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cable sizing

timnewbold

Jun 8, 2013
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Jun 8, 2013
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can anyone help me? i have spoken to 2 or 3 engineers and they all have a different story. i am looking to put in a buried low voltage supply to my house 450m away from the supply which is 15kw 230v. it would be i presume a SWA cable buried in sand in the trench. it doesn't have to conform to regulations so i can have a larger voltage drop and could possibly even cope with the odd flickering light to try to keep the cable size down. no big motors but i will have a few high kw water heaters. the other issue is the PE and earth loop impedance. i can put large earth stakes down at the property but in the future if anyone dug up the cable? the last guy who looked at this said 70mm SWA 2 core using the casing as an earth. he has now up it to 70mm 4core and now to 5 core using one of the cores as an earth so i have lost faith ! thank tim
 

poor mystic

Apr 8, 2011
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Hi:)
Before anybody could offer any reasonable opinion they would need to know what exactly you intend to power from the supply. You need to assess all your loads and provide a worst-case (ie maximum) figure for current drain.
I don't know anything about the engineers you consulted but any good registered electrical tradesperson is competent to advise you.
 

CDRIVE

Hauling 10' pipe on a Trek Shift3
May 8, 2012
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That's 900 meters; round trip! :eek:

Chris
 

poor mystic

Apr 8, 2011
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Yeah. 900 meters. Frankly, I wouldn't.
That is, I wouldn't try and get around the regs. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and pay, and I'd guess that this is exactly one of those times. The regs aren't there to ensure electricians get plenty of work, they're not there to make money for cable manufacturers... they're there to ensure that your installation works and is safe.
A "few" hot water heaters! Gaah! Make a job of it!
 
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