SWA to garden studio

[lights-on]

Hello- I am installing an SWA cable down a garden to a shed which is going to be used as a recording studio. It will not have enormous current requirements, probably along the lines of a normal house with ring mains etc. plus maybe an airconditioner.

Would a 31 amp rated 2 core + earth SWA be OK for this? Do you recommend any cable as being better than the rest, interms of workabilty, durability etc?

Initally it will be terminated until the building is erected- what's the orthodox way to termminate an SWA while the building gets built? The build needs to run the cable through his conduit asap so the sparks can include it in the main CU for the house.

I need about 50 metres. Thinking of burying it ( which I think can be done directly? ) but may look at a catenery also.

Thanks for any advice.

N

 

[spary]

Get an electrician in, its a fair run and may also need 10mm bond

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[mattg4321]

Speak to the sparks who will be doing the job!

 

[Octopus]

At a run of that length volt drop has to be a major consideration.

 

[lights-on]

Actually it's going to cloer to 30m, sorry- Meant that I need a 50m drum. Voltage drop indeed will be an issue. Electrician is contracted to do the house, so I'm doing the add-on stuff- he's not on site yet so I'm making plans for the garden stuff which isn't in his contract.

 

[spary]

Actually it's going to cloer to 30m, sorry- Meant that I need a 50m drum. Voltage drop indeed will be an issue. Electrician is contracted to do the house, so I'm doing the add-on stuff- he's not on site yet so I'm making plans for the garden stuff which isn't in his contract.

What CSA SWA were you planning on using?

 

[Octopus]

Actually it's going to cloer to 30m, sorry- Meant that I need a 50m drum. Voltage drop indeed will be an issue. Electrician is contracted to do the house, so I'm doing the add-on stuff- he's not on site yet so I'm making plans for the garden stuff which isn't in his contract.

I'mn which case start digging your trench to a minimum of 450mm

 

[Leesparkykent]

Install a duct with a rope so when the electrician is on the job he can do the calculations, select a cable and pull it through. Make sure you bury it at a sufficient depth, use electrical warning tape and keep the bends to a minimum. Where you do have a bend sweep them nicely so not a pita to pull the cable through.

 

[Octopus]

Why buy 50M if you only need 30M?

 

[spary]

Why buy 50M if you only need 30M?

he's gonna use 1.5 bury it in a snakey type orientation and use it as under grass heating

 

[Midwest]

I know I might get told off, but I sense another DIY'er, with an imaginary electrician? OP, if this isn't the case, all the questions you've asked can & would be answered by your 'electrician'.
You would need to give the electrician an idea of how much load you intend to have in your 'shed', instead of guessing at 'enormous' and either getting too big a cable or too small, along with some other considerations. If you aim is to save money, just dig the trench and leave the rest to a competent electrician.

 

[tomspark93]

Lee sparky Kent has the best idea with regards to installing a duct and rope pull through, I'd consider installing two ducts in case you decide to have data, cctv and
alarm cables run down there from the house at a later date. Leave the cable calcs to the spark so that you are not wasting your money on an undersized/oversized cable.

 

[Midwest]

I know I might get told off, but I sense another DIY'er, with an imaginary electrician? QUOTE] Especially after reading your profile, it seems you might have the suitable qualifications to carry out electrical installations, but perhaps lack the necessary experience?

 

[starni999]

Hi mate,
Also, please consider what is going to be connected at the shed end. Who is going to fit the rest of the installation? I presume you will have a DB and several circuits, lights, ring main etc? All of this needs careful planning to get it right. A shed is quite vulnerable to damp, cold / heat etc, as well as physically protecting the cabling and accessories.
Please talk to the Sparky before you spend any money, it's probably cheaper in the long run to get him to install, test, and cert it. Especially if he's on site anyway.
Cheers
Chris Warr

 

[Wilko]

Hi - if I may suggest - understand the heating and AC sizing as these will likely drive max demand. Any good old valve amps? They are great in winter . I've put in 6mm swa on 32a rcbo for home workshops and it's been enough, but there were no AC or heating loads. And here we also have voltage drop issue. Have a closer look at the route - by the time you exit the DB, go up the wall, across the ceiling, down the wall, across the yard - well you get the drift - it's easy to add 10m to what you thought it was. One job the garage was 3 steps away and I needed 25m of cable to get there end to end. So that may drive you to 10mm cable to achieve what you need. And that is not the easiest to work with. But no point building a studio and when the AC kicks in it kills your kit. Many on here can take care of all of this for you. Cheers, DW.