I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John

What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under 1/2
hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.;
"John" wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John

What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under 1/2
hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.;
"John" wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John

I haven't bought an aerator yet. I wanted to make sure I could run a cable out
there first. Thanks for the help, Greg.

Greg-EE wrote:

What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under 1/2
hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.;
"John" wrote in message

I haven't bought an aerator yet. I wanted to make sure I could run a cable out
there first. Thanks for the help, Greg.

Greg-EE wrote:

What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under 1/2
hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.;
"John" wrote in message

On 9/29/03 9:37 AM, in article ,
"John" wrote:

I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John


Would a solar powered or wind powered aerator be an alternative?

Dean



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On 9/29/03 9:37 AM, in article ,
"John" wrote:

I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John


Would a solar powered or wind powered aerator be an alternative?

Dean



-----= Posted via Newsfeeds.Com, Uncensored Usenet News =-----
http://www.newsfeeds.com - The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World!
-----== Over 100,000 Newsgroups - 19 Different Servers! =-----

John wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John


John,

Your problem is going to be voltage drop. VD increases with distance
and amperage. It also means that the power is being lost somewhere (in this
case, your 1000ft wire) although the utility will still be billing you for
it. Somewhere on your pump there should be a label or metal plate that
tells you how many amps it draws, you're going to need this in order to
determine how large the wire should be.

What you need is a wire gauge length table, incidentally a yahoo search
for "Wire gauge length tables" turns up a few hits, one of which even
includes a calculator (http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm). Keep in
mind that there will always be some voltage drop, but it should not be any
more than a few volts.

One option is to make the line out to the pond 240V, and then step it
down to 120V with a transformer. This will half the amperage across the
1000ft, and as thus reduce the size of the wire needed. In fact, this is
what the utility does and is why the voltage at the top of the hydro poles
is 28,000+ volts.

At 1000ft your biggest cost is going to be digging the trench, in my
locale it has to be 3ft deep. If you're going to all the effort you might
want to consider extra capacity in case you want lights, or a fountain, etc
out at the pond later.

-- Steve

John wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John


John,

Your problem is going to be voltage drop. VD increases with distance
and amperage. It also means that the power is being lost somewhere (in this
case, your 1000ft wire) although the utility will still be billing you for
it. Somewhere on your pump there should be a label or metal plate that
tells you how many amps it draws, you're going to need this in order to
determine how large the wire should be.

What you need is a wire gauge length table, incidentally a yahoo search
for "Wire gauge length tables" turns up a few hits, one of which even
includes a calculator (http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm). Keep in
mind that there will always be some voltage drop, but it should not be any
more than a few volts.

One option is to make the line out to the pond 240V, and then step it
down to 120V with a transformer. This will half the amperage across the
1000ft, and as thus reduce the size of the wire needed. In fact, this is
what the utility does and is why the voltage at the top of the hydro poles
is 28,000+ volts.

At 1000ft your biggest cost is going to be digging the trench, in my
locale it has to be 3ft deep. If you're going to all the effort you might
want to consider extra capacity in case you want lights, or a fountain, etc
out at the pond later.

-- Steve

#8 is much "over kill". 14 gauge is quite adequate. Make sure you buy the
"direct burial" type wire and route it so you (or the next owner) won't
accidently dig it up, later.

"Greg-EE" wrote in message
...
What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under
1/2
hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.;
"John" wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John

#8 is much "over kill". 14 gauge is quite adequate. Make sure you buy the
"direct burial" type wire and route it so you (or the next owner) won't
accidently dig it up, later.

"Greg-EE" wrote in message
...
What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under
1/2
hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.;
"John" wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John

1000 feet of wire is a long run. If it draws much in the line of amps
it won;t last long.

There are readily available tables on the web that shows what size
wire is needed for actual amperage draw and run distance.

You need to find the exact amount of feet and amps then do the
figuring.

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 09:51:05 -0400, "Craven Morehead"
wrote:

===#8 is much "over kill". 14 gauge is quite adequate. Make sure you buy the
==="direct burial" type wire and route it so you (or the next owner) won't
===accidently dig it up, later.
===
==="Greg-EE" wrote in message
et...
=== What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under
===1/2
=== hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.;
=== "John" wrote in message
=== ...
=== I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
=== underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
=== not what gauge wire should I use?
===
=== Thanks. John
===
===
===
===
===

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

1000 feet of wire is a long run. If it draws much in the line of amps
it won;t last long.

There are readily available tables on the web that shows what size
wire is needed for actual amperage draw and run distance.

You need to find the exact amount of feet and amps then do the
figuring.

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 09:51:05 -0400, "Craven Morehead"
wrote:

===#8 is much "over kill". 14 gauge is quite adequate. Make sure you buy the
==="direct burial" type wire and route it so you (or the next owner) won't
===accidently dig it up, later.
===
==="Greg-EE" wrote in message
et...
=== What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under
===1/2
=== hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.;
=== "John" wrote in message
=== ...
=== I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
=== underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
=== not what gauge wire should I use?
===
=== Thanks. John
===
===
===
===
===

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 09:51:05 -0400, "Craven Morehead" wrote:
"John" wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?
"Greg-EE" wrote in message
. ..
What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under
1/2 hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.

#8 is much "over kill". 14 gauge is quite adequate. Make sure you buy the
"direct burial" type wire and route it so you (or the next owner) won't
accidently dig it up, later.

There will be a 12.86 volt drop for a 1,000 foot run of #14 supplying
a 1/2 hp motor. That's just barely acceptable for a 220 volt line. It
would pose a definite problem with a 110 volt line.

OTOH, #8 would suffer a voltage drop of only 3.2 volts. That would
be acceptable for either a 220 volt or 110 volt line.

Gary

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 09:51:05 -0400, "Craven Morehead" wrote:
"John" wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?
"Greg-EE" wrote in message
. ..
What is the current draw of the aerator? Is a small pump? If it is under
1/2 hp then #8 wire will account for the voltage drop.

#8 is much "over kill". 14 gauge is quite adequate. Make sure you buy the
"direct burial" type wire and route it so you (or the next owner) won't
accidently dig it up, later.

There will be a 12.86 volt drop for a 1,000 foot run of #14 supplying
a 1/2 hp motor. That's just barely acceptable for a 220 volt line. It
would pose a definite problem with a 110 volt line.

OTOH, #8 would suffer a voltage drop of only 3.2 volts. That would
be acceptable for either a 220 volt or 110 volt line.

Gary

Depends on 110 vs 220 volts, and the amperage of the aerator. just off hand
I'd say #2 wire for the 110 to 15 amps, dig your trenchs deep ....

Doug

"John" wrote in message
...
I have a pond about 1000ft. from the house that I'd like to run an
underground wire to for an aerator. Is this too long a distance? If
not what gauge wire should I use?

Thanks. John