If I may offer a "compromise": Use a staple to secure a wire wrap vertically, pull it to a small loop, and then insert a second wrap to bundle around the wire(s). No metal-to-cable contact.

Another alternative would be to screw on the plastic wire-tie base that has slots for the tie. For running one or two drops down a stud, I usually use the omega-shaped staples in a stapler.

You can also use the stacker standoffs made for NM cable. Most of them have 4 slots designed for two NM cables per slot. They'd hold a gaggtle of CAT- lines, and take about 5 seconds to nail.

Is Romex allowed in your local?

Good point; maybe they allow NM staples but not NM cable.

Geez. The inspectors never give me grief.
I use romex staples with velcro to tie ALL of my LV cables running vertically to and from the panels.

Maybe it's the kind of staples??
I don't use the kind that are thick wire staples, I use the ones with two tiny brads and the entire "bridge" part is plastic.
[Link: gardnerbender.com]

I hammer two of them vertically, side by side, spaced enough for the bundle to neatly lay between them.

I run the velcro under the bridges of both staples and then up and around the bundle, loosening and/or opening the velcro straps as I need to accomnadate additional cables or jumpers until the panels are done.

I think we have a winner!

I asked myself the very same question.

In my book, the potential chaffing of a wire carrying 120v is a lot more to worry about than Cat 5 or RG6 etc.

At least now we don't have to worry about the Sparky's nicking our buckets of romex staples. (Don't think they have figured out how to use zip ties yet).

No kidding there.
One of our local inspectors moonlights at the electrical dept. of one of the super home center places, and I talk to him a couple times per month over there.
He is a great guy actually, and I make it a point to stop and say hello even if I am not shopping in elec. that day.

He officially can't make any suggestions on the job as an inspector, but we have gotten calls from people that heard of us through him. That's a little bit of an ego stroke to have a call from a friend of the inspector who says that you were given the highest recommendation for the quality of work.

for a second there AHEM I thought you were an electrician :) (not you though Larry)

Is it bad when the blue (or gray, green, yellow, etc.) outer jacket on Category cabling turns white because it is pinched so hard under a wire staple??

What you mean the wire is pulled too tight?? How can it be too tight??

What's a 6 in. bend radius?? What am I, a trim carpenter??

Sarcasm...

Right; there's no way to mistake me for an electrician.

Larry, you'll get a kick out of this one.......

I recently worked on a house that was purchased from a bank repo. My job was home theater, but that's beside the point.

When the electrician arrived at the house to survey the condition of the wiring, he was surprised to find a 200A panel with nothing but 220V breakers in it.

Come to find, the original owner was something of a DIYer, and apparently he had a whole bunch of 220 breakers lying around and no single-pole 110V breakers, so he just wired all of the 110V circuits to one half of the 220V breakers.

Cool huh?

I apologize in advance for being WAY off topic.

Hey Larry, would that make the actual trip rating double what the rating is on the breaker??

This message was edited by 2nd rick on 02/19/05 19:13 ET.

He could have removed the tie handles, rendering the breakers single-pole units that happened to have their bodied riveted together but operate individually.

Conversely, he could also have just used the two poles to feed pairs of circuits, the only downside being a possible nuisance-tripping of one circuit when another trips.

Of coures, these two options depend on the breaker sections each properly protecting the wires attached to them, as in all installations.

The point is he needn't have wasted the second pole, unless there was need for an odd number of circuits of a given breaker rating. I've seen much worse.


No, multi-pole breakers function just like single-pole breakers, each pole tripping when its current exceeds its response-curve level; they just take down the other pole.

Thanks, not that i would ever be that cheap... I was just curious.

BTW, when you said "we have a winner" were you saying that you liked my solution of using two plastic saddle romex staples as adjustable width tie anchors for velcro?? or were you being sarcastic??

Rick.