Septic wiring - 2 - shopping

Previously: design

I didn't realize this before, but electrical work is primarily about taking trips to the store. There are so many specialized bits and pieces, you can't possibly have everything you need on hand. Apparently this is true for professional electricians, not just folks like me.

In order of distance:

There's the local hardware store. Friendly folk, limited selection, a bit pricey.

There's a lumberyard where I bought the 6" x 6" treated post, just outside of town.

There's a lumberyard / building supply close to the next town. They cater to pros, so you kinda have to know what you want ahead of time.

There's a bigger hardware store in the small town to the south, with friendly folk and a slightly larger selection, and better prices.

There's an electrician in that same small town, with a retail operation. Huge selection of electrical parts. Only open M-F, 8-5. 

There's a Home Depot in Sequim, which is 45 minutes away. I usually avoid big box stores.

Every time I needed something, I had to guess which place would have it. Closer = better, but stopping at each store in turn takes forever. I did learn to buy things I thought I *might* need, not just things I *knew* I'd need, with the plan to return unused items at the end of the project.

I had a particularly hard time finding the right feeder wire to the subpanel. I knew I wanted 8 gauge copper. #10 is required for 30A, so #8 is upsizing for voltage drop. No one had 8 gauge cable, but Home Depot did have separate conductors. I thought cable would be easier. Their price was $0.72 / ft for each conductor. 3 conductors required (hot, hot, neutral), so $2.16 / ft. 

They asked if I would take aluminum, as it's much cheaper. You have to use one size higher aluminum than copper (so 6 gauge in my case) but it's still cheaper. They didn't have any #6 Al, nor any #4, but they did have #2, as 3 strands twisted loosely together (called 2-2-2). Wow, that's huge. But it was still $1.00 / ft -- less than half the price of the #8 copper. I decided to go for it.

They didn't have 170' left on the spool. There was some 2-2-2-4 available, but I didn't need that extra conductor. The computer showed another full spool in stock somewhere. They found it on a high shelf (very high!). They brought in the forklift, closed off the aisle, pulled the spool down, took it off the pallet, and set it on a spinner to pull wire off. They measured out 170' and coiled it up for me. I thought about buying the whole spool of 500', since I have plans for a second subpanel with an even longer run, but I didn't know for sure this was the right thing. Also, I didn't know if the van could carry that much weight. I had arrived at 8:30pm, and closing time was 9:00pm. I left at 9:30pm with wire, a subpanel, and other bits and pieces.

Next: wiring things up.