Looking for Comments from Experience
 

The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden, she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

Benign Vanilla wrote:
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden, she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.



at least 3' deep for a water line or
have a "hydrant" type pipe at other
end so it can be drained in winter.







--
--
http://www.kencofish.com Ken Arnold,
401-831-5739 cell 401-225-0556
Importer/Exporter of Goldfish,Koi,rare Predators
Shipping to legal states/countries only!
Permalon liners, Oase & Supreme Pondmaster pumps


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Please Note: No trees or animals were harmed in the
sending of this contaminant free message We do concede
that a signicant number of electrons may have been
inconvenienced ;)

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"KenCo" wrote in message
...
Benign Vanilla wrote:
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out
to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.



at least 3' deep for a water line or
have a "hydrant" type pipe at other
end so it can be drained in winter.

My plan to is have an inside valve that can shut it down for the winter, and
then I plan to open all of the outside valves to allow for expansion.

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

Benign Vanilla wrote:

at least 3' deep for a water line or
have a "hydrant" type pipe at other
end so it can be drained in winter.


My plan to is have an inside valve that can shut it down for the winter, and
then I plan to open all of the outside valves to allow for expansion.

BV.

you don't just have to open the outside valve to allow for expansion,
you also have to be able to drain the line. TOTALLY.

make sure the valve has an auxilary drain valve. or add a cheap hose
connection valve between the outside and the inside valves.
Also maintain a consistant pitch back down into the basement.



--If grits ain't groceries,
Then Mona Lisa was a man....

-- ya'll put sum bacon drippin's in those grits....ya hear me??

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"chagoi" wrote in message
...
Benign Vanilla wrote:

at least 3' deep for a water line or
have a "hydrant" type pipe at other
end so it can be drained in winter.


My plan to is have an inside valve that can shut it down for the winter,
and
then I plan to open all of the outside valves to allow for expansion.

BV.

you don't just have to open the outside valve to allow for expansion,
you also have to be able to drain the line. TOTALLY.

make sure the valve has an auxilary drain valve. or add a cheap hose
connection valve between the outside and the inside valves.
Also maintain a consistant pitch back down into the basement.

There is no way I'll be able to pitch back to the basement. In the backyard
it's a walkout, and for the distance I am going, the end of the pipe would
end up under the house. LOL.

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

Just blow it out with an air compressor. Much safer.

Joe

On 5/26/04 9:02 AM, "Benign Vanilla" wrote:

My plan to is have an inside valve that can shut it down for the winter, and
then I plan to open all of the outside valves to allow for expansion.



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Looking for Comments from Experience
 

You could wrap the pipe with heat tape from below the frost line up since
you said you'd have electric out there too. They do this on most mobile
homes and it works well. If you are neat and keep things covered with some
sort of enclosure it should work well. Blowing the water out with an air
compressor before winter sets in is also an option. But in my opinion
would be a PITA.

Oh and whatever you do, use properly installed GFI circuits!!!!


--
Pond Diver


"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"KenCo" wrote in message
...
Benign Vanilla wrote:
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out
to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the
garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.



at least 3' deep for a water line or
have a "hydrant" type pipe at other
end so it can be drained in winter.

My plan to is have an inside valve that can shut it down for the winter,
and
then I plan to open all of the outside valves to allow for expansion.

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

Benign Vanilla wrote:

ent.


There is no way I'll be able to pitch back to the basement. In the backyard
it's a walkout, and for the distance I am going, the end of the pipe would
end up under the house. LOL.

BV.

How far do you have to run it.

you don't need a lot of pitch just try to not have low spots for the
water to pool, esp. if you need to stay ABOVE the frost line.

My city water line comes into the house 5 feet below ground level.
My line to the pond goes out of the house @4' runs 80 feet to 3.5' below
the ground at the pond. At a pitch of 6-8" per 100'.
More than enough to drain properly.

Blowing it out with a compressor is a ROYAL PITA

Chagoi


-- I refuse to tip-toe through life, only to arrive safely at death's door

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?


Probably stating the obvious but, check for buried pipes before starting. My
garden is a spiders web of wires and pipes under the surface so I can only
dig carefully by hand.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

Not that bad, you just put a fitting on one end that accepts the compressor
hose and turn it on.

Joe

On 5/26/04 9:46 AM, "chagoi" wrote:

Blowing it out with a compressor is a ROYAL PITA



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Looking for Comments from Experience
 

On Wed, 26 May 2004 12:46:23 -0400, chagoi
wrote:

Benign Vanilla wrote:

snipped the rest of discussion

Blowing it out with a compressor is a ROYAL PITA

Chagoi

I blow my lines out with a compressor every year and it is a simple
process. I have about 400 feet of irrigation lines, 1" PVC that run
from my house to my garden, also around the house.

My process is to open the faucet at the end of the line and connect
the compressor to the faucet at the other end of the line. I simply
duct tape it to the faucet to get a bit of a seal. Then let her rip
until no more water comes out. Let it set for a while to let the
water collect in low spots and blow it out again.

