Sealing wall penetrations for pipe/wiring

[DStyduhar]

Hey guys, not sure if this is the place to post this question but I need some advice on wall penetrations in a below grade basement. Currently, there is a single hole for 1" poly and the wiring and they filled it up with spray foam. When I redo my pump line and wiring from well to house, I want to bury the wiring in conduit and have this penetrate through the wall. Is there a flange for this? I would like to size the conduit a little on the large side as I may need to snake an additional run out to my future shed in which will be near the well.

Regarding the 1" poly coming through the wall, do they sell a flange for this? I just feel like there has to be something better than spray foam, tar, etc.

thanks,

Drew

 

[Valveman]

Don't know of any kind of flange for poly pipe. Seen foam, tar, cement, and silicone caulk used before.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[VAWellDriller]

Hydraulic cement

 

[Greenmonster123]

This is a popular method around here

https://www.gptindustries.com/en/products/link-seal

 

[DStyduhar]

ok, that link-seal is what I was envisioning. Seems fancy, can pump houses get it? Seems like something that might be tough for the average home owner to get.

As a side note, when running the pump hose and wiring through the wall, do you have two holes? One large hole? Oval hole? I plan to run my wire in conduit and go right through the wall with that. The poly hose, not sure.

thanks,

Drew

 

[Reach4]

Normally you would not run electrical conduit all of the way to the well. You would penetrate with conduit, and then switch to direct burial wire. However that does not help with changes later.

 

[Boycedrilling]

Every pump I install has has conduit the entire length underground. We NEVER use direct burial wire.

 

[Reach4]

Every pump I install has has conduit the entire length underground. We NEVER use direct burial wire.

Even for 300 ft? What do you use as conduit? gray PVC?

 

[Boycedrilling]

Even for 1,300 feet. Grey PVC sch 40 conduit.

2 reasons. 1; the wire can be replaced if and when needed. 2; protects wire from abrasion and more importantly, rodents.

 

[DStyduhar]

Boyce, what diameter? I have heard some areas with gophers have a min diameter so those bastards cant get their mouth on it, lol.

 

[DStyduhar]

Reach - at the pressure tank end, I planned to penetrate the basement wall with conduit. At the well side, why couldn't you just come above grade under your fake boulders or whatever you guys use.

 

[Boycedrilling]

Now to the original poster’s question about wall penetration in a concrete basement wall. I would rotor hammer or core drill a hole in the concrete. Doesn’t matter whether it’s one hole big enough for both waterline and conduit, or two holes. Usually it’s faster to rotohammer separate holes, than to core drill a 3” or 4” for both to fit thru. Ideally you would drill a big enough hole to grout in a pvc sleeve, but it’s not essential. After the pipe or conduit has been placed thru the hole, I would fill the annular space with silicone caulking or quick setting grout.

 

[Boycedrilling]

The minimum size of conduit is determined by NEC code. However on most domestic pumps, 1” sch40 pvc conduit is what we use. We then pull thhn wire thru the conduit.

 

[DStyduhar]

I read that some places require 2" because gophers can get their mouth around a 1". Who knows, maybe that was in a dream....haha

 

[Reach4]

Reach - at the pressure tank end, I planned to penetrate the basement wall with conduit. At the well side, why couldn't you just come above grade under your fake boulders or whatever you guys use.

Sure. How will you pull the wire? String on soft ball sucked thru with vacuum cleaner? I don't know how far you can push wires.

 

[Boycedrilling]

Up to about 100 ft I push an electrician’s fish tape thru the conduit and use it to pull the wires back. On longer runs or hard pulls, I blow a foam piston thru the conduit with fishing string. Then you use the string to pull rope, then you pull the wire in with the rope. If necessary you use a powered wire pulling capstan to pull the rope.

Last pull of 350 MCM in 3” conduit was about 130 feet. Was able to pull it about half way before I had to use the power puller. This was for a 150 hp lineshaft turbine.

 

[DStyduhar]

""Sure. How will you pull the wire? String on soft ball sucked thru with vacuum cleaner? I don't know how far you can push wires."""

I plan to oversize the conduit a bit so I can snake additional run through it in the future. Is I against code to pull wiring as you are assembling the conduit instead of after everything is together?

 

[Boycedrilling]

dont know if it’s against NEC code or not to pull the wire thru the conduit as you glue the conduit together. However I can tell you it is much easier to suck or blow a string in afterwards.

https://rexel-cdn.com/Products/505F...0D68/505FDEE1-4055-4F5A-BD7B-2C6B1DC70D68.pdf

A 5 pack of 1” pistons only cost $7.50.

https://rexel-cdn.com/Products/B0A0...25C4/B0A0FB59-A96C-4BC9-BD04-7053B88725C4.pdf

This is the pull string attached to the piston. 3000 foot reel. Marked every foot, so you know how much wire you need. You use this string to pull a stronger rope or mule tape in.

 

[Boycedrilling]

You can pull thru up to 360 degrees of bends. More than that you need to pull in stages.

 

[DStyduhar]

That's pretty cool! I also had a thought of just putting some nylon in the conduit as I assembled it and then use that to pull the wire..

Ok here is another question......so you use that piston setup to pull your wire the first time. What about adding another run in the conduit?