All that work for a single circuit but i'm sure the customer like in most cases wanted to take the cheap way out and do the bare minimum. I always recommend running at least a 30 amp feeder to a garage. People always overload a single circuit in a garage. They start putting extra freezers and fridges in the garage and in the winter run an electric space heater. Then you have all the power tools people use. If you are going to dig up the ground like that might as well spend a little more now then a lot more later. Yeah its' about $150 more for 10-3 vs 12-3 for about $50-$60 for 100 feet but the same labor.
YES! I found that 4/4/4/4 SER wire was around $22 more then 10/3 wire, for the 100ft run to are other building, so 50 amps or 30 amps was a 22$ difference (and a few other small changes for a lager wire and AL wire). I still breaker-ed at 40 Amps but why put the money into something and only pull 20 amps with no way to upgrade!
This video answered the burning question I had of how to secure LB box to the wall. Thank you for posting this video. Now I can finish installing my floodlights above my garage!
haha, i was looking for a video to explain the same thing and also ended up here. looks simple enough but i've been anxious about cutting a hole through an exterior wall
That's pretty much the only thing you can do at that point, but it also means you have to spend time on all the connections again too. Digging an extra 6 inches and spending an extra $20 on getting some PVC pipes and glue would be the "right" way to do it while you're spending money on the digging. Even if Scott didn't do it, he could have mentioned it.
Code or no code, running wiring under ground should ALWAYS be in conduit. It's very possible, I'd say highly likely, to keep going past the sand and caution tape without seeing them because they're soft, easily cut with a shovel, and provide zero resistance...... that shovel can still go right through the electrical line with no problems if someone is digging through without looking. Conduit will provide certain, immediate feedback that something is down there even if you don't see it.
@@jtltet Nothing would happen other than the breaker tripping, whoever's on the other end of the shovel would be fine. They should have run conduit because all underground wiring fails eventually and if you have conduit you have a race to pull new wire through.
An electrical conduit would allow for future wire upgrades and such along with protection. CATV, phone and ethernet could be added as needed at a later time. A pull string or cord could be added to assist in adding these cables later.
I do agree that a conduit in the trench would be a better solution, but you wouldn't want to run twisted pair copper(ethernet) in a conduit that has electricity as the AC will create a lot of interference. A power line network or a wireless solution would be simpler for something like this.
CAT7 copper has aluminum shielding around each twisted pair in addition to shielding around the entire cable, not sure if it's enough for 10G running in the same conduit as electrical wiring but I bet it'd do 1G just fine
I have been doing electrical work for 31 years and had my masters ticket for 24 there is no way i would do this to a client. PVC is cheep digging a ditch is not. Use conduit don't re-dig a ditch.
Maybe he should have put in a concrete encased duct bank with two 4-inch PVC conduits with 4-way innerduct? I mean if you want to do it the "right way" let's go all the way.
He means use conduit so if you ever need to upgrade or replace the wiring, you just slid it thru, if you direct buried the wire it would require a new ditch
maczrule that depends on how much the customer wants to pay. If he's not intending on adding to the garage than the wire is fine. The only thing I would've changed is using emt instead of pvc coming out of the ground.
If you’re going thru all the work of trenching, put the whole run in conduit. Direct burial wire is a bad idea. And your garage door on a GFCI breaker will have nuisance trips.
Always better to run conduit… even if it’s PVC. It allows you to add extra circuits later if you need them. And because a garage can double as workspaces or living spaces… You will surely need extra circuits.
@@nofurtherwest3474 it all depends on your situation. It depends how many circuits you need, which will depend on what the purpose of your garage is. A good option for most, which has been suggested here, is to install a subpanel in your garage. A 60 amp sub panel would require #6 copper wires and is enough to satisfy most garage. In today’s world, you need to consider potential larger electrical, demands such as car, charging. Yes, direct burial cable is always an option but conduit has a greater degree of protection for the conductors, and if you oversize the PVC, there will be no need to dig up the ground again just to add more wire. Whether you were running wires for branch circuits, or wires for a sub panel, Its always good to slightly oversize the conduit. The bigger the conduit, the easier it is to pull the wires through, and to add future circuits if necessary. And no matter how few circuits you would be running, even if it’s just one circuit, I would install nothing less than 1 inch PVC. I would consult with a local electrician for advice when you make your decision.
@@KevinsHeaven ok thanks! Should I try this myself or hire an electrician to do it? you said consult with electrician, do you mean hire them? I already know there's no other utilities using the run from house to garage, so I can dig.
@@nofurtherwest3474 I wouldn’t necessarily fire them unless you had the funds. But if you know someone who’s in electrician, you could ask some basic questions that might pertain to your specific area. You may want to ask them how deep your trench should be for your conduit. Don’t hold me to this, but I think it’s 12 inch minimum depth… Deeper if under a driveway. Anyway, it’s a good way to save money if you dig the trench yourself. Cutting and gluing PVC is very easy. I suggest specifically searching RUclips with using PVC and trenches keywords and you should get lots of helpful tips. If you are just running one or more individual circuits, it’s definitely doable for you if you have basic mechanical skills. The videos will show you best methods for getting out of your home with the circuits and into the garage structure, from the outside in good luck! Sounds like a nice adventure awaits you.
My brother and I ran wire to a pump house and we didn't take shortcuts or spare expenses! We ran it into conduit pipe! Sand doesn't mean anything to me when I am digging! Plus it saves time having to replace the wire when you cut through it with a shovel or ditch digger!
I would continue to use PVC pipe going out to the garage with the wire threaded into the pipe to protect it even that much more. I've done it before, threaded the wire into the pipe, and ran the wire out to the junction box into the garage, first, then ran the wire into the breaker box and connect up the breaker in the breaker box. I'm also kinda funny about marking my lines with a black magic marker so they are marked from beginning to end so you KNOW which line is which, and eliminates confusion as well as marking the breaker inside tag so you KNOW how to kill the power if you need to to do further electrical work inside the garage, or to change things that might needing changed or rearranged for the future.
I hired an electrician to run an outlet 35 feet from outside breaker box to a hottub. Used a GFCI breaker and that PVC wire laid in the trench. Not only did he do a terrible job, (I had to show him how to tin wire to put an outlet together, provided my tools so he could get the job done, and dug 3/4 of the trench because he was going so slow), but 2 months later, I'm ripping the wire back out of the ground because it seems moles have opened that waterproof protective covering. Glad I didn't dump a load of concrete on top of it! Yes, I told him there were moles in the area and he said "They may think the wire is a root". but did nothing about it. Once again shows me most contractors are worthless since I have to go back and fix what they screw up 99% of the time. I'm always relearning that lesson. Do it myself so it's done right.
All the money spent on a trencher and sand to backfill, you could have spent another $25 for conduit all the way. Then, you could have used THHN wire and saved more money. Whoever planned this job didn't do well.
How can I figure out what size breaker i need to in my main panel to feed my sub panel that I'm installing in my shed..... i want to put two 220v , eight 110 plugs and 2 overhead lights? also what size wire would I need to go from the main panel to the sub-panel 150 ft away.
