Power to barn

irwin · Apr 11, 2009

This is the year I run water and electric to the barn (190 feet). I'll get my brother (certified electrician) to oversee me, but I'll do most all the work. I plan on laying a conduit large enough for anything I could ever want out there.

I have heard that is not good to lay water and electric in the same trench. I was planning on burying the water line @ 4 1/2' and the electric 2 1/2' over that. Any problem with this? Should I do anything special (like lay a barrier between them?)

On another note: The first backhoe I bought was so I could bury a waterline, I use the backhoe so often for other things (rocks and stumps, leveling small hills) it's become a necessary tool, so much so I don't know how I could get along without one.

Thank you to those professionals that added their advice to this thread.

Lineman North Florida · Apr 11, 2009

Not sure how deep your frostline is were you are at but down here in Florida we bury the electric conduit the deepest as you should never have to dig it up for repair just pull in new wire, the water line on the other hand may at some point have to be dug up for repairs,leaks,etc. If it is below the electric conduit it will be a lot more aggravating to fix. Just how we do it in the south.

groundcover · Apr 11, 2009

As long as we are spending your money, Throw in a second conduit. I ran a second line back from the garage for backup power. Fire up the generator,run flex pipe from the muffler out the window, throw transfer switch in bacement and life is good! Got me through a two week outage (ice storm) in style! Even kept garage nice and warm. Also ran a poly pipe for water,summer use,but it is handy. Did the light switching with RF switches so didn't need to run wires for that.

skipmarcy · Apr 11, 2009

I'm getting ready to do the same thing to my shed I've just built, I'll be using 115' of wire for the run from my attached garage to the shed. If you are worried about inspections, I found out the hard way when I built my house that NM-B Romex will not pass for underground in conduit, had to pull it out of my wellhouse run and pull some THHN to pass. The inspector told me it's because of the paper inside the NM-B, it will draw & hold water. Personally I don't see how water is going to get inside properly installed PVC pipe - it holds water in for water lines with no leaks!!! Since there won't be anymore inspections at my place I'm using 6-3 Romex inside 1 1/2" PVC for my shed run. This Romex I bought at HD in a 125' roll has a stiff, black outer plastic case and no paper inside, just THHN stranded wire which is approved for underground/conduit use. I can't see how I'll get any or much condensation in my conduit to cause any water problems, especially since THHN is rated for conduit to begin with. I'll be running off of a 50a breaker in my 200a service in the garage and I bought a sub-panel for inside the shed to break it down into the smaller, individual circuits. Had to buy a 125a box in order to get the 6, 1" spaces I needed but it was only $19. Good luck on whatever you decide to use.

irwin · Apr 12, 2009

Lineman North Florida said:
Not sure how deep your frostline is were you are at but down here in Florida we bury the electric conduit the deepest as you should never have to dig it up for repair just pull in new wire, the water line on the other hand may at some point have to be dug up for repairs,leaks,etc. If it is below the electric conduit it will be a lot more aggravating to fix. Just how we do it in the south.

Mmmm, so I should bury the electric below the water line, or just run it separate.. Either way is doable..I just want to do it right the first (read only) time.

BungeeII · Apr 12, 2009

A separate trench in case you have to work on the water? In my mind that's unnecessary. You're not likely going to "work on" a water line to need to dig past the electric to reach it. If the water line fails, THAT'S when you dig the second trench... to run a new line.

Of course I could just be too lazy for my own good.

It's also possible that you have code restrictions that would limit what you want. I'm going to say my particular county wants 3' between the power and the water. So, I could lay the water at 5' and the electric at 2'.

You certainly don't want to bury the water at 4' and the electric at 7'.

Illini22 · Apr 12, 2009

Theirs nothing worse than going on a job and not getting to use the machine to dig. With that being said I always liked being joint trench with other utilities because you never had to worry about another trench within say a 5 foot easement. when we repair primaries or secondaries you always dig parrallel to the existing line then chip over to the burried cables without doing anymore damage to other cables in trench. if you have other trenches with water, phone , cable next to the electric you have to that much more careful about not damaging them while repairing the bad one. Always go in the same trench.

Lloyd_E · Apr 12, 2009

Jasper,

Depending on your county - hopefully it won't - code may vary. I have a distance of 110' to run. I dug a trench and installed a 4" pipe. I am using direct burial cable #3 - 4 wire, but I am running it through the pipe. I also have a 3/4" water line installed. It is buried 4' deep from house to barn/workshop. I am also running a 1/4" ploy line in case I need to pull anything through at a later date. The line will come of a 50 amp breaker in house and feed a 100 amp sub panel in the barn. It will run welder, lights(fluorescent compacts), outlets, 220 table saw and planer and compressor. - of course not all at once. I did run #6 - 4 wire before but electrician did not think it was safe due to the load and distance. That's why I am reinstalling with the #3 copper wire. Better to be safe and add for future use.

lloyd

PS: the water line gets drained during the fall and winter months. It only supplies water for a garden hose during the summer - May to September. I unhook at source and use my compressor to blow air through line.

Lil_FarmerJim · Apr 13, 2009

One suggestion if you do decide to run data/comm cable to your barn, put it in separate conduit and about 18 inches from the high voltage lines. You will have fewer problems with performance and interference doing this.

Jasper · Apr 17, 2009

Thank you for all the responses regarding "power to barn". To meet code requirements I have decided to use # 8 teck cable buried to a depth of 26" and down to 36" under driveway. The cable must be imbedded in sand and covered by a plank. Conduit will be utilized at both ends from panel through wall and down to depth.