Looking for a professional looking solution

[bluedog225]

Good morning,

I’ve run 2” conduit from the solar panel site to the shipping container. I’ve also run conduit from the shipping container to the workshop. Right now the conduit is in a trench roughly parallel to the ground. The pull angles are well under 300 degrees.

The shipping container sits about 16 to 18 inches off the ground resting on some steel beams. It holds my batteries, charge controllers, inverters, and main electrical panel.

I’m trying to figure out a smart way to bring the conduit to the 2” rigid metal conduit ******* I have passing through the bottom of the shipping container. One for the workshop feeder, and one to bring in the DC from the solar. While the shipping container will be held down with 10“ arrowhead earth anchors, the soil is clay, and it will move.

I can install a 2” expansion coupling and simply turn the conduit 90 degrees with a long sweep and go in through the floor. That would probably be ok for vertical movement. But I’m worried that might be too stiff a joint over time as thing settled and move.

I have about 15‘ of 2” steel flexible metal conduit. I could use some of that from a 90 stub up to the shipping container. Leaving enough slack to accommodate movement.

The other idea was to make some sort of electrical pedestal next to the shipping container and then run the lines through armored or MC cable.

I’d like this to protect from rodents/varmints, look professional, and be a permanent solution. And robust as the DC will be in the range of 400V. Pounding some unistrut into the ground for a box is probably not going to hold up.

How would you approach this?

Thanks

 

[pbon]

Is the gray flexible whip available in 2”? Would a coil or spiral of it provide the movement needed? A coil would probably be 36” or more in length for that size. Or do you need metal because and animal would chew through plastic or rubber?

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

I highly suggest placing this container on "below frost level" footings prior to installing any electric and this should prevent any settlement and uplift.

 

[PCustoms]

I highly suggest placing this container on "below frost level" footings prior to installing any electric and this should prevent any settlement and uplift.

At least a nice, deep well draining rock/gravel bed.

Around here meters get out on pedestal all the time, IIRC the utility allows 4x4, but most people sink 6x6 below frost (4-6') and use 2x as the backer

 

[Stuart in MN]

I highly suggest placing this container on "below frost level" footings prior to installing any electric and this should prevent any settlement and uplift.

He's in Texas so frost may not be an issue, but there still may be some movement of the soil depending on other conditions.

 

[LXCam]

If it’s not too late use an LB in the horizontal position into your container riser than 2” sealtight from your ground riser 90’d into the LB. Short of someone knocking the container off its support you’ll have a mile of play.

 

[bluedog225]

Is the gray flexible whip available in 2”? Would a coil or spiral of it provide the movement needed? A coil would probably be 36” or more in length for that size. Or do you need metal because and animal would chew through plastic or rubber?

I’d like metal to avoid animal damage.

 

[bluedog225]

I highly suggest placing this container on "below frost level" footings prior to installing any electric and this should prevent any settlement and uplift.

There is no frost line in this part of Texas.

 

[bluedog225]

If it’s not too late use an LB in the horizontal position into your container riser than 2” sealtight from your ground riser 90’d into the LB. Short of someone knocking the container off its support you’ll have a mile of play.

Something like that might work. I don’t expect more than a few inches any direction.

From the soil test, it’s sandy clay down to 15 feet.

 

[bluedog225]

I’ve got some 4 inch galvanized square tubing I could use. Sink a couple of those and attach strut across them. It looks like there’s some armored liquid tight that has both the rubber seal and the metal inside it.

 

[Chuckster in NJ]

If it’s not too late use an LB in the horizontal position into your container riser than 2” sealtight from your ground riser 90’d into the LB. Short of someone knocking the container off its support you’ll have a mile of play.

This ^ would be my choice.……. Plenty of "play" in all directions.

 

[BurtEggley]

Use flexible conduit. You could build two steel boxes, so that one sits inverted on top of the other, and the flexible conduit sits inside both. The one with the opening sits on the ground facing upwards, and the one on top of it facing down would be attached to the container. The flex conduit from the ground to the container would sit inside. That would allow the structure to move up and down but not sideways. Or bring solid conduit straight up and bush the opening in the container with something the animals might not chew thru. Again, that allows up and down but not sideways. You'd almost need to invent two sliding steel plates with slots that would allow the tubing to move up and down, or sideways at will, plus in and out if you need movement in all three planes.

 

[pbon]

I’d like metal to avoid animal damage.

If there is metal spiral flex, use it. If not, put the rubber whip in other metal spiral flex for animal protection. One loop coming out if the ground should be bold for a foot of movement in any direction.