Depends what kind of 240V appliances you need to run out there, and how much power they use. We need to start from there. The lights use negligible power, since they are all LED. Then two 20A circuits for the 120V outlets (4 on each).
I would run three #2 THHN/THWN copper conductors, along with a #6 green grounding conductor, all in 1-1/4" PVC conduit, and a 100A subfeed and breaker in the main panel. In the shed, use the Square-D Homeline panel rated at 125 amps, with 12 spaces/24 circuits max, from Home Depot. The trench needs to be at least 18" deep. Be sure to pull a permit and get an inspection. And the inspector needs to see the open trench before you backfill it.
2017 code says you can't do this no more, for all the homeowners that want to do this now. Garage outlets have to be dedicated 20a gfci. And plus in this installation you need a disconnecting means at the first point of entry.
when I ran electric wire and a water line 200 ft to my garage/workshop it was buried 30" deep. I used 2 0 wire so I could have a 100 amp breaker in the garage and the wire was run in conduit big enough for future wiring if needed, also ran a small rope in the conduit to pull future wires if needed. ran the water piping in conduit due to the rocky soil. it was a beast of a job.
Can you tell me more about your installation? What type or rating of 2 0 and how many conductors did you use? what wire did you use to make the run from the panel in the house to the outside wall? Did you drive a ground rod? If you did drive a ground, what did you do with your 2 0 ground from your homes main panel? How did you find a breaker on your main panel which could fit the 2 0 in it's lugs? Thanks. Working on a similar 4 AWG (50 amp/ 120 ft run) installation.
2 0 wire from the 200 amp breaker in the main breaker panel in the house all the way to the 100 amp main breaker panel in the garage 200 ft away. wires buried in pvc conduit 30" deep outside the house. ground wire from main panel in house connected to delta grounding set up outside. delta is 3 copper rods in a triangle each rod is 6' apart with copper wire wound around each rod and back to the main panel ground, it is extra protection from power surges. also grounded panel in garage with one ground rod. my electrician friend connected the wires in the main panel so I am not sure what he did. we also came into the crawl space foundation wall using a l b and supported the crawl space wiring on the floor joists. it was a expensive beast of a job. wrestling that 2 0 wire into the conduit was like trying to stuff a elephant into a refridgerator
If they say it's legit to run it this way then I'm sure it is, however I would definitely spring for the extra $30 bucks for some PVC conduit. Seems a bit sketchy to me. Low voltage wiring is one thing, but this isn't low voltage.
according to the electrical code, this actually is considered "low voltage" "high voltage" is transmission and distribution lines you're thinking about "extra low voltage", i.e. 24V and lower
If spending the money on a machine trencher, might as well run a conduit or two, to run a feeder circuit for a subpanel, and a spare for telecomm wiring
@@Bremend in case you want internet, speakers, irrigation control, cable, alarm, intercomm, or other low volt systems that require low volt wire. You cannot run low volt wires through the same conduit as 120v power wires.
A few discrepancies: not sure about NEC but the CEC requires direct burial cable depth to be 1.5ft deep and a GFCI is not required. GFCI's are governed by other code rules for outdoor receptacles, etc. Also the sand doesn't serve as a warning when digging it's purpose is to ensure the wire is not damaged by any rocks when backfilling.
@@walterbrunswick from a guy who talks to squirrels. "ft" is the standard notation whereas the prime ' (for foot) and double prime " (for inches) are shorthand alternatives not normally used in engineering since it is easily misprinted (i.e ink issues). Reference ANSI "American National Standard Institute" OR for the layman Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_(unit) OR USA Gov: www.fdot.gov/docs/default-source/roadway/ds/15/ser/AbbreviationsAndSymbols.pdf
@@pierredoucet4556 I'm talking about using decimal notation with Imperial measurements! What is 2.7ft?? wtf talks like that when talking Imperial!? we would say, 2' 11/16"!!
@@walterbrunswick (we get the smaller swiss squirrels down here; In Ontario they are really big!!)... By "we" I assume you mean construction trade because "we" in Canada use both imperial and metric. It depends on the application; for gas its practical to use BTUs but for electricity its much better to use kWh (or Joules). In any case, fractional inches are common in construction and trades but surveying and engineers use decimals for feet because it simplifies the math (eg. triangulation; a^2 + b^2 = c^2); in fact even in the USA open reel surveying tapes are often graduated in fractional inch AND decimal foot - Note: the french word for "inch" also means "thumb"... so correction above: 18 thumbs. lol
The power to my workshop outbuilding is run using this. I thought someone had just done a hack job and I was sure there was supposed to be conduit. It seems this isn't ideal, but at least I know I don't have to dig it up and replace anytime soon.
instead of two wires ( black + white ) run a three wire (black red + white) the black and red will each carry 120v giving you 240v the white will be the nuetral for each 120v high leg. The amperage you require will determine the size wire you will need to install. You will also need to install a double pole circuit breaker in your main panel to feed the newly installed three wire
What is sand going to do if you are digging conduit is more safe and it will protect it more. In the UK we have to use armoured cable when we are going underground
Why wasn't there more information on the overhead wire from the house? Was that part of the job? Or was it already there? If I want to run power from my house to a garage with no power, do I need that wire too?
Hi there. Such different wiring in USA! I generally run a 6mm minimum cable to a garage (depending on distance). All that work, you might as well allow for things like garage conversions to a flat etc. Great trenching. Thats good. We in (australasia) mostly use a conduit for protection in the trench. Good you use an RCB at the switchboard. Quite interesting to watch the fact you use bare earth cables. We stopped that in late 1960! Please note that a test of installation should be required (loop impedence, insulation, earthing etc) perhaps your rules are different?? Perhaps DIY jobs dont need these tests in the US? Great video, i love watching this channel.
I love reading the comments of these How to diy projects and seeing all the "experts" saying it is wrong. There are a lot of different opinions in most so who really knows what they are talking about?
Im having a similar situation right now. I lost power to the garage and it looks like I need to re-wire it underground. I want to know much digging i need to do to pull out the old wire. I have no idea what they used to wire the cable when the house was built. The house is a 1968.
Made the big ass trench... Might as well throw conduit in to it. Why does This Old House hate Conduit? It is easy to work with and easy to bend the pipes with a cheap pipe bender.
I ran electricity to a stable for our mini horse in this way, but 30” deep, except one area that was not possible, then 18” and in conduit. 1 circuit for lights and a water de-icer. Fed it with a ground fault/arc fault protected circuit. Easy peasy.
Love the electrical tape over the main breaker to not let people know that they are working on the breaker box with the main breaker still on (like I'm sure lots of people do to avoid having to reset the clock on the microwave).
For a short run I wouldn't sweat it... just dig the trench and direct burry. OTOH, with electric cars being more popular by the day, I'm thinking to go with at least #6 wire in conduit so you could eventually add a 50 amp circuit to charge your Tesla, Leaf, Volt, etc. That way you'd still have enough capacity to do more than a single 120 volt circuit for other things. Heck, bring the #6 into a small panel and leave that in the garage for future growth. The extra parts probably wouldn't cost more than $200 and you'd be ready for anything down the road.
