How to secure power cable to well pipe...

[SteveMitty79]

Finally getting close to installing this setup. That's if the heat doesn't kill me first. We finally got a break after two weeks of hundred degree heat index. Now it's just only in the nineties.

Anyway, what's the preferred method of securing power line to well pipe. I've read either electrical tape or cable ties in certain threads. Can I use run of the mill stuff or is a specific brand or kind required? Tolulene in tape. Read about that somewhere. In the water, above the water preferences?

Details can be a killer, huh. Thanks.

 

[Reach4]

Scotch 33+
https://terrylove.com/forums/index....to-improve-well-efficiency.55651/#post-408243

 

[Sponsor]

 

[SteveMitty79]

Scotch 33+

Looks like they've upgraded to Scotch "super" 33 plus. Mo better for me. Thanks.

You know as an afterthought, I guess it pays in certain situations to ask for advice. With my luck, I'd have minced Harbor Freight electrical tape regularly in my well water, which would not make me a happy camper. So, after reading the reviews on this stuff at Home Depot and Lowes, sometimes in certain applications, this being one, it pays to get the better stuff. It just never occurred to me the vast difference in quality in something as simple as electrical tape.

This old dog is still learning.

 

[Valveman]

I like tape better than zip ties. It is much easier on the wire as it doesn't rub as hard. Just make sure to tape over the start of the tape and finish with the end of the tape over other tape. If you leave one end of the tape sticking out, it can come unraveled and fall in the well. I usually tape about 3" long solid with no gaps or spirals between the raps of tape and two or three layers thick.

The kind of wire is also important. Twisted, single jacketed wire will rub against the pipe and wear much quicker than double jacketed wire.

 

[Craigpump]

Cable ties don't hold the wire tight enough and the wire will settle causing the wire to lay on the casing and eventually short out.

 

[Texas Wellman]

I use the super wide tape. Tyan brand.

 

[Valveman]

I used a lot of Temflex 1700 for that. It is less expensive than 33+ and not quite as stretchy. But the wide stuff like pipe wrap works good also like TW said.

 

[SteveMitty79]

The 3M 33 is kinda pricey at four bucks a roll. For that, I'd upgrade and get the 88, which is thicker. I do get a Veteran's discount at Lowes, but not much consolation. I found the Temflex 1700 on ebay for just over a buck a roll per 20 rolls. I'll order that and just put it up. Can't seem to find that model at any of the big box stores. So off I am for some rolls of 3M 88...and maybe some sushi while I'm in town.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-20-Roll...ee-Shipping-/121086802252?hash=item1c3155f94c

 

[Boycedrilling]

I use the 2" wide pipe wrap tape. I like the green stuff better than the black. It's about $5.50 per roll.

Every well that we run a complete water test on shows trace quantities of toluene, I've always wondered if it's from the submersible wire or the tape.

 

[Reach4]

While thinking about taping wire, PVC expands with temperature more than copper. So if the ambient temperature while taping wire to PVC drop pipe is higher than it will be in the casing, I don't think you would need to add any slack to the wire. If the day was colder, then you would want to add a little slack to allow for a PVC casing to lengthen a bit. I did not work the numbers.

 

[SteveMitty79]

This was the tape back in day, my uncle wont let me use because it's the last one lol.

What do you know. Three rolls on eBay. That place amazes me.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Ele...018?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4d30b44bb2

 

[Craigpump]

Boyce, yes it is.

NY state requires extensive water testing for subdivisions and the lab my wife worked in discovered that Tolulene was indeed coming from the adhesive in the tape. When test pumps were installed using wire ties, there were no traces of Tolulene to be found.

 

[Ballvalve]

The 3M 33 is kinda pricey at four bucks a roll. For that, I'd upgrade and get the 88, which is thicker. I do get a Veteran's discount at Lowes, but not much consolation. I found the Temflex 1700 on ebay for just over a buck a roll per 20 rolls. I'll order that and just put it up. Can't seem to find that model at any of the big box stores. So off I am for some rolls of 3M 88...and maybe some sushi while I'm in town.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-20-Roll...ee-Shipping-/121086802252?hash=item1c3155f94c

The 88 is crappy and made in Taiwan. It's hard and pretty much like harbor fright. 33+ is the only thing, though I like lots of black heavy cable ties because if you leave them long they act as stand off's to the well wall.

 

[Ballvalve]

This was the tape back in day, my uncle wont let me use because it's the last one lol. For the big stuff, the wide tape is very nice, works great for taping over metal coupling, to keep them from rusting as well.

Says "fire retardant" Now, you really do not want that poison in your well. It's in your sofa and makes kids testicles shrink. Maybe that's why so many live on idiot phones and Kindles now. ABS black cable ties are likely the least toxic. But I suppose the wire itself is giving off all kinds of crap too. Great Grandpa never had any damn plastic, tape, or wires in his well and lived to 98. Spiders and rusty pipe are better for you.