[James W. Johnson]

#1 ,Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

Hi, I am thinking about running my surround speaker wire under my house, I live in Washington state so its usually pretty wet under the house. I guess id

prefer something with a nice, thick jacket over the wires. I just run 2 surround speakers.


What kind of wire should I use? I suppose I need some outlets for the wire as well. Links Please.


Thanks

 

[Easyaspie]

Low voltage outdoor lighting wire.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053

http://www.landscapelightingworld.co...p/9sf-16-p.htm

 

[James W. Johnson]

I'd prefer it if both the L/R surround wires were in a single cable so I only have to run a single wire under the house, is there anything like this around?

 

[mjg100]



Quote:
Originally Posted by James W. Johnson /forum/post/18197180


#1 ,Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

Hi, I am thinking about running my surround speaker wire under my house, I live in Washington state so its usually pretty wet under the house. I guess id

prefer something with a nice, thick jacket over the wires. I just run 2 surround speakers.


What kind of wire should I use? I suppose I need some outlets for the wire as well. Links Please.


Thanks

More important than what wire to use is to get rid of the moisture in the crawl space. Moisture leads to mold, termites and rot. None of which you ever want near your house. If your house has a good drainage system around the outside of the foundation, then it should not have a lot of moisture in the crawl space.

 

[afrogt]

monoprice.com sells in-wall CL2 rated 4 conductor wire, but I'm not quite sure that's what you need for a wet crawl space. I'll provide the link but defer to the experts for any more advice.


12ga
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2


14ga
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

 

[Easyaspie]



Quote:
Originally Posted by James W. Johnson /forum/post/18197916


I'd prefer it if both the L/R surround wires were in a single cable so I only have to run a single wire under the house, is there anything like this around?

They will have to be split at some point anyway.


The stuff I linked to is designed for direct burial, so a damp environment should be no problem. Its what I would use in your case.

 

[Johnsteph10]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Easyaspie /forum/post/18197419


Low voltage outdoor lighting wire.

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1...atalogId=10053

http://www.landscapelightingworld.co...p/9sf-16-p.htm

I agree.


Your crawlspace should never ever be wet...if it is, you are asking for some serious trouble down the road.


It is most likely secondary to either: 1. Landscaping (ie: your land slopes inward toward your house, etc.) and/or 2: Your house itself (gutters, downspouts, foundation issues, etc.).


If you plan on staying in your house, then it needs to be fixed.

 

[cdy2179]

If you don't fix it your new wire will outlast the house!

 

[buzzy_]



Quote:
Originally Posted by afrogt /forum/post/18197999


monoprice.com sells in-wall CL2 rated 4 conductor wire, but I'm not quite sure that's what you need for a wet crawl space. I'll provide the link but defer to the experts for any more advice.


12ga
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2


14ga
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

CL2 is about flammability. but OP if you want the convenience of one cable, than go for it.


though once it splits, you now have two wires to run to each surround (see the picture at afrogt's link. so the underground / low voltage wire may be just as easy - that will have the pairs of wires attached like on typical speaker wire. Twist it together and use a few ties to turn it into one cable for part of the run, if you want.


assuming you keep the wire off the ground (use something to run it along the joists) and don't have any cuts in the jacket or splices - you can use any wire you want.


this is all assuming that conforming to code is not an issue.

 

[dftkell]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnsteph10 /forum/post/18198307


I agree.


Your crawlspace should never ever be wet...if it is, you are asking for some serious trouble down the road.


It is most likely secondary to either: 1. Landscaping (ie: your land slopes inward toward your house, etc.) and/or 2: Your house itself (gutters, downspouts, foundation issues, etc.).


If you plan on staying in your house, then it needs to be fixed.

I just bought a house with a wet crawlspace. It creates numerous problems.I hired a company to install this:

http://www.basementsystems.com/crawl...leanspace.html


I think it's money well spent on prolonging the life of the house and reducing our energy bills.

 

[DonH50]

Fix the crawl space.


I would use standard "house" (e.g. Romex-like) wiring rated for buried use -- I forget the UL code (too many years and my electrician's license has long lapsed) but it's available in a grey sheath and you can run inside or without conduit. I believe it's NMWU or UF. Get stranded if possible (may be special order nowdays). If you get 12-3 with ground you'll get four conductors in a single sheath.


HTH - Don

 

[rpopiel]

electrician's license? Nice to know they require that in some states.... in PA you need a license to cut hair, but not to wire a house. Go fig.


As for the speaker wire, honestly, I think anything will work fine as long as the insulation isn't damaged. Careful if you're using staples not to damage the wire. Romex stranded is usually made of large strands and not the best for speaker wire IMO.