Electric cars are a joke. They use more fossil fuels (and nuclear in Tennessee) to produce and A TON of fossil fuels (and nuclear) in the manufacturing of the batteries. These costs will likely stay high as China all but has a monopoly on the rare metals needed for the batteries. And what about building out the infrastructure? In Tennessee WHENEVER I'm using electricity, it comes from about 42% nuclear, 24% Coal, some natural gas and the rest hydroelectric, etc. And what kind of energy was used to create those massive hydroelectric dams? The parts for the wind turbines? The replacement costs? Use your heads people. Nuclear waste continues to be a hazard for thousands of years (yes really).
@@johnbarrett5229 ... you forgot to mention that most every part of an EV can be recycled so the only "lost" fuel is the energy used to build it, so very similar to a conventional car. That said, in most cases the EV can travel more than twice the distance for a given amount of energy... and without an oil change or tune up.... and also gets at least twice the miles on a set of brakes. The list goes on.
I know a guy who used coaxial cable (yes, cable tv wire) to run power to his garage for a single light bulb . years later we still give him grief for that!
I hear a lot of people talking so badly about how TOH does a job but if anyone of the tlTOH contractors came to help me I'm sure the job would have been done right and would work out even better than anything I would have done alone.
Since you had the trencher. Why bury it at 12 inches. Why didn't you put it 2 to 3 foot down. And yes def use conduit. Any nick in the wire. Once it heats up and the moisture. That wire will burn and short out the breaker.
I love TOH, but y’all, like I was told in electrical school, don’t go through all that work to bury direct bury wire. Run conduit. Then you can run whatever you want in the future.
If you are going through all the trenching go with pvc,1” min and individual conductors,unless you are sure you will only need a plug and light, you could use 1/2 pvc but most of my customers end up saying I wish I went with a bigger pipe, there is very little cost difference between 1/2 and 1” pvc the expansion joints are a bit more but overall it’s not a whole lot more
What if I can't go that deep? My brother in law already run water lines and electricity to my garage where my parents live. The problem is that when my mom turns on microwave and minisplit ac it trips the breaker and also a combination of other appliences. The garage has a lot of outlets and I think they are on a 20amp breaker with a 14 gauge romex cable and brother in law also got electricity from the exiating 220 0r 240 outlet in garage to add more stuff. When breaker trips the whole power goes out in garage and also in kitchen of the main house. I think circuit is overloading.I was thinking of adding a 60amp circuit to main box and running a new line to garage and in garage add one of this boxes Eaton Corporation Br816L125Fdp 6 Circuit Main Lug Load Center, 125-Amp??? Also will I need to cancell all existing outlets and start from zero or is there a way to just add the new line to existing outlets in garage??? Thank u
Had a contractor install regular solid conductors in EMT with screw fittings about 12” deep. He said it’s fine and will last 75 years before the galvanized coating Corrodes. Is he right or cutting corners ?
It can be buried directly in the soil but has to be protected by corrosion protection which galvanized is not. Emt , unlike Ridgid or imc,is not galvanized. It's a zinc coating. The conduit must be wrapped with an approved PVC corrosion proof tape. If you put in pvc pipe but converted to factory galvanized 90° elbows coming out of the ground, you still have to wrap the elbows with the tape. The tape is PVC and it's about 2" wide.
Is it just me who finds it a bit odd that they didn't put it in pipes? Makes it much easier if you need to replace it for any reason. Or if you need to add a second cable. Or if it gets damaged. Or just to protect if from getting damaged. Edit: read some comments, it's not just me.
I said the exact same thing as you did!!!!!! I went and bought all those extra post that cost $10 I didn't care I wanted to protect my line and my license contractor said, No!! don't worry about it, you'll be alright, He said, "I did it in my own home".. This day I still think, I should go get those posts and run A-line through it To protect that line... Just like when it's said dig it 12" I dug it all the way to 18"..... My contractor said that's really deep. I rather be safe than sorry...
It's amazing the difference in regulations all around the world. Here in Australia that cable would need to be in orange conduit buried with at least 500mm cover (20inches) I guess that's the difference when working with 230 volts vs 110.
Another great thing about the sand is how well it protects conduit (for those that use conduit obv) It’s 98% compacted when wet and MUCH better at protecting the conduit relative to backfill that could contain debris like rocks that damages the conduit. Def check the local codes for depth requirements because frost heave can be an issue and different voltages can change that number too
Those saying you would run extra wires to a detached building. You can only run one feeder/circuit to a detached garage as per NEC. Also, although conduit would protect wire from anyone digging and accidental contact underground contact often ends up with water in it over the years from gaskets and seals not being 100% effective. So you end up with wires sitting in water. Also any electrician worth his weight in wire knows pulling through PVC at great lengths offers a lot of friction. In my opinion when done right UF is just fine and save a ton of $ in pvc and labor. Lastly detached building need a disconnect at the building and a ground rod as per NEC which is not shown in this video.
The irony about you using a trenching machine and then adding that level of sand and caution tape…. Am I wrong to think that if the next guy uses the same machine to cut across your feed, he’s gonna blow straight through it?
Just curious Mark what kind of wire was that? I need to run some 110 to my garage and one line of 240. I know codes vary, but generally speaking what would you recommend? I want to do it budget minded, but correct. Thanks in advance for your advice. God bless.
A lot of comments about them not using conduit the whole way. You can't put UF direct burial wire in conduit like that, it gets too hot. It's already double insulated. Could have run individual THHN in conduit and that would have been better, but you can't just put any wire in underground conduit.
UF-B is completely fine in conduit if fill percentage is okay. That's why UF-B is always rated at 60 C instead of THHN's 75 or 90 C, to account for the heat dissipation (or lack thereof)
I love how everyone in the comments thinks they are contractors. If you are a contractor why are you watching this "how to" video for homeowners? Nothing wrong with what this guy did. I do think it was silly to waste money on sand vs. just using conduit, but for the average homeowner this will work just fine. Give the guy a break.
I hear you shouldn't run galvanized steel under ground because it can Crack from the hot to cold situations. Atleast here in nyc. I'm not sure if this is true but sounds likely. they run PVC pipe under and galvanized conduit coming up.
+pquin77 - Galvanized steel will eventually rust and fail. For underground work, PVC is the better choice. Protected from sunlight, it will last a century, or more - long enough that none of us will care.
its the same reason why people who are in cinema like to watch cinematography tutorials or lighting tutorials: to see how other people do things, to possibly learn new things, and just general entertainment (sometimes its nice to see and not have to do). when they watch this they just see someone doing something half-assessed.
I thought UF wire had to be buried 18 inches deep, and conduit is 12 inches? To anyone watching this video, just pay the extra money to run conduit underground. It's worth it.
Schedule 40 PVC is not rated for physical damage. Schedule 80 would need to be used. NEC 2014 edition 300.5(D)(4). As others have said needed bushing as well NEC 2014 edition 300.5(H) You only know what you know. Even experts can be wrong. We learn something new every day.
