Hiding electrical cords from walls ?

[427HISS]

I'm finishing my walls and ceiling & will be painting soon. It's my relatively low cost,... "Mans Cave". I have a lot of neon clocks and other Hot Rod & Muscle car signs to put up and since I'm trying to make the garage pretty nice looking, I don't want to see all the electrical cords hanging down the walls to the "Swisstrax" tile flooring so, here's my dilemma. How do I hide the cords ?

On the other side of one wall, goes downstairs to my basement, I'm thinking I could drill a hole for each clock ect. cord and install one of the 12 strip electrical strips to plug into.

Any better idea's ?

But what about the other walls ?

With these clocks, is it ok to cut off the plug, & lengthen the cord ?

 

[mrb]

not ok to drill a hole in the wall and have the cord go through.

not ok to cut the plug off and lengthen the cord.

What I would have done, is installed clock hanger receptacles where these items go, shortened the cords, installed new plugs on the shortened cords, and hung the clocks, neon, and signs infront of the clock receptacles. Safe, legal, and no visible cords.

 

[Mark-in-NH]

not ok to drill a hole in the wall and have the cord go through.

not ok to cut the plug off and lengthen the cord.

Why are these "not ok" ?

As long as common sense is used and any splices are done properly and to code ( in junction box's as necessary ) There is nothing unsafe or illegal about them.
Your house and garage are full of spliced wires that run through walls. The only differance is the unsulation on the wires. Romex vs Zipcord
I do like the way you would do it, it would be the perfect scenerio, but not always feasible.

 

[rieferman]

Yeah, I'm curious on why you can't punch through the wall and plug into a power strip in the basement stairwell (because I did that in my house with my entire TV/stereo/cable box setup and it looks/works great and cost nothing and took only a few minutes to accomplish).

 

[z28snksknr]

What about just using the plastic raceway conduit? Paint it the same as the walls and you'll barely notice them.

 

[aandpdan]

Why are these "not ok" ?

As long as common sense is used and any splices are done properly and to code ( in junction box's as necessary ) There is nothing unsafe or illegal about them.
Your house and garage are full of spliced wires that run through walls. The only differance is the unsulation on the wires. Romex vs Zipcord
I do like the way you would do it, it would be the perfect scenerio, but not always feasible.

New member here.

It is in violation of the NEC to run cords through walls. It is because of the insulation. Look up NEC 400.8, flexible cords and cables, uses not permitted. "Where run through holes in walls..." and further "...through doorways, windows, or similar openings."

And it gets worse...you can't lengthen the cord either.

NEC 400.9, "Flexible cords shall be used only in continuous lengths without splice or taps..."

Modifying the cord will also violate the UL approval of the device.

Using clock receptacles is the way to go.

 

[mrb]

New member here.

It is in violation of the NEC to run cords through walls. It is because of the insulation. Look up NEC 400.8, flexible cords and cables, uses not permitted. "Where run through holes in walls..." and further "...through doorways, windows, or similar openings."

And it gets worse...you can't lengthen the cord either.

NEC 400.9, "Flexible cords shall be used only in continuous lengths without splice or taps..."

Modifying the cord will also violate the UL approval of the device.

Using clock receptacles is the way to go.

yep -you nailed it.

 

[Falcon67]

Wiremold raceway
http://www.homedepot.com/Electrical...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[Costner]

Why are these "not ok" ?

As long as common sense is used and any splices are done properly and to code ( in junction box's as necessary ) There is nothing unsafe or illegal about them.
Your house and garage are full of spliced wires that run through walls. The only differance is the unsulation on the wires. Romex vs Zipcord
I do like the way you would do it, it would be the perfect scenerio, but not always feasible.

If he can get to the back side of the wall, then he could install a proper receptacle which is wired with romex (to code). You cannot run extension cords or zip cord through a wall, and therefore you can't run it into a junction box either.

If he can't get to the back side of the wall, he just needs to use raceway or surface mount conduit - or fish romex the hard way (which is a hassle, but generally not impossible).

So although it might work to run the cords through the walls, it wouldn't meet code, so yes it is illegal (and possibly unsafe as well).

 

[Mark-in-NH]

New member here.

It is in violation of the NEC to run cords through walls. It is because of the insulation. Look up NEC 400.8, flexible cords and cables, uses not permitted. "Where run through holes in walls..." and further "...through doorways, windows, or similar openings."

And it gets worse...you can't lengthen the cord either.

NEC 400.9, "Flexible cords shall be used only in continuous lengths without splice or taps..."

Modifying the cord will also violate the UL approval of the device.

Using clock receptacles is the way to go.

That explanation works for me. I stand corrected.

 

[red98gt]

NEC 400.9, "Flexible cords shall be used only in continuous lengths without splice or taps..."

Modifying the cord will also violate the UL approval of the device.\


What if you replace the whole cord? I have done that before. Added a longer cord to a clock I had in the garage....(was like 3 ft long) opened up the clock and unsoldered the wires, soldered a new 6 foot cord on.

 

[aandpdan]

Well, modifying the cord would violate approval because it wasn't inspected/approved in that manner. They'd probably get you on changing the cord too.

I guess if you're going to do that at least make sure the cord is UL listed.

Basically, government (or the insurance industry) is into everything.

 

[mrb]

NEC 400.9, "Flexible cords shall be used only in continuous lengths without splice or taps..."

Modifying the cord will also violate the UL approval of the device.\


What if you replace the whole cord? I have done that before. Added a longer cord to a clock I had in the garage....(was like 3 ft long) opened up the clock and unsoldered the wires, soldered a new 6 foot cord on.

that still doesnt fix the cord going through the wall...