Trunking vs tray

Hi lads/ladies

After a recent post of mine, the lack of tray or trunking was highlighted on a bit of my work, i've taken this criticism fully on board and have been exploring in much greater detail the pros and cons of both. I like the look of tray, it's neat and looks a really professional job when it's up. But i also like the enclosed nature of trunking and think in certain situations, it looks the tidier alterantive especially as it can be painted to conceal it as well as offering greater impact protection if cables are installed in high traffic areas such as fork lift lanes or the numpties walk route back to the canteen.

What do you guys prefer to use for general cable installs and what are your preferences taking into account cost and speed of install. Not used tray, but am i right in thinking it needs to be riveted when making joins?

Tray seems to offer a nice future proof way of allowing cables to be added to it easily but strikes me as being a little more arduous to install. I'd love to see some of your installs guys so i can get a good idea of what a nice job looks like. I know people dont like to put their work on the forum so maybe just some jobs your working on or jobs you've noted in the past would be awesome.

I have another few circuits to get installed coming up soon, quite long runs too and am inclined currently to clip direct to the steel beams beneath the floor as they will be concealed by the hanging ceiling below, but, again you guys might consider that a mucky job and would have done it differently.

Any input on industrial installs here would be really handy for me.

Cheers guys,

Ben

Trunking is good for places where a high degree of ingress protection is not required, as its not easy to seal. It's good for high traffic routes, and is easy to add circuits to.

Tray is good in wet or damp environments, as the cables can be sealed individually. It's easy to add to, and is quicker than trunking to install.

Conduit is also good for wet or damp environments, and offers a very high degree of impact protection. Conduit requires more skill to install than tray or trunking, and is not as easy to add to.
all of the above systems when metallic, are suitable for use as CPC.

Ladder rack is used for heavy industrial systems or for large cables. It is heavy duty, and designed to take the high loadings. It is easy to add to, and a large range of fittings are available.

I haven't got any photos of recent jobs, but I'll see what I can post up.

bear in mind that lidded tray is available.

I would say tray is quicker to install than trunking but then you spend time tying your cables to it. I suppose choosing the right containment method depends on the type of environment.

and you can run singles in trunking, whereas you can't in tray.

Don't forget they have different de-rating factors.

if this is for more sy flex wade then use tray.
a very broad generalization but singles and T&E -trunking , everything else i shove onto tray.
tray is connected with couplings & 6mm nuts/ bolts
trunking is connected with joiners and 4mm machined panhead screws.
tray quicker and more flexible to install
trunking more sturdy and more cable protection
tray use indoor and outdoor
trunking use indoor only

the real skill is learning to fabricate all the bends , sets , T junctions, risers , doglegs etc. from straight pieces as buying all the sections ready made will add alot to the cost , but that takes practice , lots.
and get an angle grinder if your doing alot , it will knock off a good 30% of the labour time.
i

I too highly reccomend a grinder for trunking and tray! I don't use a hacksaw unless there's no power, or I've only got one cut to make!
i reccomend a protractor rule to get the angles right.
For tray, a 13mm ring spanner (preferably ratchet spanner) is the right size for the square nuts on M6 gutter bolts, and is easier and quicker than fiddling about with a screwdriver.
Make sure a decent sized flathead driver is used. Crimp all bent ends on medium and heavy duty tray, they are prime reasons for cutting cable when pulling in.

Nice one lads. Lots to think about there.

biff55 said:

and get an angle grinder if your doing alot , it will knock off a good 30% of the labour time.

Click to expand...

I second that! Make sure it's a good quality one too with a top quality metal cutting disc 1mm width or less. The disc is key, a good one will cut through tray/trunking/galv conduit like a knife through butter and leave little to no swarf to file away, a crap one will chew your metal to bits and leave you with a crap finish thus making a file an absolute must.

Fortunately i have a monster Makita and boxes full of 1mm discs. I do a lot of metal work here, absolutely love to cut and weld things so i have no shortage of materials for destruction.

And get a tin of galve spray, stop the cut ends from rusting.

i love doing the metalwork stuff lol , i'd do containment for the rest of my career given the choice , hate all that faffing with wires & such ;-)
i have a dewalt cordless grinder so i can cut into existing tray already bolted to the ceiling , and quite frankly its the most useful gadget i've ever bought

I find tray's good for runs along walls, and who the h3ll decided 11mm AF was a good size for the square nuts?