The installation meets the NEC. The minimum burial depth under lawn areas is 24 inches. This dimension decreases to 18 inches under a concrete walkway and at the paved driveway. However, these burial depths can be decreased to 12 inches where the lighting branch circuit overcurrent protection is 15 or 20A, the voltage is 120 and the branch circuit is protected by a ground-fault circuit-interrupter. This reduction in burial depth is permitted under column 4 of Table 300.5. He put in a GFCI breaker - it meets code buried at 12-inches.
Question.... If I'm running coax cable AND electric, do i have to separate them in anyway? I hear there may be interference with the coax if they lay together.
With that trench I would have run a higher ampacity circuit and put a subpanel in the garage. Conduit at least 24” also. Maybe the main panel was at it’s limit?
Kevin and Darina S the purpose of a junction box is to have access to the connectors. Cannot bury one to my knowledge. Run a second cable to the other location.
That's exactly what I did to my one car garage. I have a 100 amp in my house and then I ran that wire to my garage underground. 18"deep..NOT 12" deep. The question I have is could have I use 10/3 wire under ground to home to garage And also about that white wire, GCI breaker coming from the main panel.(HOMELINE) Do I need to get that one?? I think he used a 30 amp breaker. Is that OKAY 👍 👌???
I'm curious, is this 10/2 wire he is using? I want to make a man cave out of my shed. would this wire be heavy enough to power outlets plus an AC window unit, a fridge and stovetop?
individual number 4 wire. 3 lengths.. 220 and one neutral. Put in gray pcv pipe. Used a 220 60amp breaker in the house, and 12 space breaker box in garage with 100a main. Run another pipe to run cable tv, cat5
No conduit and indoor latex caulk on the conduit entry to the home? Bury a riser pipe size conduit at 24" deep and do it right. A trencher is $230 for 4 hours at Home Depot. You might as well run a usable conduit with a jet line for later use. Especially since you seem to be running individual wires so you can use the breakers on the house panel.
i would have piped it if you spent all that $ to dig a Trench. wire gets damaged, you have to re-do the entire Trench. if pipe gets damaged, you may be able to repair the break and pull new wire in, also if you bury a good sized 3/4 or 1" pipe you could add extra circuits later on
I need to do run a underground water pipe to get water from my house to the garage. Any suggestions? I don't see a video for that. It is similar situation but it is water. Thank you
Like electrical work, you would need to shut off the water supply, you would first plan your route from the pipes you want to cut into and have a Y in the pipe soldered. One line of course for the current water passage, the other for what your wanting to put in and run out to it's destination. When you trench, has to be below freezing line into the ground. I've never heard of using pvc pipe to protect copper pipes from freezing, however it's not a bad idea to have them incasing the copper pipes going to it's destination. Plumbing issues have changed over the years, use to be all copper pipes, flux and soldering after you've shined up the copper pipe and put flux on the copper fittings and using a damp rag along with a propane heating torch to melt the solder into the pipe that is drawn in by the flux, and once the fittings are securely soldered, you use your damp rag to go around the pipe for a much more smoother, neater job in soldering. They also have crimp rings used when making connections to copper pipes, the more you tighten the connector, the more the crimp ring forms a more secure hold onto the pipe with no water leaks, thus bypassing soldering. PVC pipe and glue is the more modern way of plumbing in newer homes these days, channeling water to it's various destinations throughout the house. After all plumbing connection are made, then you turn your water back on, checking for leaks before backfilling or checking the Y pipe you've just cut in and soldered to divert water to an additional location that you want.
My dad had a trencher. It was me and my three brothers. R.I.P. dad and thanks for the work ethic😀
Haha I have two young boys and that is my gameplan for when they are a bit older.
My dad had the same except it was just me at 6 am with a shovel and wheel barrow... my 2 younger brothers got to sleep in
Good one.
You got that right 🤣🤣🤣
Your Dad was a wise man. May he Rest In Peace!
All that work for a single circuit but i'm sure the customer like in most cases wanted to take the cheap way out and do the bare minimum. I always recommend running at least a 30 amp feeder to a garage. People always overload a single circuit in a garage. They start putting extra freezers and fridges in the garage and in the winter run an electric space heater. Then you have all the power tools people use. If you are going to dig up the ground like that might as well spend a little more now then a lot more later. Yeah its' about $150 more for 10-3 vs 12-3 for about $50-$60 for 100 feet but the same labor.
YES! I found that 4/4/4/4 SER wire was around $22 more then 10/3 wire, for the 100ft run to are other building, so 50 amps or 30 amps was a 22$ difference (and a few other small changes for a lager wire and AL wire). I still breaker-ed at 40 Amps but why put the money into something and only pull 20 amps with no way to upgrade!
When I put in a wire to my garage I put in a 3/0. It ran 200 feet away. What a shame all this work and you have limited capacity for future
Plus all that work of digging to not put it in conduit so if it gets messed up have to dig all over again
Just makes me wanna go re-do the job all over again
number 4 individual wire. 100a. And run another conduit for CAT5 , phone line, and RG6 cable tv
This video answered the burning question I had of how to secure LB box to the wall. Thank you for posting this video. Now I can finish installing my floodlights above my garage!
haha, i was looking for a video to explain the same thing and also ended up here. looks simple enough but i've been anxious about cutting a hole through an exterior wall
It is...until you need to replace it or run another line. Have fun digging again. Conduit people, CONDUIT!
Except now it's harder to dig due to the existing wire down there.
@@Arieeeee ignore it. Replace that wire when you dig the new trench. Wires cheap
That's pretty much the only thing you can do at that point, but it also means you have to spend time on all the connections again too. Digging an extra 6 inches and spending an extra $20 on getting some PVC pipes and glue would be the "right" way to do it while you're spending money on the digging. Even if Scott didn't do it, he could have mentioned it.
JUST DO IT! CONDUIT! 😀
Amen and amen and use a bigger pipe then you think you need
Great tip with heating & bending conduit.
Enjoy the show & videos.
Code or no code, running wiring under ground should ALWAYS be in conduit.
It's very possible, I'd say highly likely, to keep going past the sand and caution tape without seeing them because they're soft, easily cut with a shovel, and provide zero resistance...... that shovel can still go right through the electrical line with no problems if someone is digging through without looking. Conduit will provide certain, immediate feedback that something is down there even if you don't see it.
yes totally agree , there is no protection for the cable under the ground , so very dangerous installation
It is on an RCBO, We allow in new zealand cables buried direct but fairly deep. 500-700mm i believe. At least sand was used ;}
it's water proof, dude
@@jamedlock83, no one care if it's waterproof or not. He's talking about it being safe in case someone is digging in that area later on.
@@jtltet Nothing would happen other than the breaker tripping, whoever's on the other end of the shovel would be fine. They should have run conduit because all underground wiring fails eventually and if you have conduit you have a race to pull new wire through.
I miss Scott. He was great
An electrical conduit would allow for future wire upgrades and such along with protection. CATV, phone and ethernet could be added as needed at a later time. A pull string or cord could be added to assist in adding these cables later.
Its also recommended to install 2 pipes for safety that way the power and the data are separated to make sure interference is kept to a minimum.
