# Long distance wire runs



## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

WronGun said:


> I've upsize wire many times when I've reached runs of close to and over 100'
> 
> I'm gearing up to start a street light job where we have runs that go 800'+ calculations tell me in for this particular run we may be looking at 6awg..
> 
> ...


There are few ways to dealt with long runs for street lights and parking lot lights and I been done this from time to time.

what voltage ya are running on this ? 120 or 240 or what ?? 

what wattage load it will be ?

how many street lights you plan to work on this circuit? 

Normally I do two or three differnt way to dealt with very long runs.

but bascially I keep all the conductors run the same size from begining to end but with multi post locations you can taper down the size but I am not too crazy to taper it down more than two sizes down. otherwise voltage drop will bite your arse. 

Oh yeah make sure you pay attetion to the grounding conductors especially with long runs.


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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

frenchelectrican said:


> There are few ways to dealt with long runs for street lights and parking lot lights and I been done this from time to time.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




120 volts , 34 watt LED (8 poles per circuit) 

Trench #1 970' 


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

The street lighting I have done has either been 240V or 480V to give you more leeway with voltage drop.


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

WronGun said:


> 120 volts , 34 watt LED (8 poles per circuit) Single Led lumaiare per pole ?
> 
> Trench #1 970'
> 
> ...


Ok give me a little bit I will come up the answer with that long a run.

*Edit*:: do those led luminaires do have multi voltage connection ?


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

Going_Commando said:


> The street lighting I have done has either been 240V or 480V to give you more leeway with voltage drop.


I been doing relamp with LED and I run either 240 or 400 or 480 volts depending on what on that circuit. and yes it work better on long runs.,


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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

frenchelectrican said:


> Ok give me a little bit I will come up the answer with that long a run.




The poles are multi-diode /multi-tap driver 

The pipe run I designed hits many hand-holes and the pipe runs break off to various other fixtures that only run 120v 

So I should add that this 970' pipe run ends with (2) Led floods [email protected] each. I would figure if we ran the poles at another voltage we would need to send another circuit close to 1000' just to power up (2) 17W LED floods 

This may also upsize the complete pipe run , staying at 120 wound be ideal if possible 

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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

Ahh gotcha.,,

I came up with my figures .,,

total loads 344 watts 

and this figures are based on 120 volt circuit. 

970 feet run ( this basied on same size conductor all the way )

the conductor size I came up is #6 copper THHN/THWN conductors both line and neutral plus ground conductors in that size.

the voltage drop at end of the run will be about 2.8 volts the most. I kept on 3% voltage drop but I can change the figures if you want 5% voltage drop.

and ya may have to run this in 1 inch PVC conduit it little easier to do this on long run.

I will post other altertive way which I will use edison circuit arrangement aka 120/240 volts that will result much smaller conductor size for that run. so let me know which route you want to hit.


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## RePhase277 (Feb 5, 2008)

If you run a 120/240 circuit, you can get away with #10 for each run of 8, up to 1700 feet.


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## trentonmakes (Mar 21, 2017)

Hope you got a ditch witch!

Texting and Driving


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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

trentonmakes said:


> Hope you got a ditch witch!
> 
> Texting and Driving




Total trenching is 3000' +...... half of which is pavement I'm not doing any of it... I have a landscape company doing trenches, footings, post anchors , etc. 

I really want to stay at 120v , but 6awg ouch ! 

I may do some redesigning of the pipe run 


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

RePhase277 said:


> If you run a 120/240 circuit, you can get away with #10 for each run of 8, up to 1700 feet.


I came up almost the same number too.,


Wrongun this part is the other option I would run this way due you can have half on 120 volt circuit ( L1-N ) and other half on other circuit (L2-N) then ya can pull much smaller conductors with smaller conduit as well.


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## trentonmakes (Mar 21, 2017)

How tall are these lights?


Texting and Driving


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

WronGun said:


> Total trenching is 3000' +...... half of which is pavement I'm not doing any of it... I have a landscape company doing trenches, footings, post anchors , etc.
> 
> I really want to stay at 120v , but 6awg ouch !
> 
> ...


over 1 kilometers ?? damm you are in my area for the conductor runs.,, 

try to run in radial format if possible. it will take less conductors run if you can.


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## trentonmakes (Mar 21, 2017)

WronGun said:


> Total trenching is 3000' +...... half of which is pavement I'm not doing any of it... I have a landscape company doing trenches, footings, post anchors , etc.
> 
> I really want to stay at 120v , but 6awg ouch !
> 
> ...


Nice!
I had to jackhammer across a road doing parking lot lights! Made the rebar fixtures for the footings. We got a cement truck too fillem and we set anchors. Then rented a backhoe to stand em up, they were 30-40ft. Lol
I deleted all the pics.
That job got us a bigger parking lot job for same guy with more lights! Oh joy



But Frenchy and Tesla gave ya great advice[emoji106]

Texting and Driving


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

trentonmakes said:


> Hope you got a ditch witch!
> 
> Texting and Driving


Depends on who is in the depot lot at the time....:001_huh:


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## MXer774 (Sep 1, 2014)

I'd definitely overkill this one.
I would install 1 1/4" with some #1 Al. 
Conductors and pipe are cheap the first time you install it.


