I need to hide my airlines and power cords..

[ShawnInfirmity]

We recently made a bed along side and behind the pond and filled it most the way with drainage rock. My plan was to tie all the air lines and power cords together and bury them in more rocks after we added them but the boss lady (wife) says I should run them all through a pipe or tubing. What do you guys/gals think?

 

[addy1]

the boss lady (wife) says I should run them all through a pipe or tubing.

I have lost camera lines, propane lines, tubing to the munching of critters. Now everything is in propane. Also keeps it neater.

 

[Jhn]

Do you have enough slack to pull them up tight against the edge of your pond and cement patio? Then bury them.

I would take your approach and just bury them, but then my wife would ask my why I didn’t put them in conduit, as well. So don’t go by what I say.

 

[mrsclem]

If you run them thru a pipe and you need to do any work, you will have to pull them thru. How about using the foam pipe wrap? It has a slit that would allow easy removal of any lines you need to work with but keep everything together.

 

[Stephen Noble]

Oh, by all means go with the boss I get the same 'directive' from my boss to hide those beautiful wires. One consideration is ease of removal if you have to service any of the equipment. Taking a pump for service on your work bench is painful if the wires are not easily removed. I would see if you can get away with bundling them say using twisty's or a couple of zip ties, running them up against the pond and just shallowly cover them with rocks. Guess you could also run them through a large pvc pipe...large enough to allow the removal of just one cord at a time. Both options are painful if you need to quickly service something away from the pond. Here is an option: Run one heavy duty extension cord that has multiple, outdoor rated, sockets integrally attached. Then all you have to do is plug everything in near the pond. You can coil up the wires individually and hide them in a decorative pot or conceal them behind a plant etc. One downside to this is option is it is one 'one point safe' in that if the GFCI trips everything shuts off. I finally decided to stop fighting 'city hall' and had an electrician come out and run electrical sockets next to my ponds. That is the ultimate solution and everyone is happy.
Stephen

 

[Jhn]

I did the same thing as Stephen and had an outlet installed near the pond as per wife’s directions.

 

[poconojoe]

If you go with the idea of running them in a conduit and you need to pull one out for servicing the equipment, tie a string to the end of the wire and pull the string in with the wire you pull out. It's called "pulling in a drag". Now when your done servicing the equipment, just tie the wire back onto the drag string you pulled in previously and pull it back in with ease. Another idea is when you pull that drag string in, pull two instead of just one. The second one stays in the conduit for future use. Now if you need to add something later, there's a spare drag in there.

 

[poconojoe]

Here's a tip to pull wire (or air hoses in this case) into an empty conduit.... cut the corner of a plastic shopping bag. Tie the end of some light string to the open side forming a parachute type thing. Nothing fancy, just bunch it together and tie the string to it. Make sure your "parachute" just fits inside the conduit. Not too big, not too small. Now go to the other end of the conduit with your vacuum and suck the "parachute" (with the string attached) right through. Cup your hand around the vacuum nozzle to make a seal. The "parachute with fly through there into your vacuum within seconds. Now you have a drag string in your conduit you can use to pull in your wire or air hoses. Sure beats using a fish tape (aka snake).

 

[Angel]

use masonry string it will hold up better to pulling and over time sitting in the pipe. vrs anything else you may have plus its thin.

@poconojoe in the trade the parachute we call a rabbit

 

[poconojoe]

Hey Angel, I guess it all depends what part of the country, or maybe world your from. There are a lot of electrical slang words that are different depending on what region you work in. For example, down south they call scrap copper "rabbit". In NYC we call it mongo. What we call cable cutters or choppers, they call a rabbit gun! What we call threaded rod, they call all-thread. Then there's snake and fish tape. And what we call a drill, they call a drill motor. Funny, huh? I'm retired IBEW Local Union #3.

 

[Angel]

Hey Angel, I guess it all depends what part of the country, or maybe world your from. There are a lot of electrical slang words that are different depending on what region you work in. For example, down south they call scrap copper "rabbit". In NYC we call it mongo. What we call cable cutters or choppers, they call a rabbit gun! What we call threaded rod, they call all-thread. Then there's snake and fish tape. And what we call a drill, they call a drill motor. Funny, huh? I'm retired IBEW Local Union #3.

I hear you structured cabling on the IT side of things

 

[Angel]

@ShawnInfirmity btw word of advice as well, double or better the counduite size compared to the air line total size. ie all lines come out to be 1/2" get 1" or 1.5" conduite and less 90 degree bends you have the better to pull it through with