# Wiring and TV Cable



## Rusty0 (Feb 28, 2010)

Hello.  New to the forum and have an electrical question.

I am trying to do some minor work in a room that my step-daughter just moved out of.  This is the first time the room has been empty (clean) since I&#8217;ve lived here and I had no idea that an open/un-mounted electric outlet was back there!  The outlet has not been in use and had plastic safety clips inserted into the outlets, but I&#8217;ve confirmed that it does have power coming to it.

There is a hole cut in the drywall in the bedroom where the outlet may have been previously housed.  There is a smaller hole on the other side of the wall (a utility room).  This area is also where the cable line comes into this bedroom.  This should all be evident by the photo below.







Is it possible to put a proper mounted electric box in this space and house both a new electric outlet AND the TV cable feed and cover the whole bit with a custom faceplate or is that still a dangerous setup? It has been as displayed in the photo for years with no mishaps, but I don&#8217;t want to tempt fate.  There are no other open areas to feed the TV cable through, so I would like to continue to use this entry space for both if possible.  But on a trip to the local home improvement store I see dozens of faceplate configurations, none of which have TV cable outlets and electrical outlets in the same space.  It that because it is ill advised?


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## Wuzzat? (Feb 28, 2010)

Romex insulation is good to 600v.  Even if the insulation on the shield of your coaxial TV cable is only good for 1v you're safe.

As to interference, the power line freq. is far removed from most TV freqs.

For the faceplates, here's one
http://www.cyberselect.co.uk/photos/mediaplate_large.jpg
but it's from across the Atlantic.  

Here's another that seems to be power, phone & coax.
Google Image Result for http://images2.cableorganizer.com/arlington-industries/faceplates/faceplate-icon.jpg

The faceplate connector characteristic impedance should match the TV cable characteristic impedance [75 ohms].  The connector in lower pic seems to be a right-angle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMB_connector
so in this case you'd need an adaptor 
http://rocky.digikey.com/weblib/Emerson/Johnson/Web Photos/134-1012-011.jpg
to go to the commonly used type F connector.


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## JoeD (Feb 28, 2010)

You can not put the cable and the power into the same box without some sort of divider to keep them separate. I would mount the electrical box to the stud and the then use a mudring for the cable. Cut a hole for the cable and insert the mudring. Fold the abs over to lock it to the drywall. Then install a cable face plate.


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## triple D (Mar 1, 2010)

go to home depot or lowes or a supply house. Get a dived, or combination double gang box. Put the wires and a decora outlet in one side of box. Then put the cable in the other side of box and install a decora cable jack. Then get a decora double gang plate, they make them in oversize if you need. Be careful not to put plate on upside down:rofl: Good luck...


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