I do agree that a conduit in the trench would be a better solution, but you wouldn't want to run twisted pair copper(ethernet) in a conduit that has electricity as the AC will create a lot of interference. A power line network or a wireless solution would be simpler for something like this.
CAT7 copper has aluminum shielding around each twisted pair in addition to shielding around the entire cable, not sure if it's enough for 10G running in the same conduit as electrical wiring but I bet it'd do 1G just fine
Glenn Watkins bv
Not code compliant to run CATV, ethernet, phone in the same conduit with 120V AC.
When I built my house I rand conduits everywhere I might decide to take electric in and outside. Smartest thing I ever did.
If that's the smartest thing you ever did, I'm afraid to know how the rest of your life is going.
@@Pyth110 Smartest thing while building the house, Nimrod. It's saved me tens of thousands.
I have been doing electrical work for 31 years and had my masters ticket for 24 there is no way i would do this to a client. PVC is cheep digging a ditch is not. Use conduit don't re-dig a ditch.
Maybe he should have put in a concrete encased duct bank with two 4-inch PVC conduits with 4-way innerduct? I mean if you want to do it the "right way" let's go all the way.
you mean to use tubing to protect the bare electrical cable in the dirt? I was wondering why there is no protection
He means use conduit so if you ever need to upgrade or replace the wiring, you just slid it thru, if you direct buried the wire it would require a new ditch
maczrule that depends on how much the customer wants to pay. If he's not intending on adding to the garage than the wire is fine. The only thing I would've changed is using emt instead of pvc coming out of the ground.
EMT will rust in the ground. PVC will not.
I would've used a heavier wire for drop with a feeder panel in the garage. Then you can add on compressor, and heaters.
12 inches would be too shallow
I would too, But most people just live and pay bills with zero intentions on hobbys
He should have run a 30Amp or higher circuit in conduit to the garage and put in a sub panel. Then put the lights and outlets on separate breakers.
This show is great. Never knew I could form fit conduit pipe!
Lol! Vin Diesel takes up installing a cable)
Shouldve done XXX part 2 instead of the pacifier lol
If you’re going thru all the work of trenching, put the whole run in conduit. Direct burial wire is a bad idea. And your garage door on a GFCI breaker will have nuisance trips.
Its fine, I’ve done this 20 years ago and no problems.
@@Bamazrollin ok thanks, I’m glad you cleared this up for me.
Always better to run conduit… even if it’s PVC. It allows you to add extra circuits later if you need them. And because a garage can double as workspaces or living spaces… You will surely need extra circuits.
Actually the proper way would be to add a sub panel if you plan on adding circuits.
I was wondering about this. Ok so I'll run PVC, but what size?
@@nofurtherwest3474 it all depends on your situation. It depends how many circuits you need, which will depend on what the purpose of your garage is. A good option for most, which has been suggested here, is to install a subpanel in your garage. A 60 amp sub panel would require #6 copper wires and is enough to satisfy most garage. In today’s world, you need to consider potential larger electrical, demands such as car, charging. Yes, direct burial cable is always an option but conduit has a greater degree of protection for the conductors, and if you oversize the PVC, there will be no need to dig up the ground again just to add more wire.
Whether you were running wires for branch circuits, or wires for a sub panel, Its always good to slightly oversize the conduit. The bigger the conduit, the easier it is to pull the wires through, and to add future circuits if necessary. And no matter how few circuits you would be running, even if it’s just one circuit, I would install nothing less than 1 inch PVC. I would consult with a local electrician for advice when you make your decision.
@@KevinsHeaven ok thanks! Should I try this myself or hire an electrician to do it? you said consult with electrician, do you mean hire them? I already know there's no other utilities using the run from house to garage, so I can dig.
@@nofurtherwest3474 I wouldn’t necessarily fire them unless you had the funds. But if you know someone who’s in electrician, you could ask some basic questions that might pertain to your specific area. You may want to ask them how deep your trench should be for your conduit. Don’t hold me to this, but I think it’s 12 inch minimum depth… Deeper if under a driveway. Anyway, it’s a good way to save money if you dig the trench yourself. Cutting and gluing PVC is very easy. I suggest specifically searching RUclips with using PVC and trenches keywords and you should get lots of helpful tips. If you are just running one or more individual circuits, it’s definitely doable for you if you have basic mechanical skills. The videos will show you best methods for getting out of your home with the circuits and into the garage structure, from the outside in good luck! Sounds like a nice adventure awaits you.
My brother and I ran wire to a pump house and we didn't take shortcuts or spare expenses! We ran it into conduit pipe! Sand doesn't mean anything to me when I am digging! Plus it saves time having to replace the wire when you cut through it with a shovel or ditch digger!
This is what I'm doing this weekend!
I would continue to use PVC pipe going out to the garage with the wire threaded into the pipe to protect it even that much more. I've done it before, threaded the wire into the pipe, and ran the wire out to the junction box into the garage, first, then ran the wire into the breaker box and connect up the breaker in the breaker box. I'm also kinda funny about marking my lines with a black magic marker so they are marked from beginning to end so you KNOW which line is which, and eliminates confusion as well as marking the breaker inside tag so you KNOW how to kill the power if you need to to do further electrical work inside the garage, or to change things that might needing changed or rearranged for the future.
I hired an electrician to run an outlet 35 feet from outside breaker box to a hottub. Used a GFCI breaker and that PVC wire laid in the trench. Not only did he do a terrible job, (I had to show him how to tin wire to put an outlet together, provided my tools so he could get the job done, and dug 3/4 of the trench because he was going so slow), but 2 months later, I'm ripping the wire back out of the ground because it seems moles have opened that waterproof protective covering. Glad I didn't dump a load of concrete on top of it! Yes, I told him there were moles in the area and he said "They may think the wire is a root". but did nothing about it.
Once again shows me most contractors are worthless since I have to go back and fix what they screw up 99% of the time. I'm always relearning that lesson. Do it myself so it's done right.
I agree with you. I’d rather put in the time and get my hands dirty to make sure it gets done correct the first time and you save some money.
Why would an electrician ever need to "tin wire"?
All the money spent on a trencher and sand to backfill, you could have spent another $25 for conduit all the way. Then, you could have used THHN wire and saved more money. Whoever planned this job didn't do well.
Most THHN wire nowadays is rated THWN as well.
How can I figure out what size breaker i need to in my main panel to feed my sub panel that I'm installing in my shed..... i want to put two 220v , eight 110 plugs and 2 overhead lights? also what size wire would I need to go from the main panel to the sub-panel 150 ft away.
Depends what kind of 240V appliances you need to run out there, and how much power they use. We need to start from there. The lights use negligible power, since they are all LED. Then two 20A circuits for the 120V outlets (4 on each).
table saw at 220, miter saw, 110 drill press 110, dust collector 220, Router table 110.
I would run three #2 THHN/THWN copper conductors, along with a #6 green grounding conductor, all in 1-1/4" PVC conduit, and a 100A subfeed and breaker in the main panel. In the shed, use the Square-D Homeline panel rated at 125 amps, with 12 spaces/24 circuits max, from Home Depot. The trench needs to be at least 18" deep. Be sure to pull a permit and get an inspection. And the inspector needs to see the open trench before you backfill it.
