EggXpert

I am going to be running UF wiring to a lamp post through 3/4" gray sched 40 PVC.
I think I'm good...till I come into the house.
Should I convert over to conduit or use metal clad cable inside?
How would I make the connection/conversion between PVC and conduit?

Doesn't seem to be a whole lot of choices for the gray PVC fittings...which is not a big deal outside.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated.

PH

 

Do you plan on having the light on a switch or are you going directly to the breaker box?

If you go to a make up box then you can get a threaded male adapter reduced to 1/2 in. with a threaded lock nut,this will fit in the knock out of make up box. 

I'm going to switch...and going to tap in existing power in garage.

I'm thinking that emt (Electrical Mettalic Tubing) might be easier to work with inside the studs of my garage.

I didn't know if there are any code issues with using the gray electrical PVC inside.  It seems like pretty darned tough stuff, and probably more weather resistant than EMT.

Thanks Aggiedad

Hey PH you might want to check with the city or county guy that issues the permits they have the rules for what is acceptable for your area. That is what I did when I wired from the pole into the house. Also there is special wire that does not have to be put inside of anything that is designed for burial underground that way you just have to have a pipe where it comes into your house or garage I used it for my well pump.

true about the wire hog but since he already has it in pvc I think he is better off. papa if you come from out side to the bottom of a metal switch box you can wire the black wire to the top of your switch, keep the white wire going to the breaker box .from the breaker box wire the black wire to the bottom of your switch the white i going on out to the light. Out side at the light you wire white to white black to black.The wire going to the breaker box I would put in conduit. wire the copper to each other. Hope this is 12-2 wire.

After thought. don't know the codes in your area but here grey pvc is ok we just have to bury it at least 4' deep due to gophers

Thanks guys.

I'm not exactly an amateur...but I don't know all the codes and best practices...especially for outside work....never tackled outside project like this.

HH...thanks for the response.  I'm going to go with the PVC ...just as peace of mind/safety.  Good suggestion to contact the county office.

I know they don't want you using normal NM cable for burial, even if in PVC.

Aggiedad...."dude" 4 feet deep?  Holy hungry gophers, Batman!  Do those suckers eat through PVC?  The walls on 3/4" gray PVC are really thick.

Why would you use #12 wire for a lamp post?  Is that some kind of code or something?

code here they claim a gopher won't bother anything 4' But who knowsif it's in there way the chew through it.Most of our codes are 12-2 on a 20 amp breaker  inside lights we sometimes use 14 on a 15 amp breaker with a limit of 8 ser  on a single breaker.

Right....wire needs to be sized according to the breaker.

Dang...I was never afraid of gophers till I heard your story.

No problem PH, mine is only buried 12-16" deep here in Georgia 12" minimum is all they require. When hooking up to a breaker direct 12/2 or 12/3 is required here what is required there I have no idea, Gophers don't like the Georgia red clay. Good luck there PH.

hey papa,,,call Bill Murray, he can get rid of the gophers before you start,,,(caddy shack)

Hey Papa-I dont know how long of a run you gotta make and what kind of light you need,but with the price of copper these days plus the work involved you might want to consider what I did.Faced with running 2-3hundred ft of direct burial(which I always put in PVC conduit) , I picked up a solar shed lite kit ,it comes with the PVpanel ,a battery, and lamp-everything you need except the shed or post.It works great and although I have a good stockpile of wire and electrical stuff(I do a good bit of electrical work) it still worked out cheaper.I didnt feel like digging the ditch,even with my backhoe,gettin lazy in my old age,lol.Added bonus you can always move it-no sweat.BTW I'm not a big fan of PV panels,but, this is one of those places where they shine(no pun intended) and you're getting LED bulbs which last just about forever.If you want to change the bulbs its cheap and easy to make some of any color or lumen,the store bought bulbs are expensive,but getting cheaper everyday,but with every bulb you're buying a transformer and a base to make it compatable with AC current-dont need that with the shed light kit its DC.                     just throwing you an option,if I can help with any additional info let me know,I'll watch the  thread,.............................GEOD

Thanks GeoD

Hadn't thought about solar cells....or LED lights.  My wife is a technophobe..."big time"....She doesn't like my new television antenna...says it reminds her of Star Trek....and says there are too many wires around our TV.  She'd probably vote "ixnay on the anelpays".

Did give me something to think about.   The run is about 30' as the crow flies.  You are right...it will cost me.

I might invest in something like one of these.  They seem cheap enough I might get one just to try it out.

http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Powered-Security-Motion-Detector/dp/B001PENCNW/ref=pd_sim_dbs_ol_1

http://www.amazon.com/Maxsa-Solar-LED-Security-Floodlight/dp/B001U27N84/ref=pd_sim_hi_2

http://www.amazon.com/Solar-Power-Motion-Activated-Outdoor-Light-Black/dp/B002ISTNZU/ref=pd_sim_hi_3

any of those should work-I got a cheapy at Harbor Freight and it work better than I ever thought it would

mmmmm...Harbor Freight...I can't get out of there without buying something.

I might try some PV sometime in the future to light the landscaping.

Well, I got the PVC laid.  Went fairly well ...all things considered. Could have used a fish tape...but pushed/pulled it through as I was going.  I wonder if #12 wire might have pushed a little better.  Hired a landscaper to dig the hole and trench....worth every penny.  That guy had the grass and landscaping back to near normal when he was done.  I measured 39', and when I was done I had about 3" left of four X 10' sections.

Now I'm going to start cutting the conduit for inside my garage.

 

Well it's all in and working...now I gotta put my garage back together and patch up around the hole.

One thing I learned: pipe cutter works a whooooole lot better than a hack saw.  (Duh...) PH is cheap...and I thought "Why do I need a tubing cutter when I have a perfectly good hack saw?"  Silly kid.

If you haven't seen this post check it out:   http://www.eggxpert.com/forums/thread/584204.aspx

See that PH-in just one project u had 2 "good" excuses to go to Harbor Frieght.A wire fisher and a tubing cutter,you gotta embrace and use those excuses- I do, good reason to tell the wife why I spent my entire check there."But honey, I wanted you to be able to see out there"lol If that doesnt work appeal to her humanity, in your case she wouldnt want you to use the hacksaw instead of a tubing cutter and  have to change you handle to "Papa Smurf"-pretty sure smurfs only have 3 fingers,and hackin thru conduit is a good way to get there-small cut,big infection,amputation-now wouldnt it be cheaper to go to HF?Last but not least theres the line"I didnt want to spend alot of money on a tool I'll only use once or twice-so I went to HF to get it cheap.Just so happened they had 37 other tools I'll only ever use once or twice,so I actually saved us money-and we didnt have to pay a contractor either".Note that all of these statements are true-just tweaked a bit to serve the purpose at hand.Glad to hear it worked out well- now onto the next project...arghhh

 

I've bought a few tools and things from Harbor Freight that were better than traditional consumer tool places.    Other stuff, like you said, doesn't matter because after you use it once, it has paid for itself.

These days some of the traditional tool stores /dept stores don't sell the quality that they once did.  

The right tool for the right job.  If you're working too hard, you probably have the wrong tool.

I have a few maintenance related things I want to do to my car....so I can do those in my garage.