Here and Now...What's Happening?

[Carmody]

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
Thanks, Paul. He is going to consult with one of the top people from our electric company here, as he doesn't even trust our regular electrician in this matter. I was just sharing here and now stuff....

Well, you know how it goes. Waving nerdie numbers in front of a geek is like wiggling a string in front of a cat ... guaranteed reactions .

Yeah, I know, that is a problem.

http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

Costa Rica:

Line and neutral at 120VAC , same as USA and Canada. probably 220 two phase and 220 three phase, in the same way. Gonna check on that. Can't find that info, but it is likely the same.

Thus, the wiring will come in at, oh, 220 two phase and then be broken down for each place. Higher voltage is the better anyway, as this gets more into 'field' conditions than current drive and this drops costs for the wiring. 100M is a LONG run, about 340ft for the underground part alone. Expect to hit a good 400ft, overall. #2 gauge is likely the deal, at minimum, considering the total loading. 400 ft through a 1" pipe would be a real bear to pull. You might have to go to a underground rated ('bury rated') cable and leave it at that. Then go to buried conduit from the breakout for the cottages.

Is it a case of doing a single line then breaking out to each cottage? That is the cheaper way to go, the proper, one might say. However that's 10-11 junctions. Not unusual, they do it all the time in suburbs. Ernie should know...

I was going to buy my dad a roll of bury rated copper wire for his garage, which was a 880ft run, and at the time the wire needed to be 00 or 000, I can't recall. He needed 220VAC, three phase, at a minimum of 100amps. It was almost cheaper to have a new transformer put in near the garage, instead of coming off the house line, and running the 880ft. Your distance is under half but your load is at least as high.

[ulli]

Posted by Carmody (here)

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
Thanks, Paul. He is going to consult with one of the top people from our electric company here, as he doesn't even trust our regular electrician in this matter. I was just sharing here and now stuff....

Well, you know how it goes. Waving nerdie numbers in front of a geek is like wiggling a string in front of a cat ... guaranteed reactions .

Yeah, I know, that is a problem.

http://www.kropla.com/electric2.htm

Costa Rica:

Line and neutral at 120VAC , same as USA and Canada. probably 220 two phase and 220 three phase, in the same way. Gonna check on that. Can't find that info, but it is likely the same.

Thus, the wiring will come in at, oh, 220 two phase and then be broken down for each place. Higher voltage is the better anyway, as this gets more into 'field' conditions than current drive and this drops costs for the wiring. 100M is a LONG run, about 340ft for the underground part alone. Expect to hit a good 400ft, overall. #2 gauge is likely the deal, at minimum, considering the total loading. 400 ft through a 1" pipe would be a real bear to pull. You might have to go to a underground rated ('bury rated') cable and leave it at that. Then go to buried conduit from the breakout for the cottages.

Is it a case of doing a single line then breaking out to each cottage? That is the cheaper way to go, the proper, one might say. However that's 10-11 junctions. Not unusual, they do it all the time in suburbs. Ernie should know...

I was going to buy my dad a roll of bury rated copper wire for his garage, which was a 880ft run, and at the time the wire needed to be 00 or 000, I can't recall. He needed 220VAC, three phase, at a minimum of 100amps. It was almost cheaper to have a new transformer put in near the garage, instead of coming off the house line, and running the 880ft. Your distance is under half but your load is at least as high.

Great input, everyone. We have quite a few options. It's still early days. The upper terrace where we are planning on building four cottages could be reached from the main road which runs along just above a steep slope which is overgrown with bamboo. These cottages could be served by an overhead cable which wouldn't be too visible.
Here is a picture of the upper terrace. The bamboo slope I mentioned is on the right, and the cottages would be built to the left of the lane. The lower area is to be developed later, although our own house will go there, too, and we may start building it early next year. If we were to run an overhead cable to our house the cottages would have their scenic view ruined.
Thats what this is about, mainly.

[we-R-one]

So I took a walk today and it was business as usual while covering the terrain of the nearby neighborhood....I just about did a double take when I noticed in the black of darkness...could that be...no it couldn't...could it? .....Crocus blooming in someone's front lawn, huh? Did fall and winter pass me by during my walk, lol? Last time I checked Spring hadn't arrived....and then I thought, CRAP!! Did I miss zero point? LMAO

Just wanted to share..

[ulli]

Posted by we-R-one (here)
So I took a walk today and it was business as usual while covering the terrain of the nearby neighborhood....I just about did a double take when I noticed in the black of darkness...could that be...no it couldn't...could it? .....Crocus blooming in someone's front lawn, huh? Did fall and winter pass me by during my walk, lol? Last time I checked Spring hadn't arrived....and then I thought, CRAP!! Did I miss zero point? LMAO

Just wanted to share..

You're in good company around here. Sometimes we don't even know what year it is.

[we-R-one]

ok sorry, didn't mean to interrupt the previous conversation...please continue.

[ulli]

Posted by we-R-one (here)
ok sorry, didn't mean to interrupt the previous conversation...please continue.

Interruption? Everything is just the way it is meant to be....and as such all is welcome, at all times.

[ViralSpiral]

Lol

[Anchor]

Posted by ulli (here)

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
which would be better, cable #2 or #4?

That depends on how much current (amps) you plan to draw through the lines.