2017 code says you can't do this no more, for all the homeowners that want to do this now. Garage outlets have to be dedicated 20a gfci. And plus in this installation you need a disconnecting means at the first point of entry.
Craig the real MVP
Nothing is more expressive than doing a job twice
lol so cool to see other youtubers on totally different channels than their own haha hope you are doing well!
when I ran electric wire and a water line 200 ft to my garage/workshop it was buried 30" deep. I used 2 0 wire so I could have a 100 amp breaker in the garage and the wire was run in conduit big enough for future wiring if needed, also ran a small rope in the conduit to pull future wires if needed. ran the water piping in conduit due to the rocky soil. it was a beast of a job.
Can you tell me more about your installation? What type or rating of 2 0 and how many conductors did you use? what wire did you use to make the run from the panel in the house to the outside wall? Did you drive a ground rod? If you did drive a ground, what did you do with your 2 0 ground from your homes main panel? How did you find a breaker on your main panel which could fit the 2 0 in it's lugs? Thanks. Working on a similar 4 AWG (50 amp/ 120 ft run) installation.
2 0 wire from the 200 amp breaker in the main breaker panel in the house all the way to the 100 amp main breaker panel in the garage 200 ft away. wires buried in pvc conduit 30" deep outside the house. ground wire from main panel in house connected to delta grounding set up outside. delta is 3 copper rods in a triangle each rod is 6' apart with copper wire wound around each rod and back to the main panel ground, it is extra protection from power surges. also grounded panel in garage with one ground rod. my electrician friend connected the wires in the main panel so I am not sure what he did. we also came into the crawl space foundation wall using a l b and supported the crawl space wiring on the floor joists. it was a expensive beast of a job. wrestling that 2 0 wire into the conduit was like trying to stuff a elephant into a refridgerator
Who is addicted to these videos and dont even have a house of yourself
Good job!
If they say it's legit to run it this way then I'm sure it is, however I would definitely spring for the extra $30 bucks for some PVC conduit. Seems a bit sketchy to me. Low voltage wiring is one thing, but this isn't low voltage.
according to the electrical code, this actually is considered "low voltage"
"high voltage" is transmission and distribution lines
you're thinking about "extra low voltage", i.e. 24V and lower
If spending the money on a machine trencher, might as well run a conduit or two, to run a feeder circuit for a subpanel, and a spare for telecomm wiring
Telecom wiring, why?
@@Bremend in case you want internet, speakers, irrigation control, cable, alarm, intercomm, or other low volt systems that require low volt wire. You cannot run low volt wires through the same conduit as 120v power wires.
Do you need to seal the pvc conduit where the uf cable goes into the trench? Thanks for the video.
A few discrepancies: not sure about NEC but the CEC requires direct burial cable depth to be 1.5ft deep and a GFCI is not required. GFCI's are governed by other code rules for outdoor receptacles, etc. Also the sand doesn't serve as a warning when digging it's purpose is to ensure the wire is not damaged by any rocks when backfilling.
"1.5ft" if you're going to use Imperial, at least do it properly... 18"!!!
@@walterbrunswick from a guy who talks to squirrels. "ft" is the standard notation whereas the prime ' (for foot) and double prime " (for inches) are shorthand alternatives not normally used in engineering since it is easily misprinted (i.e ink issues). Reference ANSI "American National Standard Institute" OR for the layman Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_(unit) OR USA Gov: www.fdot.gov/docs/default-source/roadway/ds/15/ser/AbbreviationsAndSymbols.pdf
@@pierredoucet4556 I'm talking about using decimal notation with Imperial measurements!
What is 2.7ft?? wtf talks like that when talking Imperial!? we would say, 2' 11/16"!!
@@pierredoucet4556 and leave my squirrels alone🤣🤣🐿️
Edit: that was 9 years ago, poor guys are already dead😢
@@walterbrunswick (we get the smaller swiss squirrels down here; In Ontario they are really big!!)... By "we" I assume you mean construction trade because "we" in Canada use both imperial and metric. It depends on the application; for gas its practical to use BTUs but for electricity its much better to use kWh (or Joules). In any case, fractional inches are common in construction and trades but surveying and engineers use decimals for feet because it simplifies the math (eg. triangulation; a^2 + b^2 = c^2); in fact even in the USA open reel surveying tapes are often graduated in fractional inch AND decimal foot - Note: the french word for "inch" also means "thumb"... so correction above: 18 thumbs. lol
The power to my workshop outbuilding is run using this. I thought someone had just done a hack job and I was sure there was supposed to be conduit. It seems this isn't ideal, but at least I know I don't have to dig it up and replace anytime soon.
I agree with all the folks about the conduit. Also, I'm wondering how you would get 240 to the garage?
instead of two wires ( black + white ) run a three wire (black red + white) the black and red will each carry 120v giving you 240v the white will be the nuetral for each 120v high leg. The amperage you require will determine the size wire you will need to install. You will also need to install a double pole circuit breaker in your main panel to feed the newly installed three wire
The cable you showed at the start of the video looks similar to the cable we use for wiring in the UK - it's called twin and CPC (earth/ground).
This is great!
What is sand going to do if you are digging conduit is more safe and it will protect it more. In the UK we have to use armoured cable when we are going underground
If you hit sand when digging you STOP.
You would think they would clarify for those who will do this themselves. No conduit required if buried 24 inches or greater.
Cowboy Boots wrong
If it’s GFCI protected than 12 inches of cover is allowed
@@leonardholt5311 code in VA but obviously you know everything everywhere.
I want to run wire in sch40 from my outdoor breaker panel to an ac disconnect. Do i have to use uf cable in the outdoor conduit?
Question: Why only 12 inches and not 18 inches? Does being direct burial have something to do with it?
how far down do you put the red caution tape
Nice and clear explanation
What gauge wire was used? Can I use 14/2 for one outdoor outlet?
I’m just here for the comments
Why wasn't there more information on the overhead wire from the house? Was that part of the job? Or was it already there? If I want to run power from my house to a garage with no power, do I need that wire too?
Hi there. Such different wiring in USA!
I generally run a 6mm minimum cable to a garage (depending on distance). All that work, you might as well allow for things like garage conversions to a flat etc.
Great trenching. Thats good. We in (australasia) mostly use a conduit for protection in the trench.
Good you use an RCB at the switchboard. Quite interesting to watch the fact you use bare earth cables. We stopped that in late 1960!
Please note that a test of installation should be required (loop impedence, insulation, earthing etc) perhaps your rules are different?? Perhaps DIY jobs dont need these tests in the US?
Great video, i love watching this channel.
I think it varies based on the city.
Look at all the master electricians in the comments. 🤗
I love reading the comments of these How to diy projects and seeing all the "experts" saying it is wrong. There are a lot of different opinions in most so who really knows what they are talking about?
if using gfci will it trip if you used the welding machine in case of overload?
