I have a trench that was dug for other electrical work. Before I fill out back in, and since its 3/4 of the way to the shed, I was thinking it would be a good time to put style pipe, so that when I can affOrd it, it would be easier. ( and less digging and less distruction of the lawn) to fish some wire through it. ( I will not be doing it myself). I live in mass and the trench is> 18 in deep.
What t type of pipe/size (for dummies).

 

Your question is rather vague . What are you planning to power and how far away is it from the house.

 

Good call.

2. 8 x 10 sheds one for mostly pool stuff and one for lawn stuff. Overhead lamp in both. Outlet in each, the very most I could see the outlet used for would b for a miter saw ( and this would b seldom). Basically a couple of convenience outlEts.

 

Will the pool be powered from the shed?

 

You don't use "pipe" for wiring, you use conduit. Admittedly, some electricians refer to conduit as "pipe" but that is an incorrect term. Electrical conduit is manufactured with different specifications regarding finish than is water pipe and these specifications are important to allow for easier pulling of the wires as well as prevention of abrading the insulation of the wires.

Never use EMT, electrical metallic tubing (also known as thinwall conduit) underground as it will rust out in a few years. Intermediate (IMC) or rigid (RMC) steel or aluminum conduit is okay, especially where it enters/leaves the ground and is often used where subject to damage. The most common underground conduit is PVC plastic, also known as non-metallic conduit.

Metallic conduit assembles with couplers and threaded joints. The threads are the same size as standard pipe threads but without the taper. No pipe joint compound or Teflon tape is used. Plastic conduit assembles with a solvent cement but unlike water pipe no PVC cleaner is necessary. All conduit work must be completed before pulling the wires. There can be no more than an equivalent of four 90[SUP]o[/SUP] bends between permanently accessible "pulling points" in a complete conduit run.

Minimum depth for anything other than rigid steel conduit is 18 inches of cover over the top of the conduit. Some specific areas require a minimum of 24 inches as I recall. That means the trench must be deeper than 18 inches. There are some specific installations that will allow the use of steel rigid with only 6 inches of cover but I don't remember the details. Any conduit may be less than 18 inches IF it is encased in a minimum of 2 inches of concrete.

Do not run any low-voltage or communication cable in the same conduit as power wiring. Remember that underground conduit is considered to be a wet environment so do not even think about using type NM cable in conduit. Use only individual wires with the W designation such as THWN.

 

Can two conduits, one power the other phone/cable, be run in the same trench?

 

Yes. .

 

As Ray stated, the answer is yes. Ideally the two conduits would be separated about 12 inches, either horizontally or vertically from each other but that suggestion is often ignored in the real world.