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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

Ok ... even at 240v I have to much of a drop.... I'm gonna end up using service conductors by the time I'm done! Lol


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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

My mistake I'm showing good at 240v @350 watts


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## frenchelectrican (Mar 15, 2007)

WronGun said:


> Ok ... even at 240v I have to much of a drop.... I'm gonna end up using service conductors by the time I'm done! Lol
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


what ya mean on too much drop ?? I am little lost on that part .,,

same distance or total distance of 3000 foot ? :blink:


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

I thought for a voltage drop calculation like this you would be looking at the load at the end of the run, no the total load? 

Are the drivers real sensitive about input voltage? I think some of those drivers aren't sensitive at all, you can supply it a very low voltage and they still drive the desired output voltage.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

WronGun said:


> Ok ... even at 240v I have to much of a drop.... I'm gonna end up using service conductors by the time I'm done! Lol
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


For the load you state plus some extra to make the math easier, I get #8 cu for that run. At 120V, 3% voltage drop is 3.6v. If your load is 8*34w=272W. That divided by 120V is 2.3A. Call it a 3A load for simplicity's sake. That is 3.6/3 gives you your resistance. You end up with 1.2 ohms/1000ft. That puts you just out of #10 territory and into #8. That will also work with #6 aluminum. Are you branching off and hitting other fixtures making the total load bigger or something? If there are other loads like receptacles for Christmas lights or whatever, I would be awful tempted to pull 6-6-6 URD and use a shared neutral for 2 circuits. Super cheap stuff, and comes all setup on a reel so it's nice and easy to make the pull.


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## Glock23gp (Mar 10, 2014)

Only long distance job I have done was an airport runway. Stepped up voltage to 5kv then at each light was a 5kv to 120v xfmr (in a handhole next to each light) that was the size of a 400 watt ballast. 

Something to think about... you could probably go up to or over 500 volts since thhn is rated for 600 volts and pull in #12s or #10s with your minimal load.

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## sbrn33 (Mar 15, 2007)

My problem with wrongfun is that he has all these odd projects. He has never given us a real answer to how he has completed any of them. 
Less than two years ago he was a single man shop. Now he is doing $300K projects without giving us details on how it turned out. 
It makes it hard to trust him.


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## socket2ya (Oct 27, 2016)

Going_Commando said:


> I would be awful tempted to pull 6-6-6 URD and use a shared neutral for 2 circuits. Super cheap stuff, and comes all setup on a reel so it's nice and easy to make the pull.


I concur with you and Mxer774 on using aluminum, it would save a ton


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## RePhase277 (Feb 5, 2008)

sbrn33 said:


> My problem with wrongfun is that he has all these odd projects. He has never given us a real answer to how he has completed any of them.
> Less than two years ago he was a single man shop. Now he is doing $300K projects without giving us details on how it turned out.
> It makes it hard to trust him.


I just figured he was Cletis.


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## telsa (May 22, 2015)

This is such a LONG run, I'd assume that the local authorities dictate it... stuff like required lumens, etc.

It's also the case that the property owner may to have his circuits approved by the local authorities... who'll ultimately take legal possession of the installation. 

( Master developer builds what will end up being a public asset... but has to conform to city standards, etc. )

It's common for public lighting of this nature to be run as a series (looped) circuit. ( like runway lighting )


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## MechanicalDVR (Dec 29, 2007)

RePhase277 said:


> I just figured he was Cletis.


He isn't the only one with Cleatis type posts here.


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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

sbrn33 said:


> My problem with wrongfun is that he has all these odd projects. He has never given us a real answer to how he has completed any of them.
> Less than two years ago he was a single man shop. Now he is doing $300K projects without giving us details on how it turned out.
> It makes it hard to trust him.




Yes, I already know your interested in my projects .... What would you like to know ? I've honestly never been asked ..my posts usually come in the form of questions probably because I'm less experienced. 

I'd be happy to share... this project is 112K. It starts end of September. 
I've never had a project with a bigger Invoice..

I did bid a rehab center , but recently decided to decline the job. I'm simply not ready for it..

I'm very open , I have no reason to make up stories ... not sure what the reason would be to do that. But your comment makes me feel I'm possibly doing something right to be even in the vicinity of these types of jobs so early ? 

I have lots to learn in the particular business but I've been involved in other businesses , most of my life as an entrepreneur. I have a business degree....And I will hustle and do whatever it is I need to for the end result... This is how i was raised. 

You can see posts from years ago of how I've sold other businesses along the way to get to this point. I also just started my business full time 9 months ago , but I incorporated back in 2011. I entered full time status with a string of clients already on the books. Not really sure what's so odd or unbelievable?

I also have a circle of friends who all own businesses and who are friends with people who own businesses..I'm not special but I do have contacts..... just being straight 

Your wondering of the tanning salon ? That's a friend of 20 yrs! He owns 6 tanning salons, and yes one is still in the process of being moved but hasn't happened yet... I promise to let you know when this happens , who knows maybe it will just close doors ? It's amazing how things can change overnight..

Anything else ?



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## WronGun (Oct 18, 2013)

As far as the voltage drop , we've redesigned some connecting points in the run.. 

We've also upsized one of the pipes connecting another electrical closet from the main which also cut out an additional
175' 

We will run aluminum feeders to closet #2 and install a 6ckt sub and astronomical timer control. 

A few extra trenches but we've broken up some long distance runs into more reasonable lengths. 


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