D-Line Half Round Raceway: Show Some Style with Sleekly Curved Wire Channels
Filed under: Home Theater, Raceway, Duct and Conduit
Up to about yesterday, whenever I heard the term “surface raceway,” my mind would conjure up the image of long, rectangular sticks of wire channel. Boxy. Angular. Lacking in subtlety. Raceway is great for routing and concealing cables, and does help to camouflage things quite a bit, but as for shape, there isn’t much flow to the standard garden varieties. Straight line, corner. Straight line, corner. All the way around. Great if you’re into a Cubist aesthetic, but if you prefer something a little sleeker, it’s less than ideal.
So imagine my surprise and delight when D-Line Half Round Raceway came waltzing through the door. Unlike its boxy counterparts, this decidedly shapelier version has curves in all the right places, but not in the way that will make anyone look twice. In fact, the semi-circular shape actually helps D-Line Half Round avoid notice, since it blends and transitions and more smoothly with walls than rectangular raceway does.
If you look at the picture, you’ll see what I mean. Isn’t it great the way it blends right in with the baseboard molding that it’s installed right above? What’s really nice it that you can even paint it to match. That gentle curve actually mirrors the detailing in the molding, and unless someone were to get down on their hands and knees and do some close-range squinting at it, they’d be none the wiser of its presence.
In addition to being paintable, D-Line half round raceway is also easy to cut with scissors or a PVC cutter (depending on its size) and is available with the inner and outer corner fittings that make it possible to “bend” the raceway into, out of, and around corners. As for installation, it’s a piece of cake: after you’ve cut the raceway to length, just peel off the backing, and press the pre-applied adhesive against the wall. Then step back and admire your work. But be warned: you may need to take a really close look – this stuff can be easy to miss.
Richco Richflex: Finally, Wire Duct That Turns Anywhere Your Cables Need To
Poor Wire Duct. Nobody ever looks at it twice. It always shows up and does its job, but the people who depend on it most are always drawn to the “prettier,” more interesting things in the room, like the shiny server enclosures, or all of the electronics with their displays and flashy LED lights. Let’s face it: if the typical networking environment were a school dance, wire loom would be the one who stood unnoticed in the corner all night.
But believe it or not, I just did a double-take… and at a piece of wire duct, no less. Not because it was shiny or unbelievably good looking, but because if its very unique talent: bending. Bendable wire duct? Yes, you heard me right , and I no, am not pulling your leg. Wire duct, always known for being on the uptight and rigid side (structurally speaking) has now loosened up, become a lot more flexible, and started going by the name “Richflex.”
If you haven’t already figured out why Richco® Richflex is so great, I’ll tell you: cable runs, on occasion, have to bend. Into corners, out of corners, around corners… you get the idea. But put them in a stick-straight piece of wire duct, and the bending part gets tricky. It usually involves cutting the wire duct where the bend needs to occur, and then splicing the pieces back together with preformed plastic elbows. It’s a drag.
That’s why the thought of flexible wire duct is enough to bring a thrill of joy to the cable installer’s heart – no cutting, no custom splicing; just a quick flick of the wrist, and Richflex goes in the direction you need it to. All of this bendability even applies to Richflex’s “fingers” – whenever you need to break a cable away from the rest of the run, just bend a rung aside to make the transition easier.
BonDuit Conduit Adhesive: Watertight and Outta Sight
Filed under: Adhesives, Raceway, Duct and Conduit
They say that a conduit run is only as strong as its adhesive. Okay, well, maybe they don’t say that, but it’s true! Pretty much anything out there is only as strong as it’s weakest point, and when it comes to conduit, that would be the joint (or joints) where separate pieces of conduit are spliced together.
