]

Ok, I think I understand what you are asking. If you are talking about running wiring under your car..then I used Liquidtite Conduit to run power wires under installation (including mine). It's somewhat flexible. I put a few drops of WD-40 on the end and the wire runs right through it.

As far as interference, I run my RCA's in the cabin itself. if you have a decent set of RCA's and run them at least 18 inches away from power cable you should not experience any interference.

3/4 in. X 100 ft. Non-Metallic Liquidtite-55094323 at The Home Depot

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

Ok, I think I understand what you are asking. If you are talking about running wiring under your car..then I used Liquidtite Conduit to run power wires under installation (including mine). It's somewhat flexible. I put a few drops of WD-40 on the end and the wire runs right through it.
As far as interference, I run my RCA's in the cabin itself. if you have a decent set of RCA's and run them at least 18 inches away from power cable you should not experience any interference.

3/4 in. X 100 ft. Non-Metallic Liquidtite-55094323 at The Home Depot

This is the exact tubing I was going to use in my install! I kept searching through the options from home depot I found this option as well:

1 in. x 100 ft. Liquidtight Flexible Steel Conduit-6204-30-00 at The Home Depot

I was wondering if the added steel reinforcement could add to the noise cancelling effects. I am going to run all my wire through conduits, so I was hoping this would help. If somebody knows for sure it won't, I will be happy to save the extra money!!

Oh, is the 3/4" wide enough for 1/0 gauge wire to fit through it?

 

[All_Logix 10+ year member]

I want to say that signal cables are wrapped in metalic layers because electromagnetic waves cannot propogate well in conductive material. This would prevent the actual signal cable from picking up any distrotion due to EM waves in the air.

 

[Flex68 10+ year member]

Unless you're running the wiring under the truck, I think it would be overkill.

Run the power wiring down one side and the signal/RCA down the other, crossing them at 90 degree angles if they must cross.

Split-loom should offer enough protection, and be cheaper than conduit. (You can even pre-wrap the wiring in CCF before looming it if you think there might be vibration issues)

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

I want to say that signal cables are wrapped in metalic layers because electromagnetic waves cannot propogate well in conductive material. This would prevent the actual signal cable from picking up any distrotion due to EM waves in the air.

I was wondering the same thing. I was thinking the introduction of EM noise could be prevented with an additional layer of metal. I wonder if it only works with a specific type of metal, or thickness, or maybe some other variable I am not thinking of. Keep subscribed, maybe we can get a clear answer and it help both of us!

Unless you're running the wiring under the truck, I think it would be overkill.
Run the power wiring down one side and the signal/RCA down the other, crossing them at 90 degree angles if they must cross.

Split-loom should offer enough protection, and be cheaper than conduit. (You can even pre-wrap the wiring in CCF before looming it if you think there might be vibration issues)

This is the reason I avoided competing in SQ for so long, it's so involved! Judging the SPL side of the contest is pretty easy, but the SQ side has a scoresheet that's 3 pages long! I was like WOW the first tie I saw it! But it's the extra things like electrical conduit, line conditioners, neon, air conditioned amp racks, ease of access that all adds up in points. The more points the better, so you really have to go out there REALLY far to compete with the big guns. I hope after a year or two of tweaking, I may be able to bring home some more World Championship trophies!! And don't hesitate to inquire about anything Bro, I really want everyone to learn form my builds!

 

[Flex68 10+ year member]

This is the reason I avoided competing in SQ for so long, it's so involved! Judging the SPL side of the contest is pretty easy, but the SQ side has a scoresheet that's 3 pages long! I was like WOW the first tie I saw it! But it's the extra things like electrical conduit, line conditioners, neon, air conditioned amp racks, ease of access that all adds up in points. The more points the better, so you really have to go out there REALLY far to compete with the big guns. I hope after a year or two of tweaking, I may be able to bring home some more World Championship trophies!! And don't hesitate to inquire about anything Bro, I really want everyone to learn form my builds!

Ah, gotcha. Was thinking about a daily driver.

In that case, I'd go with the Liquid Tight style. I have run a ton of it, and the stainless, without covering, looks sharper than the standard one with the flexi PVC coating in gray or black....also might consider the SS braided cable that is used in hydraulic systems, if looks are more important than having an exterior coating of some sort.

 

[All_Logix 10+ year member]

I was wondering the same thing. I was thinking the introduction of EM noise could be prevented with an additional layer of metal. I wonder if it only works with a specific type of metal, or thickness, or maybe some other variable I am not thinking of. Keep subscribed, maybe we can get a clear answer and it help both of us!

It has to do with the conductivity and permativity of the material if I am not mistaken, I cannot remember off the top of my head, I pretty much turned my head sideways and let all of my EM theory class fall out after I finished the final. And it also has to do with what frequency the EM wave is traveling at, higher frequencies have smaller skin depth and will pass only through the very surface of a conductive material and loose energy extremely fast... If you want I can look up the equation and familiarize myself with it and get back to you on the physics of it

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

It has to do with the conductivity and permativity of the material if I am not mistaken, I cannot remember off the top of my head, I pretty much turned my head sideways and let all of my EM theory class fall out after I finished the final. And it also has to do with what frequency the EM wave is traveling at, higher frequencies have smaller skin depth and will pass only through the very surface of a conductive material and loose energy extremely fast... If you want I can look up the equation and familiarize myself with it and get back to you on the physics of it

I really appreciate you taking the time in providing this very valuable information, that will not only be used by me, but hopefully be able to help others in their applications. If you have access to the information, I would love to learn about it. I was thinking that the thicker the diameter of metal in the wire casing would be better, but if I understand you right, it' not necessarily the thickness as much as the relation of the thickness to the frequency of the EM and the desired frequencies that are targeted for elimination. I am probably far off, but I look forward to all your help!!

 

[All_Logix 10+ year member]

Might be a little late for this but I have a useful equation for what we were talking about. Note this equation looks simple but really understanding what is going on take a much more knowledge on the subject that I can't really explain in text. Also this equation was taken from the internet because I can't find my EM book, but I remember it looking like this so....

Skin Depth = sqrt((2*resistivity of material)/(2*pi*EM wave frequency*permeability constant*permeability of material)); where the permeability constant equals (4*pi)x10^-7 H/m. Have fun haha

 

[Joseph7195 10+ year member]

Might be a little late for this but I have a useful equation for what we were talking about. Note this equation looks simple but really understanding what is going on take a much more knowledge on the subject that I can't really explain in text. Also this equation was taken from the internet because I can't find my EM book, but I remember it looking like this so....
Skin Depth = sqrt((2*resistivity of material)/(2*pi*EM wave frequency*permeability constant*permeability of material)); where the permeability constant equals (4*pi)x10^-7 H/m. Have fun haha

It's never too late for helping everyone! I know when the equation is put into a familiar context, it will be much easier to understand and have the highest probability to help everyone. If you run across even more relevant information, don't hesitate to post, we all appreciate it!

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

Rubber is not an effective shielding material. If you want an actual shield use something metallic (i.e. conductive) and ground it at both ends.