Putting 110 under a driveway for a gate?

[Chris Adams]

Hi, asking some of the experts about what they would recommend in wiring, conduit, etc. on my next project.
I am putting in a double swing gate.
Oddly, the rams operate on 110 volts.

My 'Roboslide' on my front gate uses 12 volts, so I went solar. Easy to install and no wires to run.

This unit, a K207u double gate opener, uses 110 so I have to wire it in.


http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cach...llation&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=opera



The wire will run under the driveway for the left side gate, about 14 feet. Then up the wall to the box. The box will mount on the side of my garage and be within a foot or two of the main breaker box. I then have to figure how to get power from the breaker box to the controller box.
The unit only draws 150 watts per motor, so roughly 300 watts.

Any recommendations on type of conduit, wire, etc?
It says put it on a 10 amp breaker but my box is fully populated and only has 15 on up. I was thinking of taping it of the light I have mounted in front of the garage, about five feet away to keep from having to go through the wall.

 

[rsanter]

solar charges a couple of batteries and then you connect an inverter to power your opener

bob

 

[Chris Adams]

solar charges a couple of batteries and then you connect an inverter to power your opener

bob

Um, yeah, but that would cost upwards of 300 bucks to do it right, and I can run 3 foot of wire for a little bit less...

My front gate opener uses 12 volts and uses a UPS battery. This sucker would require something the size of a car battery. Car batteries don't like freezing weather or 140 degree temps (minimum in a box in the summer) so I would expect to replace the battery at least once a year, based on previous experiences.

So I will stick to A/C.

No suggestions on what kind of conduit I need? Or grade wire for burying in conduit?

 

[mrb]

PVC conduit, THWN wire, #14, protected by a 15amp breaker.

 

[Chris Adams]

PVC conduit, THWN wire, #14, protected by a 15amp breaker.

Thanks;

Solid metal conduit? Not the plastic covered flexible? I was looking at both and the plastic covered metal flexible looked very easy to work with. I have to come up a few inches to the arms. Solid may not work there.

THWN wire helps. I don't do much outside stuff, not very familiar with running 110 under dirt or to fixtures.

 

[walrus]

Thanks;

Solid metal conduit? Not the plastic covered flexible? I was looking at both and the plastic covered metal flexible looked very easy to work with. I have to come up a few inches to the arms. Solid may not work there.

THWN wire helps. I don't do much outside stuff, not very familiar with running 110 under dirt or to fixtures.

Some plastic coated flexible conduit(more commonly known as liquid tite) is rated for direct burial so I guess you could use it. If you have to cross a driveway PVC or RMC is the way to go, you can convert to flexible stuff above grade. Make sure you are down 2ft under the drive.

 

[mrb]

Thanks;

Solid metal conduit? Not the plastic covered flexible? I was looking at both and the plastic covered metal flexible looked very easy to work with. I have to come up a few inches to the arms. Solid may not work there.

THWN wire helps. I don't do much outside stuff, not very familiar with running 110 under dirt or to fixtures.

While you can bury the liquid tight flex, I wouldnt. Run PVC conduit (the ridgid plastic) and transition to a short length of PVC liquidtite (LFNC) from where it comes out of the ground to the gate opener.

 

[bward76]

I also agree to the PVC. Much more than a few feet of sealtite can be very tough to push or pull through. Your well under 15 amps so #14 AWG THWN will be fine. I would run 3/4 PVC just to make it a little easier to pull. I would transition it as soon as it comes out of the ground. I see a lot of pool guys run pvc up the side of the house and into the panel. One year later the pipe has expanded and contracted so much, it pulls out and hangs by the wire. Better to run emt or flex for that small portion. As far as using the light, chances are, it only has a switchleg going to it therefor only being able to provide power when it is on. Furthermore you would also need to find out what else is on that circuit and verify it could handle the added load. How far from the Panel is it?

 

[walrus]

I also agree to the PVC. Much more than a few feet of sealtite can be very tough to push or pull through.

Pull the wires through before you bury it, makes it easier. I'd use the all plastic kind. For that matter use a piece of UF, sleeve it when it comes out of the ground.

 

[Chris Adams]

Thanks all, getting good information.

The light is on a switch but it always on, as it is a florescent driveway light with a photo cell.

I wired it in many years ago and the only other things on the circuit are other lights in the garage, total of three amps, maximum, now that I pulled most the lights for my new shop.

The power gate controller is going on the wall next to the main box, about 4 feet from the gate itself. This gate is the side gate by the garage, where the main box is located, just around the corner from the driveway light.

Everything is within arms length of each other, except the gate actuator on the other side of the gravel driveway.

So the wire under the driveway is going to have a maximum load of 100 watts, as that is the draw on that motor. The other side will also draw 100 watts but that will only be four feet from the box.
All pretty low wattage.


Since I will have to dig the trench across the gravel driveway when I install it, I will pull the wire through the 13 feet of PVC before I lay it in the trench.
The arms must be mounted 1-4 inches from the ground, so the amount of pipe in the air will be pretty minimal. I am concerned about water getting into the PVC.

No watering there but we do get rain on occasion.

 

[bward76]

I wouldn't worry about the water getting in the pipe. We always try to take all precautions and use all the appropriate equipment but PVC is porous and it's almost unavoidable to get some water in it. I've worked on circuits that have been in water for 30+ years. THWN wire does well in that situation.