Tracer Wire help

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FionaZuppa

FionaZuppa

Senior Member
Location
AZ
Occupation
Part Time Electrician (semi retired, old) - EE retired.
anyone have a online source for some tracer wire
PVC or HDPE type UF, 18awg (typically single soft copper), 250 or 500ft red roll.

i go to a local electrical supply house (because guy on phone tells me he has it) and when i get there they cant find it, so they said "not in stock, can have it mid-july", but he had blue and yellow. yikes, he's an electrical outlet shop so why is he stocking water and gas colored tracer wire...???!!
 
FionaZuppa said:
anyone have a online source for some tracer wire
PVC or HDPE type UF, 18awg (typically single soft copper), 250 or 500ft red roll.

i go to a local electrical supply house (because guy on phone tells me he has it) and when i get there they cant find it, so they said "not in stock, can have it mid-july", but he had blue and yellow. yikes, he's an electrical outlet shop so why is he stocking water and gas colored tracer wire...???!!
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Any I have ever used is #12 bare for tracer, or as others have said, just a normal spool of #12 THWN in what ever color they grab first.
 
ceb58 said:
Any I have ever used is #12 bare for tracer, or as others have said, just a normal spool of #12 THWN in what ever color they grab first.
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Though anything will work sometimes it is specified to use color that conforms to the marking color codes - yellow for gas, blue - potable water, red - electric, orange - communications, green - sewer
 
kwired said:
Though anything will work sometimes it is specified to use color that conforms to the marking color codes - yellow for gas, blue - potable water, red - electric, orange - communications, green - sewer
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Well................ if you want to get technical about it.........:roll:
 
TFN/THWN, etc are not UF rated, will not hold up in direct burial (some online articles showing study that these types will erode too quickly).
BC UF with PVC or HDPE insulation is what i am looking for.

and yes, i know 12awg is bigger than 18awg, not sure why you mentioned 12awg.
and yes, tracer is required when the conduit is plastic, and yes, color coded for utility as mentioned, i need red for my electric, etc.
 
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yikes again, found some Regency wire, 14awg UF PVC at a sprinkler warehouse !!
i didnt think finding thus stuff would be so hard.
 
I have never seen a tracer wire used for electrical. Only thing handy about it would be easy isolation it necessary - without needing to unhook anything.

Also THHN/THWN likely lasts longer direct buried when it is not energized - which is the case with tracer wire. It the only time it sees voltage is for the short time a tracer may be connected to it insulation is not going to be subject to same break down potentials as it would be for daily operational purposes. And most locators would still locate it even if you buried a bare tracer wire, though there may be times where the bare would not have as good of a signal when it comes to pinpointing the location - all depends on conditions.
 
kwired said:
I have never seen a tracer wire used for electrical. Only thing handy about it would be easy isolation it necessary - without needing to unhook anything.

Also THHN/THWN likely lasts longer direct buried when it is not energized - which is the case with tracer wire. It the only time it sees voltage is for the short time a tracer may be connected to it insulation is not going to be subject to same break down potentials as it would be for daily operational purposes. And most locators would still locate it even if you buried a bare tracer wire, though there may be times where the bare would not have as good of a signal when it comes to pinpointing the location - all depends on conditions.
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My cable locator clamps around the pvc riser. Don't even have to call Diggers for a locate before I can do a locate.
 
I have installed many miles of underground non metallic raceways and have never run tracer wires for them. Why do you feel tracer wires are required?

Its very common to directly bury bare copper for GEC's so I would not loose too much sleep over using a non DB rated insulation for a tracer wire.
 
ptonsparky said:
My cable locator clamps around the pvc riser. Don't even have to call Diggers for a locate before I can do a locate.
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Don't get me started on the "one call" system. Though I understand the need for it, it can use some improvement. Not every excavation site is equal, but they try to make them all the same. And digging where you have had locates before - just how often does that utility that wasn't there a month ago suddenly sneak into the picture without you knowing about it? To follow the law to the letter even if there was nothing there a month ago you are still supposed to call at least 48 hours ahead of your excavation so the utilities in the area can call you and tell you there is still nothing there:roll: Then trying to get the right location to the employees of the call center is a job in itself at times. Roads that have been there all my lifetime are sometimes not on their map. They have made some improvements in recent years though with the new computer system when it comes to getting the right location of the excavation site.

masterinbama said:
Why not get some red wire from an irrigation supplier and use it?
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What do they use it for? You are not seeing it around here. If it is water it may use blue insulated tracer, if it is electrical there is no dedicated tracer, you connect the tracer to one of the conductors of the buried circuit, or the shield of a shielded cable.
 
kwired said:
What do they use it for? You are not seeing it around here. If it is water it may use blue insulated tracer, if it is electrical there is no dedicated tracer, you connect the tracer to one of the conductors of the buried circuit, or the shield of a shielded cable.
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The standard irrigations controll wire is single conductor #14 UF wire. Its used to connect the solenoid valves to the controller.
 
curt swartz said:
The standard irrigations controll wire is single conductor #14 UF wire. Its used to connect the solenoid valves to the controller.
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I can trace that without additional tracer wire, hence the questions about why tracer wires are necessary for electrical. Some instances you may need to disconnect something before you can trace it, not having to do that would be the biggest advantage of a tracer wire.
 
Check out Pro-trace HF-CCS PE30--Its a copper clad steel and considerably cheaper than thhn/thwn with much better strength characteristics
 
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