I may be getting a little too basic here, but the main point of conduit, its raison d’etre, is to protect cables and wiring. That’s it. Sure, it helps get them from one place to the next, but the real deal is the way it serves as armor against water, chemicals, and sharp things. If the bad stuff finds even one weak spot in the conduit where it can weasel its way in, the whole game’s up. Conduit itself, when not severely abused, is more than up to the task of sealing out water and corrosive agents, but the adhesive and fittings that join conduit runs have to be pretty good to keep up. Here’s one adhesive that can really hold its own.
Meet the cleverly-named BonDuit® Conduit Adhesive by American Polywater. It’s an accomplished multitasker that plays very nicely with PE, PVC, metal and composite conduits, and, when properly applied, creates a completely airtight, watertight joint to keep cables safe. The cured product also has a very high tensile strength, so it can stand up to quite a bit of bad weather and abuse without budging.
I know what you’re thinking: adhesives with those types of super powers usually come in several parts, and are a pain to mix and apply. Yes, BonDuit is made up of two separate components, but they aren’t frustrating or messy to mix, thanks to the special mixing nozzle applicator that automatically does the job for you. You just pull the applicator trigger, and the nozzle will do all the rest for you, mixing the two components in perfect proportion before laying down a bead of the final product. Not bad at all. To almost quote my favorite kid in the world, it’s “easy peasy… ummmm… adhesive squeezy.”
PVC Wire Duct Accessories: Professional Finishing Touches for DIY Wire Duct
Among people who work with wire duct or just have a general knowledge of what it is, you’ll most likely hear the opinion that it’s good stuff, and that plenty of cabling situations out there would be total nightmares without it. It’s low profile, gets cables from Point A to Point B in an orderly fashion, and lets you break out wires whenever and wherever you need to along the way. It’s like Super Serious raceway. Except that regular raceway looks better.
I hate to say it, but as great as wire duct is, it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing cable management solution out there. It looks kind of, I don’t know… ladder-ish (if you get what I’m saying). Wire duct is full of slots for those cable breakouts that I mentioned before, and unfortunately, the very features that make it so functional are also the things that drag it down in the Beauty Department. I’ve always preferred raceway myself, because I like the fact that it’s so sleek and visually unobtrusive. But then again, I just need it for the cords around my house, not serious cable runs in a heavily wired and networked business. What do those people do when they need the homely virtues of wire duct, but long for a little more polish?
Well, I’m not sure what they used to do, but these days, you can reach for PVC wire duct covers and dividers, which have the power to considerably doll-up any wire duct run both inside and out. Let’s start with the inside: dividers install to keep different cable runs separate in spite of their close proximity (it helps in avoiding confusion during future maintenance), and retaining clips keep wires in place even when the duct cover is removed (you don’t want everything falling out on you and getting mixed up).
And then for the finishing touches: smooth, snap-on covers that transform the very techy, industrial look of wire duct into something a little more sophisticated. It’s a sort of modern-day “Ugly Duckling” story for the cable management world: wire duct has always had inner beauty, it’s just taken a while for it to manifest it on the outside, too.
Wire Duct Mounting Rivets: No More Juggling Tools During Wire Duct Installation
Ah, the old “How to Get the Wire Duct to Stick to the Wall Long-Term” dilemma. There used to be two options: double-sided adhesive (a favorite of the quick-fixers out there) or drywall screws (for the “do things right now, and you won’t regret it later” crowd). Double-sided adhesive works great if you’ll be going light on the cables and don’t expect the wire duct to stay in one place forever, but if you have longevity and any amount of weight in mind, you’re better off going with the ultimate holding power of drywall screws.
Just one problem: installing wire duct with drywall screws entails a bit of a juggling act. You have to simultaneously hold the wire duct against the wall and keep it level, all while trying to pick up screws and sink them into the sheetrock using a screwdriver or power drill. While there may be someone in the Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley’s Believe it Or Not who actually possesses enough hands and arms for this, it’s pretty much a joke for one average person to install wire duct this way – and that’s why it’s usually done with two.
