faultydaveza Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 (edited) Hi All, Hope you all are doing well, Please can you help me with 3 questions I have? I currently have a 16mm flat twin + earth cable running from my house to an outside building, spanning about 4.5 meters, and about 2.5m overhead above ground. It runs in a PVC conduit. The conduit and cable does not sag, as they have been run through a larger aluminium pipe which is fixed between house and the carport. 1. I want to know if this meets the SANS requirements for outdoor wiring please? I tried looking for this info however I was not successful. 2. If the answer to question 1 is Yes, then I would like to run a second 16mm flat twin + earth cable in a seperate PVC conduit fixed to the first one. I will then use both these cables to connect an Inverter. From what I understand, I would need to run a seperate Earth wire to and from the inverter, as the one included in the Flat twin + earth cable is not large enough. Should I be using a 16mm Earth wire for this? Also, do i also use the earth wire in the flat twin + earth cable or do i cut it short. 3. Regarding solar panel grounding, which size cable should be used? Also, can this be solar wire (6mm), or do I need to use green/yellow GP wire? Thank you all for your expert advise Edited August 21 by faultydaveza added the word "overhead" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scorp007 Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 1 hour ago, faultydaveza said: Hi All, Hope you all are doing well, Please can you help me with 3 questions I have? I currently have a 16mm flat twin + earth cable running from my house to an outside building, spanning about 4.5 meters, and about 2.5m overhead above ground. It runs in a PVC conduit. The conduit and cable does not sag, as they have been run through a larger aluminium pipe which is fixed between house and the carport. 1. I want to know if this meets the SANS requirements for outdoor wiring please? I tried looking for this info however I was not successful. 2. If the answer to question 1 is Yes, then I would like to run a second 16mm flat twin + earth cable in a seperate PVC conduit fixed to the first one. I will then use both these cables to connect an Inverter. From what I understand, I would need to run a seperate Earth wire to and from the inverter, as the one included in the Flat twin + earth cable is not large enough. Should I be using a 16mm Earth wire for this? Also, do i also use the earth wire in the flat twin + earth cable or do i cut it short. 3. Regarding solar panel grounding, which size cable should be used? Also, can this be solar wire (6mm), or do I need to use green/yellow GP wire? Thank you all for your expert advise 1. I see no problem but let's await a reply from @TaliaB 2. As long as the earth wire is 6mm² for each 16mm² phase and N conductor. 3. I would use bare copper earth wire. If it is insulated it has to be green/yellow AFAIK. Derek3, faultydaveza and BritishRacingGreen 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faultydaveza Posted August 21 Author Share Posted August 21 Thank you Scorp for your reply! 1. Ok thanks 2. Oh that's great news, that saves me some time and money 3. That makes sense, thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaliaB Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 (edited) 9 hours ago, faultydaveza said: The conduit and cable does not sag, as they have been run through a larger aluminium pipe which is fixed between house and the carport. 1. I want to know if this meets the SANS requirements for outdoor wiring please? I tried looking for this info however I was not successful. 1. For above question no problem it runs in pvc conduit within aluminium pipe so acceptable within Sans regulation. Normally for outdoor use round Surfix or Norsk is used as the inner core insulation is UV protected due to extra insulation layers but in your case it is adequate.(conduit and aluminium pipe) 2. 16mm² flat or round Surfix has a earth conductor of 6mm² that is adequate up to 60A. As the cable is rated for 87A above 60 Amps a seperate bare 6mm² copper earth conductor should be run with the cables connected to the Surfix earth( paralleled). 3. I normally run 10mm² green/yellow Gp earth conductor connected to frame of panels to ground rod. @faultydaveza @Scorp007 Edited August 21 by TaliaB Derek3, faultydaveza and Scorp007 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faultydaveza Posted August 21 Author Share Posted August 21 Hi @TaliaB, Thanks very much for the answer, i really appreciate it. So for question 2, For now I'll be using 32A MCBs for this 16mm² cable, but should I upgrade the inverter in future, and I stick to lets say a 50A MCB, then I wouldn't require the extra earth conductor? Or do I need the extra conductor solely on the fact that the cable is capable of more than 60A? Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaliaB Posted August 21 Share Posted August 21 (edited) 1 hour ago, faultydaveza said: Hi @TaliaB, Thanks very much for the answer, i really appreciate it. So for question 2, For now I'll be using 32A MCBs for this 16mm² cable, but should I upgrade the inverter in future, and I stick to lets say a 50A MCB, then I wouldn't require the extra earth conductor? Or do I need the extra conductor solely on the fact that the cable is capable of more than 60A? Thanks again 2. No if you are using 32A the 6mm² earh cable in the Surfix is good but should you in future exceed the 60 amps you need the additional 6mm² earth conductor. Any current draw below 60A the 6mm² earth wire would suffice. Edited August 21 by TaliaB Derek3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faultydaveza Posted August 21 Author Share Posted August 21 Awesome thank you very much @TaliaB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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