 

[kagolu]



Quote:
Originally Posted by afrogt /forum/post/18197999


monoprice.com sells in-wall CL2 rated 4 conductor wire, but I'm not quite sure that's what you need for a wet crawl space. I'll provide the link but defer to the experts for any more advice.


12ga
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2


14ga
http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

I used the 14ga stuff linked above for a 35ft long, up and over an vaulted ceiling run. The wire worked(s) fine. IMO it would be exactly what you are looking for. The wire was the only thing that went well that day.

 

[kagolu]



Quote:
Originally Posted by DonH50 /forum/post/18201349


Fix the crawl space.


I would use standard "house" (e.g. Romex-like) wiring rated for buried use -- I forget the UL code (too many years and my electrician's license has long lapsed) but it's available in a grey sheath and you can run inside or without conduit. I believe it's NMWU or UF. Get stranded if possible (may be special order nowdays). If you get 12-3 with ground you'll get four conductors in a single sheath.


HTH - Don

The romex I've seen lately also uses an uninsulated ground conductor.

 

[Mantis10]

You want to pick up direct burial cable from Liberty wire and cable or Beldon. it's cable designed to be buried in the ground outside like the lighting wire but designed for speaker use.
http://www.libertycable.com/prod_lin...-%20Non-Plenum

 

[James W. Johnson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Johnsteph10 /forum/post/18198307


I agree.


Your crawlspace should never ever be wet...if it is, you are asking for some serious trouble down the road.


It is most likely secondary to either: 1. Landscaping (ie: your land slopes inward toward your house, etc.) and/or 2: Your house itself (gutters, downspouts, foundation issues, etc.).


If you plan on staying in your house, then it needs to be fixed.

First off I bought this house just over a year ago, the underside of the house needs some work but its not real bad.

I live in an area here in WA state where the water table is very high, like 1.5 feet below the surface in the winter months when the water table is highest.... in fact the foundation is dug below the water table in part, I have a pump under the house but its not totally dry, but there is not a swamp under the house either.

Every single house in my neighborhood has some water under the house in the late fall to the spring.

Its sad but this is just how it is, my back yard has issues as well, I even had a french drain installed but the problem there is the water does not have any place to go, I am at a point where I may installed a pump at the end of the french drain and hook up a 100 foot hose and find some place for the water to go off my property.


Anyhow , I hate it .....I miss TX , where I grew up. Everything was dry there.

 

[DonH50]



Quote:
Originally Posted by kagolu /forum/post/18201561


The romex I've seen lately also uses an uninsulated ground conductor.

Oops, yes, good point. While technically OK as long as you are insanely careful, not a good idea in practice... Since you'll have to split anyway, using standard 12-2 (or 14-2) should work just fine. I pinged a friend who's going through some wiring issues and he was able to find 14-2 stranded or solid but not 12-2 stranded (and hardly any 12-2 of any type) at the local Home Depot. (To OP: Romex is a trade name, companies like Belden and others mentioned above have fine wire.)


Stranded is easier to flex and has arguably lower skin effect; whether that matters at audio is (of course) a matter of some debate.


I would definitely get something with a sheath and rated for outdoor use in a wet environment. One other caveat: some of the plastic sheaths are rated for underground but will not tolerate long exposure to sunlight (they get brittle and crack). Do a little background before buying, unles the cables go from one point under the house to anopther and never get exposed to direct sunlight.


HTH - Don

 

[Easyaspie]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Mantis10 /forum/post/18201897


You want to pick up direct burial cable from Liberty wire and cable or Beldon. it's cable designed to be buried in the ground outside like the lighting wire but designed for speaker use.
http://www.libertycable.com/prod_lin...-%20Non-Plenum

Yeah, maybe if he needs 1000ft roll.

The 14-4 direct burial would be all in one sheath like the OP wants however. I didn't see any prices, must have to put it in the cart first.


At any rate unless the OP is dead set on xx-4 wire, the direct burial, low votltage, outdoor lighting stuff will do great for $35 from Home Depot.

 

[DonH50]

Be sure to check the voltage rating of any LV cable you get. Some are rated for 25 V or less, although I believe the SuperFlex wire linked above is rated to 150 V. If you set a limit of say 100 W peak, then your wire must handle 28 V rms (80 Vpp) with reasonable safety margin (at least 50% and 2x is better).

 

[James W. Johnson]



Quote:
At any rate unless the OP is dead set on xx-4 wire, the direct burial, low votltage, outdoor lighting stuff will do great for $35 from Home Depot.

Got a link to some of that stuff? thanks