As it turns out, using 2 installers on a job means paying double in labor. And that, my friends, is never a good thing for one’s bottom line. I’m guessing that that’s what inspired the development of Wire Duct Rivets. These small plastic fasteners anchor wire duct into drywall in seconds, but take only one person to install (can I get a “cha-ching!”?). The process is simple: you just measure the rivet spacing you need, pre-drill holes into the wall, and then go back with you wire duct and pop in the rivets. They install via a lightweight rivet tool that uses a simple push action, which is great for sparing your wrist the repetitive turning of a screwdriver, or the weight of a power drill.
Flex-Tab Raceways – No More Escaped Cables During Installation
As a rule, I’m a fan of raceway. It’s low-profile, visually unobtrusive, and most types will even graciously accept a coat of latex paint, all the better to blend in with their surroundings. It’s equally at home in your living room or office, and thanks to some creative fittings, you can even bend it in and out of corners, or create custom intersections. It’s a solid product.
The only problem is keeping cables in place while you try to snap the raceway’s lid shut – it’s kind of a juggling routine. One hand has to keep the wires stuffed into the channel yet clear of the lid’s hinge, while the other tries to actually close the lid – a job that, in and of itself, would much rather be completed with two hands. What’s an overextended cable organizer to do?
In a nutshell, try 2-Piece Flex Tab Raceways. On the surface, they look like typical 1-piece latching raceway, but there’s a secret hidden inside: two flexible tabs that fold over the cables to keep them in place while you dedicate both hands to the task of popping on the cover. The tabs really come in handy for any installation, but you’re really going to appreciate them when you’re trying to defy gravity with overhead-ceiling raceway.
Wire Trak: On-a-Roll Raceway that Assembles Itself
Ladies and Gents, they’ve done it again. I don’t know what it is about rolled raceway that’s always blown my mind, but the stuff is cool. I really dig the fact that someone took a functional and versatile product that had a few dimension-based shipping and storage issues, and found a way to smoosh it flat, roll it up, and put it in a box. But now it’s gotten even better.
I just became acquainted with a new rolled raceway by the name of Wire Trak™. Unlike the other raceway-on-a-roll type products out there, Wire Trak puts itself together – literally. Whereas with other brands you dispense a length of flattened raceway from the box, cut it off and fold it into its intended 3D shape, Wire Trak has it all under control – all you do is pull out what you need, cut, and stick it into place.
The actual assembly/shaping is all left up to the packaging, believe it or not. Where you’d normally find a dispensing slot on most cut-to-length raceway boxes, there’s a patented raceway former built into the Wire Trak™ box, which pops the flat Wire Trak into shape as it’s pulled from the package. Sounds pretty cool, does it not? It’s a major time saver, because it frees you from having to painstakingly fold feet or yards of raceway into a perfectly rectangular channel. Origami for the sake of origami is one thing, but who wants to master the art of folding just to hide a few cables?
Wiremold Aluminum Raceways: New Outlets Without In-Wall Wiring Hassles
Filed under: Electrical, Raceway, Duct and Conduit
Ever had to paint or hang a picture up in an old house, just to have your simple plans complicated by that old-fashioned surface conduit that they used to use? I used to find the stuff really annoying, until I learned how it came to be. It turns out that surface conduit, at least in the United States, was largely brought about by Wiremold in the early 20th century.
By around 1920, Americans were catching the electrical gadget craze, and were buying and accumulating more electrical devices than they had outlets to plug them into. Back in those days, walls more or less all fell into the plaster and lathe category, which, if you’ve ever worked on an old house, are no picnic to cut into and repair. Even for people who were lucky enough to have homes with in-wall wiring, the existing number of receptacles just wasn’t enough, but ripping into plaster walls to add additional outlets was pretty much out of the question.
