Wire for pool and replacement pool house

[RSVRMAN]

I currently have 50 amp service for my pool and dilapidated pool house. I’m going to be needing ideally 125 amp for the new pool heat pump and adding a small heat pump to for the new structure to cover my needs.

The run is down a hill and very straight, however the existing conduit goes under the driveway and sidewalks, so ripping it up isn’t possible without significant expenses. It’s schedule 40 1-1/4” and the run is clean with no crushed pipe. 10x bottles of cable lube!

I will not be wiring it up, but would like to pull the wire and purchase the wire myself. I’d prefer aluminum solid core 4 conductor bundled, but I’m not sure the 2/0-2/0-2/0-1 would fit. Not sure if bundled is also thinner vs buying 2/0 wires individually and pulling together.

I’m not a wire expert, but I was thinking solid core would be the way since it’s thinner and less fill plus it’s a straight run. I’m not sure if bundled as a 4 wire conductor would be thinner OD?

I may have to pay more for copper, if aluminum doesn’t fit, but hoping someone can get me an exact wire type or number to reference . I know I can’t use ser cable, just get mixed up on the thhn and what not.

Thank you in advance.

 

[RSVRMAN]

Forgot to mention it’s 145ft

 

[mike93lx]

Solid core? You mean not stranded? Doesn't exist at that size.

You can downsize the neutral to save some space. 1/0 is rated for 120a, but I don't believe that's an available breaker size, so you should be able to use 125a

I see you added the distance... If you really need 125a, it would be 2/0 I aluminum, but that won't fit. I think you need to do copper,
1-1-3-4 (thwn or xhhw) should be fine. Won't be cheap though. Guessing it's going to be over a grand in wire

 

[theoldwizard1]

First go back and review your load requirements. Even with 2 heat pumps and pool equipment, I doubt you need 125A !

I have never heard of 2/0 SOLID wire ! Even in aluminum it would be near impossible to bend. MHF cable is available as 2/0-2/0-1-4 which is probably what you want. If it exceeds the conduit fill then you will have to go copper.

 

[RSVRMAN]

Thanks for the quick feedback. Electrician said to try and get 125 amp for my needs. I’m getting a 140 btu aquacal heat pump that they said has a startup of 50 amps. I also have a main pump (15-20 amp) and a booster pump that runs at same time (another 15-20) amp. All would run the same time during a set period of the day. Adding the pool house that’s going to be rebuilt in the future, single ductless heat pump 10-15 amps. Add lights outlets, ceiling fans. Maybe a dish washer 15 amps ish. Very possible that everything is going all at once on occasion among other adds later on. I’d like headroom if possible.

 

[mike93lx]

Thanks for the quick feedback. Electrician said to try and get 125 amp for my needs. I’m getting a 140 btu aquacal heat pump that they said has a startup of 50 amps. I also have a main pump (15-20 amp) and a booster pump that runs at same time (another 15-20) amp. All would run the same time during a set period of the day. Adding the pool house that’s going to be rebuilt in the future, single ductless heat pump 10-15 amps. Add lights outlets, ceiling fans. Maybe a dish washer 15 amps ish. Very possible that everything is going all at once on occasion among other adds later on. I’d like headroom if possible.

I have an aquacal sq166r. It's runs at right about 27a. Are the pumps actually pulling 15-20a at 240 or is that just the circuit that they call for?

I'm not saying don't go for 125a, it's just going to be tight with that conduit and you'll have to shell out for copper.

My setup, with a 1.85hp pump, salt cell, autocover, heat pump and mwbc for the shed is on a 50a feed.

 

[RSVRMAN]

They call for a 60 amp breaker, I have a email to ask for constant load vs straight up load for 230v it might be less.


Hah I really don’t know about wire I thought you could get solid core, but I guess I’d be bending rebar once it got to the panel.


Can you still help with what I’d need for that distance the largest aluminum wire bundled that would fit in that conduit? Would 2-2-2-4 aluminum wire potentially fit? Google says that supports 100 amp?

Maybe I’ll just have to just be mindful of what is on, I know there’s start load vs constant load requirements. Always have the worst case scenario and that’s what I told the electrician so he opted to try to get 125 amp.

 

[mike93lx]

#2al is only good for 90a unless it is feeding the entire load of a residential building.

For cable assemblies, the only thing that would work is mobile home feeder.

At that distance, you'll want to keep it under 90a anyway if you run #2 AL.

I'd also choose individual conductors over a twisted assembly like mhf.

You also don't need a full size neutral, so that will save some space and a little money

Two of this

1 AWG THHN/THWN-2 Building Wire

THHN Stranded Building Wire. Cut to length - sold by the Foot.

www.wireandcableyourway.com

And two of this

4 AWG THHN/THWN-2 Building Wire

THHN Stranded Building Wire. Cut to length - sold by the Foot.

www.wireandcableyourway.com

You'd save a little dropping to #2 for the hots and then breaker it at 100

 

[mike93lx]

Unrelated, but make sure you have a way to manage the condensate off the head pump. Mine produces enough that I thought it had a leak.

I added a drain and installed a couple pipes off the units drain holes to direct it. Well worth the effort

 

[RSVRMAN]

Thank you!

 

[RSVRMAN]

Really? Thanks for the heads up! Can you share a pic of what you did? This will be my first heat pump, it’s all new to me but makes it worth it over other options since I just got solar and oversized that significantly.

On a side note are you happy with your aquacal? It came down to that or the pentair 140 from my own research. From the pool forums I’ve only read and not a member it seemed this was the best quality trouble free pump. If you don’t mind what controller are you integrated with on your pump?

 

[mike93lx]

Really? Thanks for the heads up! Can you share a pic of what you did? This will be my first heat pump, it’s all new to me but makes it worth it over other options since I just got solar and oversized that significantly.

On a side note are you happy with your aquacal? It came down to that or the pentair 140 from my own research. From the pool forums I’ve only read and not a member it seemed this was the best quality trouble free pump. If you don’t mind what controller are you integrated with on your pump?

Yes, I'll try to snap a pic tomorrow. I saw that aquacal offers a drain kit, but it was expensive and used thin tubing. I used 1/2 cpvc. You tap two of the drain holes for 1/2 npt and then plumb as desired
This is an installation of their kit

The heat pump gas been good for me. I haven't messed around with flows, but at my normal 2400rpm, I'm getting a 7-8 degree rise in temp and it brings my ~32k gal pool up from the mid 60's to mid 80's with around 60-70 hrs runtime. Thankfully my electric is cheap, so it's about 90 cents an hour.

I've had it for less than a year, but so far so good. It was what my pool company spec'd so admittedly I didn't research it. The decision was between a heat pump or gas.

I bought their PoolSync device for app control and have an iAquaLink to control the pump. I don't have any remote control of the salt cell, but I really wish I did. Being able to check salinity, adjust chlorine production and see the output temp of the heat pump would be nice.

Unfortunately, the heatpump doesn't track runtime and doesn't allow you to consider ambient temp when scheduling, so it requires some manual intervention in tbe shoulder months. I just bought an Emporia vue to have a way to track usage.

 

[mike93lx]

It's just some cvpc pieces I mostly had laying around and nothing is glued up so it can be pulled apart for cleaning. I intended to paint the rest of it over the winter, but that never happened.

I bought an npt tap kit from Harbor freight and the piping for the channel drain also picks up two a/c condensate lines that dump right behind. it all runs to daylight.