I have been doing it like this for six years. My water line runs an
average of 6 inches deep and our frost gets down several feet. No
problems so far.

John

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

I just did this! The trencher is a real back saver. I did not put mine below
the frost line. I will just blow it out with an air compressor in the
winter. I used it to add an automatic water top off system to my skimmer. I
had to add a pressure regulator to my line because the 90 psi line pressure
was blowing the fittings off of my top off system. I regulated it down to 25
psi. You can find them in the water heater or irrigation (drip pressure
regulator) areas of Home Depot/Lowes type stores. I trenched mine only 8
inches underground, but as I said, I will blow it out in the fall with an
air compressor. I used 3/4" schedule 40 pipe.

For the electric, there are codes on the depth of the wire - if contained in
conduit you can bury it 6" underground. If using just UF(underground cable)
I think it must be at least 24" deep and you should cover with a redwood
board as well. Check for your area. Also, conduit and a junction box must be
used to transition from inside to underground. Someone recommended getting a
roll of yellow tape that says something "underground wiring buried here" a
put it above your wiring in the ground. Make sure to use the correct
exterior junction boxes and gang outlet boxes. The new ones have a large
plastic cover that flips over the front. I have a four gang at my skimmer
for the pump and UV lights. Leave enough for low voltage lights and other
expansions as well. Note: underwater lights from Malibu must be wired
directly to the power pack.

Good luck.

TG
"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

TG
"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.



I hit a pipe. Unrecorded near as I can tell. Part of the sprinkler
system in the yard. THe fracture in the pipe was small, but the water
was well over 40' high in my back yard. I did not have a proper key to
turn off the mains, so it took over an hour, and soaked my yard beyond
belief...

The trencher is a cool piece of equipment. The only issue I had was
getting all the loose dirt back in the hole.. Never quite got it
right... (Divots and bumps)

Carl

--
--
http://www.cobaltbluefilms.com

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

Instead of wrapping it with just heat tape, they have a foam pvc pipe wrap,
that's cheap and easy to apply. They recommend that for anything above
ground in NC with mobile/manufactured homes, so I'd think it's be perfect
for your, since it's at least a little underground.

You can easily find it at lowe's or home depot, and it comes in like 6'
lengths for $5 or less.


--
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Homepage:
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Custom Figures, Wallpapers and more!

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

Benign Vanilla wrote:
at least 3' deep for a water line or
have a "hydrant" type pipe at other
end so it can be drained in winter.


My plan to is have an inside valve that can shut it down for the winter, and
then I plan to open all of the outside valves to allow for expansion.

BV.



expansion?? they will be frozen cracked pipe/s

you have to have a hydrant type pipe way
at far end, thats what drains the pipe.




--
--
http://www.kencofish.com Ken Arnold,
401-831-5739 cell 401-225-0556
Importer/Exporter of Goldfish,Koi,rare Predators
Shipping to legal states/countries only!
Permalon liners, Oase & Supreme Pondmaster pumps


Linux (SuSE 8.2) user #329121
Please Note: No trees or animals were harmed in the
sending of this contaminant free message We do concede
that a signicant number of electrons may have been
inconvenienced ;)

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

BV, In your area I think 24" will be deep enough for water line. If
you use plastic (poly pipe) It comes in 100' rolls and is very
inexpensive. Some areas require you to bury a length of #12 or larger
wire in the trench with the pipe.(so the pipe can be located with a
metal detector) You can blow it out in the fall with a compressor or a
shop vac. and adding a little rv antifreeze will insure that low spots
don't split.
Now the electric ..... Most areas of the country do not allow
direct burial cable. Use at least 3/4" pvc conduit and pull an extra
nylon cord (surveyor's line) through with the wire. That way you can
pull more wires in the future when Share-holders Pond needs flood
lights or a remote beer cooler to aid in midnight plantings. Each
circuit must be GFI protected either at the outlet or the circuit
panel. They also sell vinyl tape to put a few inches below the surface
to warn future ponders of buried utilities.
It sounds like a lot but the trencher does most of the work.


--
some photos of my little puddle
http://community.webshots.com/user/hankpage1

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water
out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the
garden, she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

On Wed, 26 May 2004 11:20:04 -0400, "Benign Vanilla"
wrote:

The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden, she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

Since you're gonna have the trench open anyway, spend $10 extra and
run an extra 1.5 or 2 inch flexible pipe in there. Great for running a
phone line or cable TV wire or network cable etc. in later if you get
the urge.


Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific..."

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

In article , Mike Patterson
wrote:

On Wed, 26 May 2004 11:20:04 -0400, "Benign Vanilla"
wrote:

The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden, she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

Since you're gonna have the trench open anyway, spend $10 extra and
run an extra 1.5 or 2 inch flexible pipe in there. Great for running a
phone line or cable TV wire or network cable etc. in later if you get
the urge.

Very good idea!

jay
Wed May 26, 2004




Mike Patterson
Please remove the spamtrap to email me.
"I always wanted to be somebody. I should have been more specific..."

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden, she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.


Make sure you know where any buried utilities are before you start trenching.
I'd hate to see you run into a gas line or something equally offensive to one's
health.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"groovy" wrote in message
...
"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out
to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?


