OP
Sticks McGee
Well-known member
What about stranded THHN. (3) 4 gauge for conductors and neutral with a 6 gauge ground?
What size conduit? 1.25”?
What size conduit? 1.25”?
Putting up a new workshop. Power questions.
- Thread starter Sticks McGee
- Start date
1.25 will accomodate easily that combination. You can still run a reduced neutral. The conductors need to be #4 copper good for 85A. OCP could be 90A if calculated load no more than 85A.
The conductors also need to be dual rated THHN/THWN . The W is for wet locations (underground conduit).
Using aluminum conductors will save $$ even when up-sized. XHHW insulation is much more durable than THHN/THWN.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
Forget the URD **** wire. Not worth the hassle of splices
My Old Tools
Well-known member
I pulled thru 1.5" until I hit a 90, then I had to cut it out. 2" works fine, even solo.
Innovate1
Well-known member
If you want an easier pull go with long sweep bends. It makes a lot of difference. I had trouble getting any long bends less that 2" locally so just ran some steam from a kettle through a larger pipe for a few minutes with the PVC inside and it was easy to bend. Layed it on the floor that was tiled so I had some idea of dimensions and held it for a few minutes until it cooled.
Conduit is supposed to be completely installed & then pull the wire, and when bending PVC, a cool wet rag will set it quickly, it's not a code recognized method but a weed burner works pretty good for larger conduit, as does a heat gun.
Innovate1
Well-known member
I found it much easier and got a much more even bend with the steam than my heat gun (which was a fairly small one but went to high temps). Found it hard to get much length hot enough to bend in anything over about 1" diameter so ended up with a bunch of points of sharper bends and a lot more messing with it for a 24" radius.
Steam works to soften PVC my comment was mostly that the conduit goes in 1st, then pull wire.
Innovate1
Well-known member
Yep. Don't want the heat or glue on the wires.
OP
Sticks McGee
Well-known member
Does anyone know what this little gizmo is? Some kind of transformer? I am cleaning up things in the bottom of my main panel in preparation for running power out to the sub panel. Here is how this thing is connected. Neutral lands on the neutral bar. One wire from it goes to a wire nut in the bottom of the panel. It’s connected to a wire that runs to a breaker. There are two wires connected to that breaker. The breaker is labeled “general lighting”. The other wire running from this metal device comes out of the bottom of the box and runs to romex disappearing into a stud (the wire I have my finger on) . There are some old lights in different parts of landscaping that are broken, ripped out and basically non functioning. Could it somehow be related to those? If it really is serving no function I would like to take it out of the box.
Attachments
sparky 1971
Well-known member
It's the transformer for the doorbell.
OP
Sticks McGee
Well-known member
Thank you.
wyliesdiesels
Well-known member
Yup doorbell transformer
Innovate1
Well-known member
Odd location for a doorbell transformer. Low voltage wires in high voltage space must have insulation rating of high voltage area or have a partition to separate them. I can't see the low voltage connections but likely that requirement isn't met. The doorbell transformer usually is installed in a knockout so only the high voltage side is inside. Looks like this one has a lock ring (thin threaded nut - probably has an industry term I can't think of at the moment) so could be mounted that way. Mine is on an electric box on the side of my furnace.
Calling 120 volts "high voltage" is a bit much,
even 480 volts is considered low voltage, I always prefer to call it low voltage & line voltage, since true high voltage has the ability to reach out and touch you if get too close. That transformer should not be inside the panel.Innovate1
Well-known member
I think it was pretty clear if not exactly accurate terms. If you want to get technical using "low voltage" to apply to less than 50 V isn't correct either. It's ELV - extra low voltage. And from what I quickly looked up (could be wrong) doorbell circuits are SELV - safety extra low voltage. Those are under 50 VAC and don't have a connection to earth so a single fault to earth doesn't cause any issue. So the OP connection to neutral isn't correct either. But we came to the same basic conclusion - it shouldn't be in the panel.Calling 120 volts "high voltage" is a bit much,
I just cringe when reading "high voltage" describing 120V or 240V, which is the whole reason for my comments, while it seems more common than it should, most agree the door bell ****** should not be in a panel.
OP
Sticks McGee
Well-known member
A couple more questions:
I’m going to come out of my main panel thru the only available large knockout that is dead center. I was thinking of using a sweeping 90 to go down to the point of exit and land the conduit under my deck to run over to a point I can install an LB and go down in the ground. I can’t exit the garage dead center because my service out of the ground is coming right in that area. It’s about 36” from the bottom of the main panel to where I will exit. The sweeping 90 will have to connect to a short piece of conduit out of the panel to reach. Should I heat the conduit first to curve it over or put a 45 in there? The offset is probably going to be about 2-3 inches left of center.
Is there a standard height when I come back out of the ground to where I place the LB to enter the shed/shop? I plan to mount the sub panel with the top at 6’.
Do I need slip/expansion fittings for where the conduit goes in the ground and then back out? I’m using 1 1/4” conduit.
I’m going to come out of my main panel thru the only available large knockout that is dead center. I was thinking of using a sweeping 90 to go down to the point of exit and land the conduit under my deck to run over to a point I can install an LB and go down in the ground. I can’t exit the garage dead center because my service out of the ground is coming right in that area. It’s about 36” from the bottom of the main panel to where I will exit. The sweeping 90 will have to connect to a short piece of conduit out of the panel to reach. Should I heat the conduit first to curve it over or put a 45 in there? The offset is probably going to be about 2-3 inches left of center.
Is there a standard height when I come back out of the ground to where I place the LB to enter the shed/shop? I plan to mount the sub panel with the top at 6’.
Do I need slip/expansion fittings for where the conduit goes in the ground and then back out? I’m using 1 1/4” conduit.