Maximum ten cabins of 20 amp circuits, perhaps 30 amps for our own home.
I know that sounds ambitious, but I want to be ready in case we win the lottery.

Seriously this is not something you can work out on a forum. You are going to need details of the local substation, voltage, how high the voltage is underground, what phases can be delivered. You may even need some transformers.

The problem with electricity is that cables are not free from resistance. The longer they are the more the voltage drops when under load. Most building electrical codes specify the maximum permissible drop. Voltage drop increases with current drawn, which warms the wires up (using power that you have probably paid for as they stick the meter before the 240 run up to the property). For this reason most electricity distribution is done at high voltage so the wires dont have to be so thick. Out where I am, all the rural houses have their own transformer on a pole, and mine was 100m from my house. At 240v codes required #000 gauge cable (nearly 90mm²). Lucky the predecessor was the one that footed the bill for that....


----
Edit - I see Carmody covered this now, but I'll leave it for the extra flavouring

[meeradas]

Normally, this song here would be a little too much pathos for my taste.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=I-G8IfjPAII

Normally.

It just reduced me to a pond of himalayan salt water.

---

Wanting to balance the former with that one:

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ckWLcTrKzaw

Now, i'm crying even more.

What's going on.

[modwiz]

Posted by meeradas (here)
Normally, this here would be a little too much pathos for my taste.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=I-G8IfjPAII

Normally.

It just reduced me to a pond of himalayan salt water.

Must be the Moon.

BTW. My avatar thinks your avatar looks tasty.

I'll be vacationing from the forum for a spell. Don't cry.

[Eram]

Who needs a drummer?

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pDHzK3Xe7Yw

oh bye the way!

Where doomed!




unless

Nature will find a way somehow




She will be looking for that chance.

[meeradas]

Posted by modwiz (here)
BTW. My avatar thinks your avatar looks tasty.

LOL. Who doesn't.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=I9iYNBZOeEg

[Eram]

Posted by modwiz (here)
I'll be vacationing from the forum for a spell. Don't cry.

Can you give us a safety zone estimation for that? coordinates etc.

[Anchor]

Posted by Wakytweaky (here)
Who needs a drummer?

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=pDHzK3Xe7Yw

I lolled, that was awesome.

My scythe came today. Next weekend is a long weekend in New South Wales. Playtime will be had - and photos perhaps.

¤=[Post Update]=¤

Posted by Paul (here)

Posted by ulli (here)
Thanks, Paul. He is going to consult with one of the top people from our electric company here, as he doesn't even trust our regular electrician in this matter. I was just sharing here and now stuff....

Well, you know how it goes. Waving nerdie numbers in front of a geek is like wiggling a string in front of a cat ... guaranteed reactions .

It got me too.

Like fish on a hook ehh?

I should have read the thread before I spoke

[ViralSpiral]

Posted by modwiz (here)

I'll be vacationing from the forum for a spell. Don't cry.

happy "intergalactic travels", our favourite wizard
from the words of Gandalf.......

“I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are an evil.”


[J.R.R. Tolkien]

[eaglespirit]

Yep... time for some input from Ernie, Our Here and Now Sparky : )

[araucaria]

Posted by ulli (here)

Posted by we-R-one (here)
So I took a walk today and it was business as usual while covering the terrain of the nearby neighborhood....I just about did a double take when I noticed in the black of darkness...could that be...no it couldn't...could it? .....Crocus blooming in someone's front lawn, huh? Did fall and winter pass me by during my walk, lol? Last time I checked Spring hadn't arrived....and then I thought, CRAP!! Did I miss zero point? LMAO

Just wanted to share..

You're in good company around here. Sometimes we don't even know what year it is.

Don't know what year it is!!! This is twenty twelve, the year we have been waiting for for thousands of years if not thousands of millennia, and you don't know what year it is???

Excellent

Re the lottery: Ulli, given your track record of predicting 5-figure post numbers on this thread, I reckon rustling up a winning lottery ticket will be child's play whenever you put your mind to it.

And then you will make Costa Ricans of all of us (yes, we know where this is all heading)

[eaglespirit]

.......
And "Happy Trails" Modwiz : )

[christian]

Have been to a big harvest festival from an agricultural cooperative, that is a poster-child for organic farming and working with mentally handicapped people. When I saw the energies and the joy and verve there, when they were carelessly rejoicing in singing, dancing, drumming and affectionately welcoming the visitors it made me wonder who is actually really handicapped.

"Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness."

[Marianne]

Posted by ulli (here)

Ulli, looking at this picture, I want to be in Costa Rica here and now. As I sit here at my work computer on a Monday morning. Wishing for connections.

My surrounds are not that bad ... lots of Nature. Lots of baggage too.


Made juice this morning. I know it looks horrid, but it's very nice to drink. the orange one is carrots, an orange (peeled but with the white pith left on, very nutritious), and pineapple. The green one is red grapes, a peeled lemon, celery, and a little kale.
The herb tea is an overnight steep of bilberry, calendula petals, and bitter yarrow.

Yarrow was used by the natives for 'bad blood' from trauma (physical and emotional). It also lowers blood pressure, not a bad thing for me with the pressure from work lately. Going back to look at that Costa Rica pic ... that must lower blood pressure too.

Modwiz, wishing you all the best on your journey.