Probably stating the obvious but, check for buried pipes before starting.
My
garden is a spiders web of wires and pipes under the surface so I can only
dig carefully by hand.

We have Miss Utility here in MD. My yard has been marked so many times, I
know where everything is. LOL.

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"tg" wrote in message
...
I just did this! The trencher is a real back saver. I did not put mine
below
the frost line. I will just blow it out with an air compressor in the
winter. I used it to add an automatic water top off system to my skimmer.
I
had to add a pressure regulator to my line because the 90 psi line
pressure
was blowing the fittings off of my top off system. I regulated it down to
25
psi. You can find them in the water heater or irrigation (drip pressure
regulator) areas of Home Depot/Lowes type stores. I trenched mine only 8
inches underground, but as I said, I will blow it out in the fall with an
air compressor. I used 3/4" schedule 40 pipe.

I am planning on using something flexible. I was worried about the PVC
cracking over time as the ground heaved.

For the electric, there are codes on the depth of the wire - if contained
in
conduit you can bury it 6" underground. If using just UF(underground
cable)
I think it must be at least 24" deep and you should cover with a redwood
board as well. Check for your area. Also, conduit and a junction box must
be
used to transition from inside to underground. Someone recommended getting
a
roll of yellow tape that says something "underground wiring buried here" a
put it above your wiring in the ground. Make sure to use the correct
exterior junction boxes and gang outlet boxes. The new ones have a large
plastic cover that flips over the front. I have a four gang at my skimmer
for the pump and UV lights. Leave enough for low voltage lights and other
expansions as well. Note: underwater lights from Malibu must be wired
directly to the power pack.

I have an electrician in the family. No worries. :)

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"Mike Patterson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 26 May 2004 11:20:04 -0400, "Benign Vanilla"
wrote:

The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

Since you're gonna have the trench open anyway, spend $10 extra and
run an extra 1.5 or 2 inch flexible pipe in there. Great for running a
phone line or cable TV wire or network cable etc. in later if you get
the urge.

My electrician friend (like a brother to me) and I are both techno-geeks. We
have already planned for a CAT5 line, some video cable, and some speaker
wire in the trench. Right now, the big hurdle is the trench and it seems the
wife is allowing it. The rest will be easy.

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

1. Put everything in a conduit so that you can make changes later. And
it is much safer anyway.
2. If you need 3/4" conduit, put in 1". If you need 3 conduits, put in 1
more extra.
3. Put in your pull string as you go!
4. Will you ever be in need of gas line down there later. The yellow
plastic gas line is incredible! Lay it down now with tracer wire if you
think you may ever need gas!

Congrats on the SO letting you do this utility extension.

--
_______________________________________
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is
like an eggs-and-ham breakfast:
The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"Mike Patterson" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 26 May 2004 11:20:04 -0400, "Benign Vanilla"
wrote:

The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out
to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the
garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

Since you're gonna have the trench open anyway, spend $10 extra and
run an extra 1.5 or 2 inch flexible pipe in there. Great for running a
phone line or cable TV wire or network cable etc. in later if you get
the urge.

My electrician friend (like a brother to me) and I are both techno-geeks.
We
have already planned for a CAT5 line, some video cable, and some speaker
wire in the trench. Right now, the big hurdle is the trench and it seems
the
wife is allowing it. The rest will be easy.

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message ...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden, she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

This may have already been posted but in a lot of states it's illegal
to dig with power equipment until you call their, "One Call" number.
When you call you tell them where you are and all the utility,
pipeline, etc etc people come out and mark where their stuff is.
You're usually granted X amount of time to dig before you have to call
again. In PA you call and have to wait 3 days for everyone to come out
and then you have 10 days to dig.

http://www.paonecall.com

Believe me when I say that more than enough people have died trenching
over power lines they didnt know were there.

Sam

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message ...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden, she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.


Here's the master list of one call centers for each state:

http://www.undergroundinfo.com/ucedi...l04onecall.pdf

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
om...
"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
The SO approved me renting a trencher so I can run power and water out
to
the pond. When I mentioned I could T off and put a spigot in the garden,
she
instantly approved the rental.

Before I do this...Any thoughts? gotchas? wish-I-had-done-this's?

BV.

This may have already been posted but in a lot of states it's illegal
to dig with power equipment until you call their, "One Call" number.
When you call you tell them where you are and all the utility,
pipeline, etc etc people come out and mark where their stuff is.
You're usually granted X amount of time to dig before you have to call
again. In PA you call and have to wait 3 days for everyone to come out
and then you have 10 days to dig.

We have Miss Utility in MD. A couple years back we had an invisible fence
installed so we had the entire yard marked. We have nothing in our backyard.
So unless some utility snuck in, buried some lines, and replanted the grass
without me knowing, my trench path is safe.

BV.

Looking for Comments from Experience
 

Pretty good link there.

Sam Hopkins wrote:

Here's the master list of one call centers for each state:

http://www.undergroundinfo.com/ucedi...l04onecall.pdf