MC cable, metal-clad cable, carries its circuit conductors and an insulated green equipment ground inside interlocking aluminium or steel armor. It replaces pipe and wire for branch circuits in commercial walls and ceilings because it goes in fast, and it is cut with a rotary armor cutter and terminated in listed MC connectors. Variants include types whose armor counts as the ground through a bonding wire, and fire alarm MC with red armor or a red stripe.
It's a commercial TI, so MC cable from the J-box down to every receptacle, twelve-two with ground.
Also heard as
- MC
- metal-clad cable
Related terms
BX
Trade name used for armored cable: insulated conductors inside a spiral metal jacket.
Greenfield
Flexible metal conduit: spiral-wound steel or aluminium tube that wire is pulled into, used for short flexible runs.
Whip
Short flexible conduit or cable assembly with wires already in it, linking a fixture or machine to a junction box.
Red head
Plastic anti-short bushing pushed into the cut end of armored cable to shield wires from the sharp armor edge.