And so, Wiremold came to the rescue with metal-based surface conduit for electrical wiring. It allowed people to add extra electrical circuits and outlet boxes anywhere they wanted, without demolishing their fragile plaster walls in the process. And while these days we’re spoiled with retrofit-friendly sheetrock walls, Wiremold metal conduit is still coming in handy, albeit in a slightly different form.
Meet Wiremold’s Aluminum Surface Raceways - the hipper, sleeker next generation of surface conduit. Instead of being used in homes, aluminum surface raceways have now carved out a niche in offices, where they’re used to run power and data cables around the perimeter of a room, with stops for built-in outlet wherever they’re needed. And what’s really cool is that they actually have cutouts into which wires from existing wall boxes can be fed, to be spliced onto new wire runs. Doesn’t get much easier than that.
Wire Guards: Armor for Indoor/Outdoor Vertical Cables
Covering up and routing cable runs has always seemed like such a no-brainer… just reach for a few sticks of raceway, right? Not so fast. What if the cables you want to cover up are running down an outdoor surface? That’s a little trickier. Raceway typically adheres to surfaces by way of an adhesive backing – one that only works in nice temperature-controlled indoor spaces. One look at a rain cloud or the beating sun, and it would wilt and fall right off the wall. Time for something tougher. Time for Wire Guards.
I really like it when I’m surprised by the simplicity of a very effective product, and that’s definitely the case with these. Wire Guards are basically just extruded plastic arch-shaped channels with flanges down either side. That’s it. The channels are laid over the cable or cables of your choice, and then the flanges, which are pre-punched for nails or screws, are fastened down to the surface. The cables are held in place, and get a layer of lightweight armor to boot, so they’re considerably more resistant to the unwanted advances of weather, pecking birds, and even bored kids in search of something to mess with.
Wire Guards are terrific for exposed outdoor power cables, speaker wires, and the Cable TV coaxial cable running down the side of your house. They would even be great for use in semi-finished basements, if you need to run wire along a wall surface. And as far as size goes, you can take your pick – Wire Guards can be narrow enough to provide cover for just one wire, or wide enough to fit over an entire cable bundle.
Wiremold Tele-Power Poles
Filed under: Electrical, Power and Data Distribution, Raceway, Duct and Conduit
Earlier this week, I was reading up on the history of Wiremold, a 110 year old company that’s been a lot of places and done a lot of things over the past century. They started out making electrical conduit, and moved on to things like raceway, loom, duct, and power products, with a few segues into War Effort manufacturing along the way. One thing that caught my eye was Wiremold’s introduction of the Tele-Power Pole in 1969. I though to myself, “Hey, wait, I know that thing!”
Turns out, I had seen the very same product a bunch of times over the past few years (yes, we sell it)… I just hadn’t realized that it was made by the same company I was reading about. So, after that lightbulb went off, I thought it might be worth a mention, because it really is a pretty cool item, and it’s still going strong after 40 years.
Tele-Power Poles were invented with the wide-open, cubicle-infested workplace in mind. Yes, I know, I hate cubicles too, but hear me out. Nowadays, we have the luxury of power and data connections right at our desks, no matter how far said desks may be from the nearest wall (and wall outlets/data ports). That’s largely thanks to innovators like Wiremold, and inventions like the Tele-Power Pole, which began allowing us to drop power and data cables from above the ceiling down to any workstation, anywhere in the room. Otherwise, we’d not only be seated in cubicles, we’d be seated in cubicles with extension cords and mile-long data cables running everywhere.
Take a minute to imagine that. It would be mass chaos, and people would be tripping everywhere. Not to mention that every inch of wall space would have to be encrusted in receptacles and data faceplates to accommodate everyone. Nope, it just wouldn’t work. But with Tele-Power, well… it’s a totally different story. Like the heavens have opened and are showering connectivity down upon us (literally – these things go from ceiling to floor). Since that fateful day they hit the market in 1969, Tele-Power Poles have let us tap into power and communications, without even leaving our rolling office chairs. I’ll raise my coffee mug to that.