MC electrical cable 10-4 is manufactured with and without a PVC jacket. Including the PVC jacket over the aluminum interlocking armor creates a direct burial cable that can be installed underground or in concrete without conduit or raceway. Without the PVC jacket you have a standard MC cable used indoor without conduit due to the metal clad jacket (Aluminum Interlocked Armor) that was designed and manufactured to act as conduit.
Standard MC, Metal Clad, cable can also be installed outdoors and underground with conduit or raceway. Then you will need to include the PVC jacket over the aluminum jacket in order to have an underground cable.
The construction starts with the copper THHN THWN electrical wires which are the same conductors used in Romex NMB, UFB and Tray cables. The difference between each of them lies in the jacket material and how much it can resist in terms of environmental conditions. NMB cables are the cheapest and manufactured for indoor use only in order to have a cost effective cable for indoor installations only. MC cable is used outdoors and in conduit while UFB and Tray cables are used directly underground.
The cost of each cable increases as its approved to be used in more applications. There is, of course, more engineering, designing and manufacturing costs involved in creating cables that can be used in more areas of the electrical industry. In order to be compliant with the NEC code the cable will need to have certain approvals such as UL, CSA, RoHS or MSHA depending on the application and what the NEC code feels it needs.
Many installers, contractors and electricians probably dislike when inspectors come in to make sure everything is up to par with the installation but there have been many complications in the past that need to be avoided in the future. For instance, years ago they found that lead in paint was very bad for our health and that fires were caused by certain types of electrical wires.
New protocol such as inspecting each electrical installation will make sure that shady electricians arent using aluminum wire instead of copper to save money. Thats just one of the things one might do in order to make a bit more money per job when its not legal. Something that a home owner would normally be in the dark on will now be caught be the inspector during the final check of the installation.
Standard MC, Metal Clad, cable can also be installed outdoors and underground with conduit or raceway. Then you will need to include the PVC jacket over the aluminum jacket in order to have an underground cable.
The construction starts with the copper THHN THWN electrical wires which are the same conductors used in Romex NMB, UFB and Tray cables. The difference between each of them lies in the jacket material and how much it can resist in terms of environmental conditions. NMB cables are the cheapest and manufactured for indoor use only in order to have a cost effective cable for indoor installations only. MC cable is used outdoors and in conduit while UFB and Tray cables are used directly underground.
The cost of each cable increases as its approved to be used in more applications. There is, of course, more engineering, designing and manufacturing costs involved in creating cables that can be used in more areas of the electrical industry. In order to be compliant with the NEC code the cable will need to have certain approvals such as UL, CSA, RoHS or MSHA depending on the application and what the NEC code feels it needs.
Many installers, contractors and electricians probably dislike when inspectors come in to make sure everything is up to par with the installation but there have been many complications in the past that need to be avoided in the future. For instance, years ago they found that lead in paint was very bad for our health and that fires were caused by certain types of electrical wires.
New protocol such as inspecting each electrical installation will make sure that shady electricians arent using aluminum wire instead of copper to save money. Thats just one of the things one might do in order to make a bit more money per job when its not legal. Something that a home owner would normally be in the dark on will now be caught be the inspector during the final check of the installation.
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