120v feed to electric gate.

[brent5631]

So I'm wanting to run a 120v 12/2 wire about 80ft from my shop to my back gate. I'm looking for input on what is required from a code standpoint.

I'm thinking 12/2 direct burial but what is required as far as the trench? What depth ect?

Where in the nec covers this sort of thing? I read through the feeder section but that didn't seem to apply.

Thanks,

 

[rockwithjason]

Bump the size to 10/2. Bury it 24 in down and use a pvc sleeve to enter ans exit the ditch. I dont have a code book in front of me atm but 300 has most of it

 

[toplessHO]

look under type UF(underground feeder)
I like using a DC powered gate that just needs a trickle charger to replenish the battery
and a solar cell for primary charging. In that case it would be fine with 12-2/w grnd type UF

 

[TheEquineFencer]

I might get flamed for this, BUT I'd run PVC conduit and pull my wire through it.

In the past I've found, even with lines buried "deep" sooner or later that one single rock, laying in the just the right spot gets into the UF wire. LOL... after you get it run, the wife, if you have one, might decide she wants to put Christmas lights on the gate and you might have to increase the wire size or add another circuit.

 

[Mustang51js]

Last one I did I ran 1 inch pvc and pulled #12 thhn to a gfi that the gate plugged into. Also ran the wire for post lights in same pipe

 

[brent5631]

Thanks for the input. It is a 12v DC gate but I find that the solar charger will allow the battery to run down especially in the winter. So I'm just using it for a trickle charger. I don't like having to reset the controller and realign it when the batt is dead.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

The draw on that is fairly minimal. You could easily use 14 gauge wire. A friend of mine has an electric gate with a solar panel and a battery and a 12 v motor. In the winter it doesn't get enough light, so he ran a extension cord, probably 16 gauge, from the house's outdoor outlet, along the edge of the driveway burying it an inch or so. It was supposed to be temporary, but you know how those things work out. It runs the battery charger in the winter time.

 

[pattenp]

If 120V and 20A or less and is powered from a GFI breaker or outlet it can be buried 12 inches.

 

[toplessHO]

If 120V and 20A or less and is powered from a GFI breaker or outlet it can be buried 12 inches.

unless it under a roadway or driveway

 

[Slowgsr]

The draw on that is fairly minimal. You could easily use 14 gauge wire. A friend of mine has an electric gate with a solar panel and a battery and a 12 v motor. In the winter it doesn't get enough light, so he ran a extension cord, probably 16 gauge, from the house's outdoor outlet, along the edge of the driveway burying it an inch or so. It was supposed to be temporary, but you know how those things work out. It runs the battery charger in the winter time.

Yeah - 50 yr temporary

 

[rburke65]

Buy a bundle of 1/2" or 3/4" pic conduit and pull some then wire of the size you want. Everyone thinks they will remember where they buried that UF wire but.....we are all human and yes we forget. Or the rocks get the wire as previously stated.

 

[zmaxmotorsports]

I might get flamed for this, BUT I'd run PVC conduit and pull my wire through it.

In the past I've found, even with lines buried "deep" sooner or later that one single rock, laying in the just the right spot gets into the UF wire. LOL... after you get it run, the wife, if you have one, might decide she wants to put Christmas lights on the gate and you might have to increase the wire size or add another circuit.

Exactly.

 

[Syberia]

I would never run buried wire without conduit. It's very cheap insurance. If anything does go wrong, you can just pull the old wire out and pull in the new, instead of having to dig up the whole trench.