electric current "fall off" in an extension cord

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=SnicklefritzG;8941506]
$50+ per tank over what time period?

Thanks for providing a lot of info on the day to day details of winter proofing. I think people often don’t realize how much work it is to run a farm :)[/QUOTE]

Per month, depending on average daily temps in Dec, Jan, Feb and March.

Your welcome. Yup, there’s a lot more to it than face value. Regardless of the number of horses size of the operation I figure I’ll take the time to let people know what “T-shirts” I think are worth buying and ones that are a waste of money.

IMO and experience there aren’t a lot of short cuts but there are ways of doing things time and cost efficiently. I own/run a fairly big farm short on help. So the majority of what I suggest, do is based on this type of operation. It may or may not “apply” to all.

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=skyy;8938637]
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I’m sorry that took up your lunch hour but I think you just saved me from myself. As this is not my farm, I am limited with what I can do but everything you just wrote shows me that this is a BAD IDEA and I will have to come up with another way to water these horses. So again, thank you.[/QUOTE]

You are very welcome. Acknowledgments are very much appreciated. It’s not like any of us are being paid.

How far away is your tank and what size heater do you want to operated. Where is the outlet to plug into located?

[airhorse]

@SnicklefritzG;8941506

$50+ per tank over what time period?

For us in the upper Midwest, I figure closer to $100 per heater per month when it is very cold…

[airhorse]

I keep putting insulated trough boxes on the to do list, but they never seem to make it to the top.

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=airhorse;8941541]
I keep putting insulated trough boxes on the to do list, but they never seem to make it to the top.[/QUOTE]

you have company

[HungarianHippo]

[QUOTE=airhorse;8941541]
I keep putting insulated trough boxes on the to do list, but they never seem to make it to the top.[/QUOTE]

ok c’mon, here’s your kick in the arse to get out there this weekend and build one. You will feel so happy you got it done, and it’s such easy carpentry.

Seriously, I built one out of scrap 2x4s and plywood in about 3 hours. Dropped it over the trough, and then stuffed the spaces around the trough with pieces of rigid foam insulation. Was it a permanent, last-til-the-end-of-time kind of structure? Nope, but it lasted 5-6 years. I moved it inside each spring, so it was only seeing the elements a few months a year.

Heck, even just buy a larger water trough that you can set yours inside, and stuff the air gaps with hay or rigid foam insulation.

All that can-do inspirational crap aside, though, I also have a long list of stuff that I keep meaning to build and it never gets done. I have a pile of 2" well pipe lying next to my barn that I want to build something out of, like maybe a round bale shelter/feeder? I’ve sketched plans, but that pipe is still lying in the same place, 5 years later. <grrr>

[skyy]

Gumtree…

The trough is about 300’ feet from the outlet.

[clanter]

are your going to continue to use the 200 gallon tank? a heater for that size would be in the 1500 Watt range which requires 12.5 amps… not good as the 300 feet from the outlet because the outlet may be on 14 ga wiring

Where is the load panel? That is actually where you need to back track to.
https://www.icmag.com/modules/Tutorials/ElectricalSafety/1655.htm

Can you use a small water tank thus have a smaller heater?

or relocate the water tank to be closer to electrical source?

[shakeytails]

Speaking of frozen water…, anybody got any pics of their “McGuyver” insulated tanks?

I hate busting ice, and keep an sledgehammer next to all the outside tanks all winter. I also have a few extra 55 gal plastic barrels cut to size for waterers that I can fill when I either can’t break the ice or don’t have time to mess with it.

[HungarianHippo]

[QUOTE=skyy;8945465]
The trough is about 300’ feet from the outlet.[/QUOTE]

Another brainstorming idea, can you set up a temporary alley of step-in hotwire fence, to bring the pasture to the water vs bringing the water to the pasture?

[skyy]

Now that is an interesting idea which might actually be doable. The field is located beside the outdoor ring which is fenced and then there is an alley already made by the fence of a different paddock and the property line fence. These fencing lines don’t connect (there are some gaps) but it may be able to be rigged with a gate and some tape. Putting the trough at the top of the alley would get it alot closer to a hydrant and an outlet.

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=clanter;8945564]
are your going to continue to use the 200 gallon tank? a heater for that size would be in the 1500 Watt range which requires 12.5 amps… not good as the 300 feet from the outlet because the outlet may be on 14 ga wiring

Where is the load panel? That is actually where you need to back track to.
https://www.icmag.com/modules/Tutorials/ElectricalSafety/1655.htm

Can you use a small water tank thus have a smaller heater?

or relocate the water tank to be closer to electrical source?[/QUOTE]

The link provided is somewhat vague and or assumes the reader has a basic understanding of residential code. NEC allows up to 10 receptacles/outlets on a 14-2 15 amp branch. Up to 13 on a 12-2 20 amp branch.

So, the way I understand “code” and wire/run size it takes into consideration the highest demand that may be placed on the branch. Maybe only 2- or 3 outlets may be in use at any given time. But plans for the possibility of all 10 or 13 maybe used.

I ran over 1500 feet of 12-2 direct bury that services 3 outlets.This is hard wired to the panel on a dedicated breaker. 2 outlets at the end which services two 75 gallons tanks with a 1500 watt sink heater in each. The 3rd outlet about 50’ from the panel and is used for a small tank with a 250 watt heater. This has worked use fine for years.

“outlet because the outlet may be on 14 ga wiring”

Don’t know if there is a specific code for wiring Ag structures/barns. I would like to think by default the electrician would advise to use 12-2 for all barn outlets considering the possible electrical needs of a barn outlets would be higher as a rule than residential needs.

The wire size can be determined several ways depending on how the outlet/receptacle is wired back to the panel. If the wire exiting the outlet box can be seen the size of it will be stamped on it. Turning off the power and opening the outlet box for a visual inspection. Or locating the the breaker that the wire runs to and checking the size where it enters the panel.

In my neck of the winter woods I think a single 1500 watt tank heater would struggle keeping 200 gallons ice free. I would buy a smaller tank and fill it more often. It that amount of water is really needed on a daily bases.

Filling that size tank with less water will allow the 1500 watt heater to do its job. But it is important to keep in mind even with non insulated tanks. Most “heat loss” comes from the exposed water surface area. The smaller the surface area exposed the less heat loss. Less power demand.

[gumtree]

[QUOTE=skyy;8945465]
The trough is about 300’ feet from the outlet.[/QUOTE]

To be clear I am not advising nor telling anyone what to do. I am just posting what I have done based on a pretty sound understanding of electrical wiring and needs.

As a master tradesman said to me when checking out some of my “work”. Plumbing and electric.

"That will work just fine. But if you had to deal with “code” it wouldn’t pass.

As I said in my earlier post what I did in the same situation with a tank (75 gallon) and 1500 watt heater located around the same distance. I made an “extension cord” out of 12-2 direct bury cable. Used commercial grade plugs and plugged it into an commercial grade outlet wired with 12-2 cable that had nothing else running on the circuit.

I checked the supply side plug/outlet from time to time for heat build up when I knew the heater was running for a long periods. Warm to the touch at times but not hot.

[airhorse]

@gumtree;8948138

I ran over 1500 feet of 12-2 direct bury that services 3 outlets.This is hard wired to the panel on a dedicated breaker. 2 outlets at the end which services two 75 gallons tanks with a 1500 watt sink heater in each. The 3rd outlet about 50’ from the panel and is used for a small tank with a 250 watt heater. This has worked use fine for years.

You are running 3250 watts on 12 gauge wire?