Because the wire is buried only 12" deep you should pour concrete over it. Cover it with sand first, then the concrete. See 340.12
Im having a similar situation right now. I lost power to the garage and it looks like I need to re-wire it underground. I want to know much digging i need to do to pull out the old wire. I have no idea what they used to wire the cable when the house was built. The house is a 1968.
Can I use wire that can be buried. Do I still use conduit?
Made the big ass trench... Might as well throw conduit in to it. Why does This Old House hate Conduit? It is easy to work with and easy to bend the pipes with a cheap pipe bender.
Craig's best comment- "Cool."
Looks great, thanks!
Did you get it inspected?
I ran electricity to a stable for our mini horse in this way, but 30” deep, except one area that was not possible, then 18” and in conduit. 1 circuit for lights and a water de-icer. Fed it with a ground fault/arc fault protected circuit. Easy peasy.
Love the electrical tape over the main breaker to not let people know that they are working on the breaker box with the main breaker still on (like I'm sure lots of people do to avoid having to reset the clock on the microwave).
what about critters chewing up the wire in the ground? could happen
For a short run I wouldn't sweat it... just dig the trench and direct burry. OTOH, with electric cars being more popular by the day, I'm thinking to go with at least #6 wire in conduit so you could eventually add a 50 amp circuit to charge your Tesla, Leaf, Volt, etc. That way you'd still have enough capacity to do more than a single 120 volt circuit for other things. Heck, bring the #6 into a small panel and leave that in the garage for future growth. The extra parts probably wouldn't cost more than $200 and you'd be ready for anything down the road.
Electric cars are a joke. They use more fossil fuels (and nuclear in Tennessee) to produce and A TON of fossil fuels (and nuclear) in the manufacturing of the batteries. These costs will likely stay high as China all but has a monopoly on the rare metals needed for the batteries. And what about building out the infrastructure? In Tennessee WHENEVER I'm using electricity, it comes from about 42% nuclear, 24% Coal, some natural gas and the rest hydroelectric, etc. And what kind of energy was used to create those massive hydroelectric dams? The parts for the wind turbines? The replacement costs? Use your heads people. Nuclear waste continues to be a hazard for thousands of years (yes really).
@@johnbarrett5229 ... you forgot to mention that most every part of an EV can be recycled so the only "lost" fuel is the energy used to build it, so very similar to a conventional car. That said, in most cases the EV can travel more than twice the distance for a given amount of energy... and without an oil change or tune up.... and also gets at least twice the miles on a set of brakes. The list goes on.
I liked the guitar playing.
hystat Agreed. Some tasty, bluesy licks.
Anyone know where i can get that sand and red plastic banner to serve as a warning just in case i feel like digging?
I know a guy who used coaxial cable (yes, cable tv wire) to run power to his garage for a single light bulb . years later we still give him grief for that!
What's the amp load on this set up? Doesn't seem enough to run all the stuff that's usually in a garage.
I hear a lot of people talking so badly about how TOH does a job but if anyone of the tlTOH contractors came to help me I'm sure the job would have been done right and would work out even better than anything I would have done alone.
Since you had the trencher. Why bury it at 12 inches. Why didn't you put it 2 to 3 foot down. And yes def use conduit. Any nick in the wire. Once it heats up and the moisture. That wire will burn and short out the breaker.
I love TOH, but y’all, like I was told in electrical school, don’t go through all that work to bury direct bury wire. Run conduit. Then you can run whatever you want in the future.
pretty sure that would just fall into the "common sense" category...
If you are going through all the trenching go with pvc,1” min and individual conductors,unless you are sure you will only need a plug and light, you could use 1/2 pvc but most of my customers end up saying I wish I went with a bigger pipe, there is very little cost difference between 1/2 and 1” pvc the expansion joints are a bit more but overall it’s not a whole lot more
1/2 pvc is to small for the wire..3/4 pvc is the best or 1" it's really big.
What if I can't go that deep? My brother in law already run water lines and electricity to my garage where my parents live. The problem is that when my mom turns on microwave and minisplit ac it trips the breaker and also a combination of other appliences.
The garage has a lot of outlets and I think they are on a 20amp breaker with a 14 gauge romex cable and brother in law also got electricity from the exiating 220 0r 240 outlet in garage to add more stuff. When breaker trips the whole power goes out in garage and also in kitchen of the main house. I think circuit is overloading.I was thinking of adding a 60amp circuit to main box and running a new line to garage and in garage add one of this boxes Eaton Corporation Br816L125Fdp 6 Circuit Main Lug Load Center, 125-Amp???
Also will I need to cancell all existing outlets and start from zero or is there a way to just add the new line to existing outlets in garage??? Thank u
I thought it was against code to run UF wire inside a structure? Please comment. Thanks
Had a contractor install regular solid conductors in EMT with screw fittings about 12” deep. He said it’s fine and will last 75 years before the galvanized coating Corrodes. Is he right or cutting corners ?
It can be buried directly in the soil but has to be protected by corrosion protection which galvanized is not. Emt , unlike Ridgid or imc,is not galvanized. It's a zinc coating. The conduit must be wrapped with an approved PVC corrosion proof tape. If you put in pvc pipe but converted to factory galvanized 90° elbows coming out of the ground, you still have to wrap the elbows with the tape. The tape is PVC and it's about 2" wide.
Very interesting to watch this for learning purpose!
It's me,
Sule Shangodoyin.
lol
So easy.👍
Is it just me who finds it a bit odd that they didn't put it in pipes? Makes it much easier if you need to replace it for any reason. Or if you need to add a second cable. Or if it gets damaged. Or just to protect if from getting damaged.
Edit: read some comments, it's not just me.
I said the exact same thing as you did!!!!!! I went and bought all those extra post that cost $10 I didn't care I wanted to protect my line and my license contractor said, No!! don't worry about it, you'll be alright, He said, "I did it in my own home".. This day I still think, I should go get those posts and run A-line through it To protect that line... Just like when it's said dig it 12" I dug it all the way to 18"..... My contractor said that's really deep. I rather be safe than sorry...
It's amazing the difference in regulations all around the world. Here in Australia that cable would need to be in orange conduit buried with at least 500mm cover (20inches) I guess that's the difference when working with 230 volts vs 110.
500mm is a hair under 20 inches, not 200. 200 inches would be over 5 meters deep!
+MukYJ Good point! Edited to 20inches. I'll stick with metric. Much easier.
Orange conduit usually indicates communication. It is in America anyways
Another great thing about the sand is how well it protects conduit (for those that use conduit obv) It’s 98% compacted when wet and MUCH better at protecting the conduit relative to backfill that could contain debris like rocks that damages the conduit.
Def check the local codes for depth requirements because frost heave can be an issue and different voltages can change that number too
Boo what are you saying
Does this type of electrical cable comes in 220V?
🤣
Those saying you would run extra wires to a detached building. You can only run one feeder/circuit to a detached garage as per NEC. Also, although conduit would protect wire from anyone digging and accidental contact underground contact often ends up with water in it over the years from gaskets and seals not being 100% effective. So you end up with wires sitting in water. Also any electrician worth his weight in wire knows pulling through PVC at great lengths offers a lot of friction. In my opinion when done right UF is just fine and save a ton of $ in pvc and labor.
