Hi all, I have an existing 100A subpanel in my garage and I would like to run cable to a barn with another subpanel there – the distance is over 300 feet.
From the 200A MAIN in the house, upsized wire was used to the 100A garage subpanel ( 1/0 XHHW-2 aluminum in PVC underground).
When I started pricing things out, things really start to get expensive. The cheapest option I found would be to run 2/0-2/0-2/0-1 URD cable underground, direct burial, all the way to the barn, then splice to SER in an LB junction on the outside wall. As I understand URD cannot enter inside (even in conduit) whereas MHF can (in conduit) - is this correct?
I have somewhat rocky soil, which is what has me going back and forth about PVC or not for protection. For 2/0 wire I don't think I can even use 2" PVC, it would have to be 2.5" and I would be spending well over 1500 $ just for the PVC alone. If I use a good amount of sand backfilling, would that be sufficient instead of needing conduit?
If I am doing direct burial, and splicing to SER at the barn, is there any advantage of using the MHF over URD cable? The MHF cost is almost double.
I do understand 2/0 might seem like overkill, but I want to have the ability to run potential high continuous loads in the future. I was subtracting 20% for every 100ft off the ampacity rating, and trying to keep voltage drop under 5%.
Much thanks
From the 200A MAIN in the house, upsized wire was used to the 100A garage subpanel ( 1/0 XHHW-2 aluminum in PVC underground).
When I started pricing things out, things really start to get expensive. The cheapest option I found would be to run 2/0-2/0-2/0-1 URD cable underground, direct burial, all the way to the barn, then splice to SER in an LB junction on the outside wall. As I understand URD cannot enter inside (even in conduit) whereas MHF can (in conduit) - is this correct?
I have somewhat rocky soil, which is what has me going back and forth about PVC or not for protection. For 2/0 wire I don't think I can even use 2" PVC, it would have to be 2.5" and I would be spending well over 1500 $ just for the PVC alone. If I use a good amount of sand backfilling, would that be sufficient instead of needing conduit?
If I am doing direct burial, and splicing to SER at the barn, is there any advantage of using the MHF over URD cable? The MHF cost is almost double.
I do understand 2/0 might seem like overkill, but I want to have the ability to run potential high continuous loads in the future. I was subtracting 20% for every 100ft off the ampacity rating, and trying to keep voltage drop under 5%.
Much thanks
