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I'm in the process of running electrical wiring from my house out to 2 shallow well pumps. I've already trenched/buried the 3/4" conduit from the house to the different locations of the wells. From the house to the first well is about 120ft, then from that well, it's about 200ft to the next well. I could have done a shorter run from the house to the 2nd well, but I already have conduit stubbed out on one side of the house, which is where it'll be connected. My intention is to run 10GA wire from the house to the first well, set a weatherproof sub-panel w/ breakers, then run 12GA from there to the 2nd well location. With that distance of wire, should I be using solid or stranded THHN wire? The only "sharp" turns are where the 90's come out of the ground, so the buried conduit is relatively straight.
I don't know but it seems all the wire I have ever seen used for home construction and improvements as described above is solid. Still, I'll watch the thread to see if I am missing something.
Yeah, back in the day, when I wired houses, all the interior residential wiring was solid. But, I'll be buying the individual conductors on a spool and pull them through conduit. I vaguely recall pulling wiring for well pumps, etc, in buried conduit, but I can't remember the reasoning behind solid VS stranded, especially when pulling long distances.
stranded wire will be easier to pull through conduit.
price is about the same
the choice to use one over the other is usually about which is in the truck that day.
as to the 200ft + 120ft run... the issue to be concerned about is voltage drop
for that reason... I'll suggest that verify the actual draw (and drop) or just use 10ga wire for it all.
Last edited by MrRational; 05-21-2011 at 04:09 PM..
Stranded wire is used in situations where the wire can be under regular flexation. Extension cords, zip cords, and the like are examples.
Wire that will be in a fixed position is better off solid.
The actual electricity flows along the surface of conductors, so you might think stranded is superior in most cases - however solid wire is much better at heat dissipation and longevity, because it doesn't heat to the levels that corroded individual strands can under load. It just doesn't flex well without crystallization and breakage.
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