Lastly detached building need a disconnect at the building and a ground rod as per NEC which is not shown in this video.
" You can only run one feeder/circuit to a detached garage as per NEC" Do you have a code reference for that?
The irony about you using a trenching machine and then adding that level of sand and caution tape…. Am I wrong to think that if the next guy uses the same machine to cut across your feed, he’s gonna blow straight through it?
No ducting...good one! Cowboys :D
What torch was he using?
Just curious Mark what kind of wire was that? I need to run some 110 to my garage and one line of 240. I know codes vary, but generally speaking what would you recommend? I want to do it budget minded, but correct. Thanks in advance for your advice. God bless.
Jason Gongwer that was 14-2 UF (Underground Feeder)
I would run a 100 amp sub panel with 2 inch pvc. I think that is 1 gauge copper.
A lot of comments about them not using conduit the whole way. You can't put UF direct burial wire in conduit like that, it gets too hot. It's already double insulated. Could have run individual THHN in conduit and that would have been better, but you can't just put any wire in underground conduit.
UF-B is completely fine in conduit if fill percentage is okay. That's why UF-B is always rated at 60 C instead of THHN's 75 or 90 C, to account for the heat dissipation (or lack thereof)
I love how everyone in the comments thinks they are contractors. If you are a contractor why are you watching this "how to" video for homeowners? Nothing wrong with what this guy did. I do think it was silly to waste money on sand vs. just using conduit, but for the average homeowner this will work just fine. Give the guy a break.
sometimes i wonder why while being a contractor i watch these, one the other hand some things they do and say crack me up)
I hear you shouldn't run galvanized steel under ground because it can Crack from the hot to cold situations. Atleast here in nyc. I'm not sure if this is true but sounds likely. they run PVC pipe under and galvanized conduit coming up.
+pquin77 - Galvanized steel will eventually rust and fail. For underground work, PVC is the better choice. Protected from sunlight, it will last a century, or more - long enough that none of us will care.
its the same reason why people who are in cinema like to watch cinematography tutorials or lighting tutorials: to see how other people do things, to possibly learn new things, and just general entertainment (sometimes its nice to see and not have to do). when they watch this they just see someone doing something half-assessed.
Extension cord to the shed. Boom took 1 minute. Why you gotta be so extra
I thought UF wire had to be buried 18 inches deep, and conduit is 12 inches?
To anyone watching this video, just pay the extra money to run conduit underground. It's worth it.
Unless it’s GFCI protected
Alright! Very Nice! Cool! ... that guys got some acting chops!
Schedule 40 PVC is not rated for physical damage. Schedule 80 would need to be used.
NEC 2014 edition 300.5(D)(4).
As others have said needed bushing as well NEC 2014 edition 300.5(H)
You only know what you know. Even experts can be wrong. We learn something new every day.
The installation meets the NEC. The minimum burial depth under lawn areas is 24 inches. This dimension decreases to 18 inches under a concrete walkway and at the paved driveway. However, these burial depths can be decreased to 12 inches where the lighting branch circuit overcurrent protection is 15 or 20A, the voltage is 120 and the branch circuit is protected by a ground-fault circuit-interrupter. This reduction in burial depth is permitted under column 4 of Table 300.5. He put in a GFCI breaker - it meets code buried at 12-inches.
Question.... If I'm running coax cable AND electric, do i have to separate them in anyway? I hear there may be interference with the coax if they lay together.
Yes they should be in separate conduits.........
With that trench I would have run a higher ampacity circuit and put a subpanel in the garage. Conduit at least 24” also. Maybe the main panel was at it’s limit?
What if I need to split it halfway to two different locations and I want it in conduit? Can you bury a junction box?
Kevin and Darina S the purpose of a junction box is to have access to the connectors. Cannot bury one to my knowledge. Run a second cable to the other location.
All that work you might as well have piped the entire thing and provided future access if you need to pull something or replace it
I never do direct burial wire. Always wire in pvc conduit
I don't care how "waterproof" it is. I'll always run any underground wires in conduit!
That's exactly what I did to my one car garage. I have a 100 amp in my house and then I ran that wire to my garage underground. 18"deep..NOT 12" deep.
The question I have is could have I use 10/3 wire under ground to home to garage And also about that white wire, GCI breaker coming from the main panel.(HOMELINE) Do I need to get that one?? I think he used a 30 amp breaker. Is that OKAY 👍 👌???
No frost sleeve?
I'm curious, is this 10/2 wire he is using? I want to make a man cave out of my shed. would this wire be heavy enough to power outlets plus an AC window unit, a fridge and stovetop?
no, you need a sub panel for that much. all three of those you listed should be on their own circuit.
individual number 4 wire. 3 lengths.. 220 and one neutral. Put in gray pcv pipe. Used a 220 60amp breaker in the house, and 12 space breaker box in garage with 100a main. Run another pipe to run cable tv, cat5
No conduit and indoor latex caulk on the conduit entry to the home?
Bury a riser pipe size conduit at 24" deep and do it right. A trencher is $230 for 4 hours at Home Depot. You might as well run a usable conduit with a jet line for later use. Especially since you seem to be running individual wires so you can use the breakers on the house panel.
Keep the videos coming! Always love seeing the perspective of other entrepreneurs 🚀
i would have piped it if you spent all that $ to dig a Trench. wire gets damaged, you have to re-do the entire Trench. if pipe gets damaged, you may be able to repair the break and pull new wire in, also if you bury a good sized 3/4 or 1" pipe you could add extra circuits later on
I always install pvc conduit.
Nice 10 amp service there
I ate vanilla ice cream with Hershey's chocolate syrup while watching this video.
Did you bring enough for everyone?
I need to do run a underground water pipe to get water from my house to the garage. Any suggestions? I don't see a video for that. It is similar situation but it is water. Thank you
Like electrical work, you would need to shut off the water supply, you would first plan your route from the pipes you want to cut into and have a Y in the pipe soldered. One line of course for the current water passage, the other for what your wanting to put in and run out to it's destination. When you trench, has to be below freezing line into the ground. I've never heard of using pvc pipe to protect copper pipes from freezing, however it's not a bad idea to have them incasing the copper pipes going to it's destination. Plumbing issues have changed over the years, use to be all copper pipes, flux and soldering after you've shined up the copper pipe and put flux on the copper fittings and using a damp rag along with a propane heating torch to melt the solder into the pipe that is drawn in by the flux, and once the fittings are securely soldered, you use your damp rag to go around the pipe for a much more smoother, neater job in soldering. They also have crimp rings used when making connections to copper pipes, the more you tighten the connector, the more the crimp ring forms a more secure hold onto the pipe with no water leaks, thus bypassing soldering. PVC pipe and glue is the more modern way of plumbing in newer homes these days, channeling water to it's various destinations throughout the house. After all plumbing connection are made, then you turn your water back on, checking for leaks before backfilling or checking the Y pipe you've just cut in and soldered to divert water to an additional location that you want.