I am considering adding about 5 standard outlets approximately 60 yards from our house. There is a main panel and sub panel at the house. I have replaced gfci's and light switches and that's about the extent of my experience. I have general construction skills and a healthy respect for electricity :eek: . Is this something I can do myself? What do I need to know? What material will I need?

Thanks,

Chris

In the ground?
In a shed?
On a wall?
On a fence?

Where specifically are they going?

What amperage do you want to deliver to these receptacles?

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QUOTE=donf;1511091]What amperage do you want to deliver to these receptacles?[/QUOTE]

I'm sorry. I don't know how to calculate the amps. We want to install four 10x10 tents, the kind you'll often see at street fairs and festivals. We want to offer power to those that wish to run a register, credit card machine, table lamp. We won't be allowing any huge draws.

That being said, how much more trouble would it be were we to want to also wire it for a small music band (amplifiers, keyboards, etc.)?

There are no permanent structures out there other than some wood fencing and posts. I envision them in the ground, elevated and weatherproofed.

OK, here goes:

180 feet is a long way, so voltage drop will figure into eqn to get to this box. Then you could run 12/2 w/ ground to each duplex outlet.

You could consider placing a subpanel in a weatherproof locking enclosure close to the area of interest fed by a 40-60 Amp breaker. This would make 80A of 120V available at the panel.

The band should have their own breaker/breakers. One circuit may not be enough They could get two duplex outlets provided with their own 20 A breaker.

You could mount each outlet on a 4x4 treated lumber post.

Conduit would be run 18" into the ground.

Underground cable will have to be burried 18" deep.

Later, you might consider lighting loads.

What do you think?

You can always discuss the idea with an electrician and offer to do all of the running of wires and trenching.

The stubs can be left for him to complete.

e.g. Your plan might be:

Discuss how to put a remote panel. Possibly have him mount it. If you have to pour a pad and run conduit(s) through the pad do that.

Run wires to the stubs and have him terminate.

You can deal with the 4 x 4"'s and mounting of the outlet boxes and running the conduit into the ground and labeling the wires.

I could actually envision a couple of 4 x 4 treated lumber posts and Unistrut supports between them to support the conduits and the outdoor rated box.

This is by no means the only way, but I do believe that you should consider a remote sub panel.

You may be able to do it with an outdoor service entrance rated box too.

If these areas have vehicular traffic, then you may have to provide post protection around the items as well.

Thank you!

This is exactly what I want. I'll want to do the heavy work, and use an electrician to do the dangerous stuff ;).

Now that I'm certain that I'll need a sub panel and not just a really long extension cord :D I'm feeling like I might as well over-design this puppy for any future expansion in the area.

Thank you all for your contributions.

Since you mentioned overdesign first, take a look here:

Midwest Electric Products, Inc.

Also take a look at p59 here:

http://www.midwestelectric.com/catal...008catalog.pdf