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Concrete Pier Preparation and Construction


Gina

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There are other things I shall want to complete my obsy, like conduit pipe to the house and materials for the roof and sides, so I think I'll sort those out before ordering and then they can all come in one delivery. I can't afford it this week anyway.

Do tell what you find out about conduit. I have some left over from when we had the phone line moved (donated by BT), but it's not enough to reach.

Hmmm. Actually, it would be quite neat to just run the cables through the existing ducting as it even goes almost to the right place, but I'd have to break into it in the middle which could be a bit tricky...

James

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Do tell what you find out about conduit.
Wickes do single and 10 packs of 3m lengths of 20mm conduit pipe and 5m lengths of corrugated conduit Search Results at Wickes

Another possibility is water pipe (just don't tell anyone you're using water pipe for electricity :eek:). I've used 15mm plastic water pipe for CAT5 cable.

Think I might get this MDPE water pipe - no joins needed underground :- http://www.wickes.co.uk/mdpe-pipe/invt/425072/

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If you are laying a conduit go LARGE! Its easier to feed things through and you will always need more cables! Also try to find a system that has "easy" bends!

Someone will soon say if it is "naughty" to use the wrong sort of pipe!

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Using MDPE sounds like a good idea. I might well go for that. I'd say run a minimum of two CAT5 cables and always have at least one spare. Should be plenty of room inside a 25mm pipe.

Personally I'd probably run armoured mains cable without ducting it, but it's hardly cheap. Of course outdoor work has to be at least inspected and signed off by a suitably qualified electrician these days. Still, if one end of the cable is in the house and the other in the obsy then it's not "outdoors", is it? :eek:

Whichever way you do it, stick some warning tape in the top of the trench to give future generations a fighting chance of avoiding that instant back-combed look.

James

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I've used armoured mains cable in the past when running underground mains supply to the garage - that was donkey's years ago. I might try to avoid running mains to the obsy. Have to see how it goes. I'm going for the MDPE 25mm pipe anyway. Nice and big. I have plenty of CAT5 cable - a 75m reel :eek:

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I've used armoured mains cable in the past when running underground mains supply to the garage - that was donkey's years ago. I might try to avoid running mains to the obsy. Have to see how it goes. I'm going for the MDPE 25mm pipe anyway. Nice and big. I have plenty of CAT5 cable - a 75m reel :eek:

Problem with not running mains is that low voltage can be a problem with voltage drop over a long run. 50m of 2.5mm mains cable is around £80, which considering the average spend for a ROR obs is between £800 - £1000 isn't a lot IMO. Also be careful of running communications cables near power cables, there is a slim chance of interference when in close proximity of each other.

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Yes, I think I shall run a mains cable to the obsy. The distance from house (back porch) to obsy is about 9 metres so a 10m reel would just about do it but experience has shown that cables always seem to want to be longer than you think so I think I'll get 25m. The current will be quite light as I don't propose to use a heater so 1.5sq.mm cable (rated at 16A) should be adequate.

25m of 1.5sq.mm steel armoured cable from Wickes is £42 :- 1.5mm2 3 Core Steel Wired Armoured Cable - Cable - Electrical -Tools, Electrical & Plumbing - Wickes

OTOH 25m of 2.5sq.mm is about £54 (just over a tenner more) :- 2.5mm2 3 Core Steel Wired Armoured Cable - Cable - Electrical -Tools, Electrical & Plumbing - Wickes

I shall run two separate trenches for cables, a pipe for the signal cables and the armoured cable could go straight in the ground. These could be a foot or so apart to avoid mains borne interference getting to the signal cables.

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I'm putting the pier in a different location as a result of the obsy and warm room design and placing. Fortunately I hadn't got very far with the original base. I have dug down as far as the hard clay level in the new location using the rotavator and it's now hard going. I'm thinking I may not need to go much deeper as it's already about 18" below ground level and very solid.

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