Power to Barn

3acres · Apr 2, 2009

Here's a down 'n dirty quick question...
I'm extending power from my house down to my barn which is about 170 feet from the house. I'm going to trench and can either lay direct bury wire or gray plastic conduit and regular wire. What would y'all suggest? Maybe direct buried in conduit? The soil around here is pretty much silt with no rock.
I'll be installing two 10/2 cables.

Thanks in advance!

ToadHill · Apr 2, 2009

I'm no expert but I always had a concern that conduit will fill with water and as we all know electricity and water don't do well together. I always trench then put in several inches of stone, put in a little landscape fabric to surround the wire and cover, but that's just me.

tommu56 · Apr 2, 2009

3acres

check this thread out

450' wiring conduit -how to assemble? - Page 3 - TractorByNet.com

I woulden't suggest direct burrial in conduit

by that I meen uf service cable the flat stuff that looks like NM ("romex") with solid conductors.

what amperage are you going put in?

uf is real hard to pull in so you have to over size conduit

With conduit use thwn wire its for wet locations

or direct burrial

with direct burial you need to put screenings under and over it and put an s bend at each end were it enters the conduit going up the building wall so when the wire settels it will unravel the s and not pull box and condiut off the wall

Also put an extra conduit in for phone and cable or for later

tom

studor · Apr 2, 2009

Code here call for u/g cable in conduit on a bed of sand with a marker tape on top before burial. Just curious --instead of running two 10 guage wires, why not run six guage three wire and put a 60 amp "pony panel" in the barn for more flexibility?
regards

JB4310 · Apr 2, 2009

3acres said:
Here's a down 'n dirty quick question...
I'm extending power from my house down to my barn which is about 170 feet from the house. I'm going to trench and can either lay direct bury wire or gray plastic conduit and regular wire. What would y'all suggest? Maybe direct buried in conduit? The soil around here is pretty much silt with no rock.
I'll be installing two 10/2 cables.

Thanks in advance!

Here's a couple of links about the conduit anyway, what are your electrical needs for the barn.?

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/139326-450-wiring-conduit-how-assemble.html?

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/137937-underground-electric-service.html?

One 10-2 in that distance will give you one 20 amp circuit, 2 of them or a 10-3 will allow for a lite 220 volt circuit.

Should be enough for power tools and lights etc, not a welder or electric heat.

I second the opinion of the larger wire and small panel out there.

JB.

DTCOOPER · Apr 2, 2009

Setting a sub panel is the only thing to do...
A small MLO panel will set you back less than 30-40 bucks.. Then you can divide load on the 2 legs and have many more circuits.. I would recommend a minimum 60 amp service out there.. With you only going 170 feet, voltage drop will not be a concern. Then you could run lights, a welder, grinder, compressor, etc. Pulling 2- 10/2 UF cables will just barely get you a 240v compressor running.. Then some lights.. Much easier to go overboard now, and have it for later use, if the need ever arises..
Direct Burial URD (if you can use aluminum) wil be the least expensive route to take.. It's what the utilities use around our area.. There is NO NEED to put direct burial rated conductors in conduit.. If you can use direct burial per code in your area, just do that.. And buy the largest you can afford (and what your existing service will allow you to feed)

czechsonofagun · Apr 3, 2009

I done it including the subpanel. Since we have play room/guest room upstairs in the barn and my shop in a lean to I included phone line and Cat5 for LAN. The UF cable went in first, bit of dirt and phone+network cable in gray plastic conduit.

rambler · Apr 5, 2009

I don't believe the 2 10-2 wire setup is legal or a good idea, if I understand what you are doing. Could be a real bad idea.

3-6 would be cheaper by the time you are done. And give you 40 amp - or a bit more if you don't mind dimming lights.

3-2 aluminum would give you 60 amps.

2-10 at 170 feet doesn't even give you 15 amp.

Doubling the wires to the same circut is a real bad idea. Sets up bad things happening. I'm not sure what you are trying to do with the pair of 2-10, but it just doesn't sound right.

Most situations you also need a seperate ground wire, so you need 4 wires for 220v, or 3 wires for 120v.

'Here' direct burial is the way to go for larger feed wires. One would not use a conduit.

--->Paul

dex3361 · Apr 5, 2009

I agree with Rambler if you put a 120V circuit in it will take 3 conductors
(1-hot, 1-nuetral, 1-ground) if you put a 240V circuit in it will take 4 conductors(2-hot, 1-nuetral, 1-ground). For a garage I would install PVC conduit and pull in individual conductors and set a Sub Panel with spaces for at least 6 or 8 breakers. The size of the conductors will determine the size of conduit. With that said it is easier to pull wire into conduit that is oversized. Keep in mind that you are allowed a total of 360° of bends (4-90° bends or 8-45°, etc.)in a run of conduit without a pull point. It would help to know what you want to power up now and what you may want to do in the future in the sizing process.

EddieWalker · Apr 5, 2009

Rambler said it best.

As for conduit or direct burial, it's an either or type situation. Both have their advantages. If you don't have rock in your soil and it's legal to do so, then direct burial if faster, cheaper and easier. Conduit will collect water. Longer runs will hold gallons of it and is a big problem. I've sealed each section of pipe with silicone when running regular romex in conduit because it's what I had availbable. If I'm going out to buy wire for somethng, I'm buyin aluminum direct burial, but that's just me.

What do you want to do in your shop? 170 feet isn't very far, so it's not a huge expense to go with a wire large enough to have 240 volts and 50 amps to run a welder or air compressor at a minimum. If you plan on living there for awhile, doing some repairs or building anything, then I'd go with a 125 amp sub panel. The price won't be that much more and it's the same amount of work. You will never have any regrets once it's done.

If all you want is a light and an outlet, then the 10 gauge is plenty for a single cirucuit. I

Eddie