Laying cable under house, can it rest on the dirt?

Wkmg

Hi, I’m getting a home car charger installed. I don’t want to have the cable running around the house. The company I’m using won’t lay the cable but will only connect it. I can get under house in the under stairs cupboard next to the consumer unit and I can make it to the outside wall but it will not be pleasant and will be very difficult to fix the cable to the underside of the floor joists. Is it alright to have the cable just run on the dirt under the house? The 2 cables will be, “6mm 3-Core Steel Wire Armoured Cablle, 2-Core Screened Data Cable”

grumbler

It's OK, but I don't see why it's that difficult to screw and nail few cable clips to timber.

Eldi_Dos

It would be ok to leave as you suggest but would be neater job if some plastic trunking was in place.It is good idea to label trunking lid or cables,especially if they go through walls,for future reference.

Section62

Wkmg said:

Is it alright to have the cable just run on the dirt under the house?

It depends what the 'dirt' contains.

Do you know?

fenwick458

why not use this EV ultra instead of 2 cables?
if you do use 2 cables, the 6mm SWA will be fine but the cat 5 will be very vulnerable to damage so it'd be best to clip to the underside of the joists

Norman_Castle

Eldi_Dos said:

It would be ok to leave as you suggest but would be neater job if some plastic trunking was in place.It is good idea to label trunking lid or cables,especially if they go through walls,for future reference.

Plastic trunking or electrical pipework (Does that exist?) might make installation easier. Thread it through from outside then push the cable through it.
If this is the right pipe its cheap enough https://www.screwfix.com/p/tower-round-upvc-white-conduit-20mm-x-3m/6282p

Eldi_Dos

Norman_Castle said:

Eldi_Dos said:

It would be ok to leave as you suggest but would be neater job if some plastic trunking was in place.It is good idea to label trunking lid or cables,especially if they go through walls,for future reference.

Plastic trunking or electrical pipework (Does that exist?) might make installation easier. Thread it through from outside then push the cable through it.
If this is the right pipe its cheap enough https://www.screwfix.com/p/tower-round-upvc-white-conduit-20mm-x-3m/6282p

If access is difficult could pre-cable or rope conduit before poking through awkward area, but feel trunking is better option.

Section62

If there's space to fit trunking then there should be space to use these-

https://www.toolstation.com/cable-cleats/p82428

- as per grumbler's first reply on the thread. (select the right size for the cable used)

I would use those rather than leaving the cable laying on the 'dirt'.  Anything else is likely to be a waste of money and plastic.

Bendy_House

Hi Wkmg.

The SWA will obviously be fine - it's deigned to be buried, after all - but the data cable might get damaged in the installation process.

I like Fen's suggestion of the purpose-made cable for this.

Alternatively, if you've already bought the cable, there's the trunking ideas - pre-strung if it helps. Or, depending on the access, could the data cable be pre-conduited in, say, 10mm microbore pipe, and then this whole caboddle pushed through? Obviously tape the end to seal it against the dirt before pushing it along the ground. And then fully seal the end to guard against water ingress.

Section62

Bendy_House said:

The SWA will obviously be fine - it's deigned to be buried, after all....

It is designed to allow it to be buried in specified conditions... not laid on the top of 'dirt' under a floor.

It isn't obviously fine.  Hence my question earlier in the thread.

grumbler

Section62 said:

Bendy_House said:

The SWA will obviously be fine - it's deigned to be buried, after all....

It is designed to allow it to be buried in specified conditions... not laid on the top of 'dirt' under a floor.

It isn't obviously fine.  Hence my question earlier in the thread.

What 'special conditions' can be better than laying on the top of some 'dirt' under the floor? I assume it's dry 'dirt', but even if it's wet, this can't be worse than wet soil.