Wire size for a pump?

   / Wire size for a pump? #11  
Another way to look at this.
You can get a HF gas pump for under $200. and put it at the pond.
For a timer only put in enough gas to run for how long you want to water.
I have one of the pumps and it does a great job and pumps as much water at 1/3 throttle as it does full!
 
   / Wire size for a pump? #12  
   / Wire size for a pump? #13  
The consideration is about cost. You can buy a 4 wire 100 amp alum direct burial service wire for $1.20 a foot. Service pole with meter will cost at least $26.00 just to sit there. Spend it now or later.
 
   / Wire size for a pump? #14  
Like TMC; why speculate now; just install an over size conduit to the building exterior now, then solve the rest when you start the pump project. Invariably you will pick the wrong size wire now, either too small, or you have wasted money on wire bigger than necessary. Always put the pump as close to the fluid as possible. Friction on water flow is more expensive than resistance on wire.

Ron
 
   / Wire size for a pump?
  • Thread Starter
#15  
Conduit really isn't an option based on what I have to work with. I think that I will buy 50 feet of 6/3 and run it from my breaker box to a junction box on the outside of my house. If I decide to put a pump next to my house, I'm good. If I decide to run wire all the way down to the pond, I'm good. If I decide to set a meter by the pond, I've wasted some money, but not a lot.

Based on a topo map, I'm probably 30 feet higher at the house then the full water height of the pond. To be on the safe side, figure 50 feet of lift, and a thousand feet of run.

My original plan was to drill a well next to the house, but that doesn't have a lot of appeal to me. I might rethink that idea before committing to anything.

Thanks!!!
 
   / Wire size for a pump? #16  
Are you planning to have a pressure tank in the house or an insulated out-building, so you are not just running directly from the pump? This will give you better and more even pressure. Running the water directly from the pump 1000 ft to the house, and then directly out through the hoses and irrigation lines is going to mean you may be dealing with a trickle by the time it comes out of the end. With a tank you have 50 PSI starting from the tank, so you have lots of pressure coming out of the hose end. Have you considered the location of your pressure tank? I have about 300 horizontal yds plus the vertical height from my well's submersible pump to the pressure tank in my house and it manages fine.

To have a pressure tank in the house, you will need in/out hoses for the water plus wire to allow the tank pressure switch to turn on/off the pump down at the pond. This is in addition to the wire you are running to power the pump. If you use an outbuilding, then the wire from the house will be enough but the run from the outbuilding to the pump will need the water pipe plus three wire so you can power the pump and still have a wire left to allow the tank to switch the pump on and off.

I am not sure how much water your well has and how it holds up in the summer, but putting the pressure tank in the horse barn might allow you to keep the horse troughs filled in the summer and have an outflow for the wash stalls, so you have an option to keep the horse water consumption off of your well during the dry season.
 
   / Wire size for a pump?
  • Thread Starter
#17  
Good questions. I have city water at the house, which adds about $60 to my bill when my wife starts watering her gardens in the spring. Currently, we are using about a third of the yard for gardens that she has set aside, which means my water bill could easily triple in the future. All I'm trying to do now is plan ahead to the best of my abilities, without actually committing to anything.

Another option was to buy a 2,500 gallon water tank and set it next to the house, and then run a solar pump all day to try and fill it up. Then open the valve at night and let it drain out into the gardens. After researching this for a little bit, I have my doubts that this is a good solution.
 
   / Wire size for a pump? #18  
I'm confused about why you could install direct bury wire but not install conduit.

Since it is a fairly short run, with unknown future things to connect to, I'd run the highest amperage wire you can justify paying for. As with tractors, then maybe go up one size!! :D
 
   / Wire size for a pump? #19  
Good questions. I have city water at the house, which adds about $60 to my bill when my wife starts watering her gardens in the spring. Currently, we are using about a third of the yard for gardens that she has set aside, which means my water bill could easily triple in the future. All I'm trying to do now is plan ahead to the best of my abilities, without actually committing to anything.

Another option was to buy a 2,500 gallon water tank and set it next to the house, and then run a solar pump all day to try and fill it up. Then open the valve at night and let it drain out into the gardens. After researching this for a little bit, I have my doubts that this is a good solution.

If you are looking for a gravity feed for the garden, rather than turn it off manually you can use a hose timer. I put one of those 1000L used veggie oil totes (the square plastic ones with the wire cage around them) on a stand under the downspout from my rain gutters and hooked a battery powered timer to it, which opens the valve twice a day for a half hour. Two AAA batteries will run it for about 3 months. That worked well for my cottage gardens where i was often away for two weeks at a time. You need some height though. As I understand it you will get 18 psi per vertical foot the tank is off the ground. I didn't get enough pressure to run a buried soaker hose because the dirt squashed it flat, but when I buried 1/4 inch pvc with holes drilled every foot it worked pretty well in the spring when the rain was regular. The tank wasn't big enough for summer once the rain was less frequent.
 
   / Wire size for a pump?
  • Thread Starter
#20  
The 6/3 direct bury is scrap that.i had on my shelf. I have no idea where it came from, it's just there. If it.was longer, I was going.to use it because it's already paid for. Now I will buy 50 feet of 6/3 and run it.over my rafters and through the top plates of my wall, and then into a junction box that will remain sealed up until I decide what I will do regarding the pump.

To get from my panel to the outside of the wall means making two very quick 90s that make conduit impossible to pull wire through. I wouldn't try it with 12/2!!

If I decide to put a pump next to my house, I can use the 6/3 direct bury wire to go from the junction box to the pump.

My debate on pump location is between running wire 1000 feet down to my pond or not.
 
 
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