All,

Glad to have found this forum. I'm in the process of wiring a 230V/14A de-watering pump on our property. I ran 12/2 UF cable from a GFCI double pole breaker and I will mount an appropriate 20A outlet on a post with a weatherproof cover.

Here's my questions:

1. I brought the cable in through schedule 80 PVC conduit through the garage wall with an LB and then up into the sub-panel. I added a stub so the conduit sticks into the wall cavity by an inch or so. I plan to cover the open cavity with drywall. Does this sound correct? (see pic)

2. I layed the UF cable in the trench not tightly, but not with excess because I wanted to complete the run without splicing the cable. After the contractor back filled the trench he mentioned it looked kind of tight as it rounded the corner of the trench (wish he had told me before hand).

Now I'm a bit worried about damage in the future possibly from frost heave (it has continuity now). Has anyone ever hear of cable being damaged by heaving? The trench was pretty much free of rock, but the soil is pretty hard.

Thanks in advance,
Lou

 

Sure it happens, but UF is pretty tough stuff. I've seen more issues with settling than frost heave. For example, I've seen conduit pulled off the wall due to settling pulling on the cable. But the UF was unfazed.

When I do direct bury, I put a few S curves at each end just to give a little slack. But since it's buried now, I wouldn't dig anything up to fix a problem that may never happen.