Best way to install under ground wire

[Bob_Skurka]

Glenn, I'd love to see pictures of your playhouse. I considered making my daughters one that could be taken apart, but because of the size, it just wasn't practical for me to do that (it's 14' wide by 16' deep, with 2 rooms, the larger room is 14 by 8, the smaller is 7 by 8, and the back patio is also 7 by 8). My wife thought it would take a weekend to build /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[teddydo]

If it's a stright run you can put that counduit sown with the subsoiler. Of course it will need to be pvc and all flued together with the wire already inside the pipe. Like someone said make a couple of passes before attaching the pipe to the subsoiler. I have done this on a 200 foot run.....teddy

 

[SPIKER]

like others said it is important to not do it HALF @$$ed but there are wire rated for dirrect burrial and since you are running 300 feet then you need to be concerned with line loss over the lenght of run vs the load you want to put on so if you want XX amps then wire rated for THAT amount of amps is not going to be 100% rated for that number of amps at the END of the burried line, it will be less amperage available due to the lenght of run from the house...

the modified subsoiler or a scarfer from a box blade could be used to put the wire down if shallower than code is ok with you. (remember if soemone digs it up & shockes themselves then you could be held liable.)

use paint to mark the lines location (point a to point B and lay a masons line to pull it tight and spray paint the line. run the subsoiler down the lenght and then back once or so FIRST then pull the wire after the first passes that way the sub soiler can get down fast and stay down at max depth. you may want to dig a hole to start out in and one to end in too. the steel/ridged conduit sweep works well to get the wire down through the dirt without damage but again 12~16" is about all the depth you will get unles you special make something and have the tractor to pull it...

anyhow we put in a bunch of wires this way for x-mas lighting around the pond using an old box blade scarfer and made up our own swivel mount so it pulled straight even if we turnt the tractor some this way going around a corner was ok and no extra pressure was put on the unit... (both scarfer and conduit sweep swiveled about 60 degrees left/right from center for some pretty tight corners) the wire real mount was up high above the top link and was freely spinning and let out the wire through a ring into the conduit sweep.


now for running REAL power anything over say 10 gauge wire I would do it RIGHT period. dig it down 24" + put down electrical hazzard tape 12" above the wire when back filling too. use of conduit is a big plus but dirrect burrial cable will last 30+ years or untill some one hits it with a post hole digger /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

anyhow my 2 cents worth only...

MarkM

 

[surfran]

You could rent a Ditchwitch trencher and do 300' in a short time. I think they can dig down to 3 or 4 feet also. By NEC code section 300-5 you have to be 24" for direct buried cable or 18" in non-metal electrical conduit (rated for the application), or 6" in rigid metal conduit.

I agree with the others that I would put in a larger sized coduit with a decent feed to be able to handle whatever needs I could forsee now and some extra capacity for later. Make sure if you go conduit (which I highly recommend) that you also pull install a pull string while assembling it if you don't have a fish tape of adequate lenght and when pulling the cables include another pull string (to leave in the conduit) so you already have it in there if you need to pull something in the future.

The suggestion on the tape to mark it for future digging warning is a great suggestion as well.

 

[surfran]

Glenn,

I just looked at your post again and realized you indicated that you only want lights. By NEC you can run a single 120V 20A circuit 12" underground for residential use if it is GFCI protected breaker.

This may be enough for your needs and could be installed using some of the above mentioned methods like a subsoiler etc.

Good luck,

 

[JD3130]

Glenn,
Well, You have to say one thing about this forum, we are all quick to give you an over kill amount of info. And that's because <font color="green"> "we been there and done that" </font> I ran 500 foot of #10 to my barn thinking all I would ever need would be lights, 4yrs later I dug it up and did it right. I didn't have the backhoe then and thought I could save money.

 

[jpr62902]

Randy, if you only use UF cable without conduit, isn't the underground length limited to 100'?

 

[neilwoodworker]

I direct buried 20A wire 300 ft. in two directions as well as put in 1" poly water line and hydrants at each end. Used a track hoe with 12" bucket and dug 36" deep. What a mess! You definately don't need conduit, use the gray-plastic direct burial wire. You won't be able to fish anything through that far later anyway unless the conduit has a large diameter, whch can get expensive. Plan ahead and do it all at once (easy to say). The voltage drop loss should be negligible because of the high voltages now supplied by power companies (250V)

 

[2nstonge]

Just a request if you direct bury the wire - mark it on a plot plan or survey or something & put it with any papers you might pass along to the next owner of your property. We bought an old farm here in Vermont & there was an overhead powerline line going from the house to the barn. Assumed that was it. Well, the wife found a buried secondary line the hard way - with a shovel! - while marking the outline of her new garden. A loud "snap!", bright blue sparks, and thankfully the breaker tripped.

The irritating thing is the previous owner lives just down the street and had stopped by to see the old place; he saw us digging and excavating right in the area and never mentioned a word about the underground wire! We found 2 other live feeds that ran out to where they had an inground pool at one time and then filled it in. The ends of the wires were capped with wire nuts and then just buried; the breakers were still "on". Amazing.

-Norm

 

[Bob_Skurka]

2nstonge . . . you are making a very valid comment. I'm in the process of using a handheld GPS unit to map out my property, I've got about 10 acres and I want to know where everything is too! But using a simple GPS and a computer mapping program, it is fairly easy to create a record of what is located in any particular spot. The GPS units are not 100% accurate, but they get you close enough so that you can find what you are looking for.