Where to buy 4 conductor 8 AWG outdoor cable
 

They should have 8/3wg UF at the home store. The other choice would be PVC
conduit and single conductors.
You said earlier that the ground is frozen so you may have to wait until spring
to bury it. That makes the UF a more attractive option for now, but it should
be 24" down when you bury it. The PVC only needs to be 18" down. I suppose you
could put the UF in PVC when you bury it.
Of course if you can protect it from physical damage (like strapping it along a
wall) it doesn't have to be buried.

They should have 8/3wg UF at the home store. The other choice would be PVC
conduit and single conductors.

Hm, I think that I need 8/4 cable:

If you are buying "cord" like SJT or SO it will say 8/4 but "cable" like UF or
NM (romex) it is labelled 8/3 wg* (*with ground). That will be 3 insulated
wires and one bare.

My generator will be like 5 meters away from the house, tops (in
reality probably even closer). I would prefer not to bury the cable.


I would have to know the situation to understand. If you are going to put the
generator next to a wall that is contiguous all the way to the point where you
go in the house you can strap the wiring method to the wall with a ~1 meter
"whip" to the generator. PVC might actually be a better choice for this with a
liquidtight flexible conduit (AKA sealtite) to the generator. Then you would
just pull 4 #8s or 3 #8s and a #10 ground.
You can put a disconnect in the box where you transition to the sealtite if you
wanted that way of unloading the generator while you are starting it.

According to Ignoramus24153 :
On 27 Dec 2004 20:13:52 GMT, Greg wrote:
They should have 8/3wg UF at the home store. The other choice would be PVC
conduit and single conductors.

Hm, I think that I need 8/4 cable:

If you are buying "cord" like SJT or SO it will say 8/4 but "cable" like UF or
NM (romex) it is labelled 8/3 wg* (*with ground). That will be 3 insulated
wires and one bare.


Ah, that's beautiful. Thanks. Yes, 8/3wg is precisely what I need. I
will check out home depot or Menards again. Last time I was there,
there was no stranded cable.

Before buying cord - is this intended to be a temporary cable, only installed
when the unit is in use? Or permanent.

A permanent one should be done with UF or conduit, or whatever, and buried (properly).
Perhaps you can run it along a wall in plastic conduit and use individual conductors.

A temporary one is where you can use "cord". Make sure you get the HEAVY duty
stuff (ie: SO or SOW). The medium duty stuff, like SJ, deteriorates too fast.

You're likely to have to go to a "real" electrical supplier for SO/SOW in this size.
--
Chris Lewis, Una confibula non set est
It's not just anyone who gets a Starship Cruiser class named after them.

Ignoramus24153 wrote:
On 27 Dec 2004 18:38:10 GMT, Greg wrote:

They should have 8/3wg UF at the home store. The other choice would be PVC
conduit and single conductors.


Hm, I think that I need 8/4 cable:

- one hot
- another hot
- one neutral
- one ground

that is, I think that I need to have four conductors not 3.


You said earlier that the ground is frozen so you may have to wait until spring
to bury it. That makes the UF a more attractive option for now, but it should
be 24" down when you bury it. The PVC only needs to be 18" down. I suppose you
could put the UF in PVC when you bury it.
Of course if you can protect it from physical damage (like strapping it along a
wall) it doesn't have to be buried.


My generator will be like 5 meters away from the house, tops (in
reality probably even closer). I would prefer not to bury the cable.

i



Is this permanent wiring or temporary?

In either case, check out type SER "service entrance cable." (#8
usually has solid wires, all others are stranded)

Bob

On 27 Dec 2004 18:50:04 GMT, Ignoramus24153
wrote:

On 27 Dec 2004 18:38:10 GMT, Greg wrote:
They should have 8/3wg UF at the home store. The other choice would be PVC
conduit and single conductors.

Hm, I think that I need 8/4 cable:

- one hot
- another hot
- one neutral
- one ground


8/3 with ground.

The ground isn't typical counted as a 'conductor' since it only
carries fault current, which should be for only long enough for the
breaker to trip.

that is, I think that I need to have four conductors not 3.

You said earlier that the ground is frozen so you may have to wait until spring
to bury it. That makes the UF a more attractive option for now, but it should
be 24" down when you bury it. The PVC only needs to be 18" down. I suppose you
could put the UF in PVC when you bury it.
Of course if you can protect it from physical damage (like strapping it along a
wall) it doesn't have to be buried.

My generator will be like 5 meters away from the house, tops (in
reality probably even closer). I would prefer not to bury the cable.

i


hth,

tom @ www.URLBee.com

Ignoramus24153 wrote:
.....
You can put a disconnect in the box where you transition to the sealtite if you
wanted that way of unloading the generator while you are starting it.

I do not understand this, sorry.

You do understand you must have a transfer switch that isolates
everything the generator is powering from the grid while it is
operating, don't you?

Ignoramus24153 wrote:
....
... my generator ...
Now I need to wire it to my house. ...

Don't know why I didn't think to suggest this previously except I didn't
see the post mentioning a shed/coop until this am so didn't think about
it being a likelihood...

But, if you're on a REC (rural electric co-op), check w/ them, they may
well do the hook up for/with you for nothing more than a nominal charge
plus parts. Our co-op does this in order to ensure we protect our
linemen from potential mistakes...unfortunately, we instituted the
policy/service too late to avoid one nasty incident. :(

And, actually, you may want to check w/ your provider anyway as their
policy may require notification of any generator when installed...

You can put a disconnect in the box where you transition to the sealtite
if you
wanted that way of unloading the generator while you are starting it.

I do not understand this, sorry.

You do understand you must have a transfer switch that isolates
everything the generator is powering from the grid while it is
operating, don't you?

He said in an earlier note that he has a transfer switch. I was just suggesting
that if he wanted a disconnect next to the generator so he could remove the
load while he was starting it the junction between the flexible whip from the
wall to the gen and a rigid conduit would be a logical place to do it.