Rural and Farm Electrical around Grafton

Rural work is a proper part of what we do, not something we tolerate. One of our Google reviews is from a farm 35 kilometres out of Grafton, on a job that involved farm power and underground work — and the reason it is a five-star review is that distance was never treated as a problem. Sheds, pumps, sub-mains, long runs and private poles, from Copmanhurst to Coutts Crossing to Nymboida.

• Grafton and surroundsOn-site quotes, free
• Wired to AS/NZS 3000Certified with a CCEW on completion
• Mon to Fri, 7am to 3pmEmergencies outside that where we can

Getting power to a shed

The most common rural job, and the one most often done badly. A heavy-duty extension lead across the yard is not a supply — it is a hazard, and it will not run a welder, a compressor or a split system.

A proper sub-main means.

• Cable sized for the actual run length, not just the load. Voltage drop over distance is the factor people underestimate, and undersized cable makes motors run hot and lights dim every time something starts. On a 150 metre run the correct cable is often two sizes larger than intuition suggests.
• Buried at the correct depth in appropriate conduit with marker tape, so the next person with an excavator finds out before they hit it.
• A sub-board at the shed with its own main switch, circuit breakers and RCD protection — so a fault in the shed does not kill the house, and so you can isolate locally.
• Sensible circuit separation — lights on their own circuit so a tripped power circuit does not leave you in the dark, and heavy equipment separated from general outlets.
• Certified and documented.

Pumps and motors

Pump circuits fail differently to house circuits, and the cost of failure is higher — nobody notices a pump has stopped until the trough is empty or the crop is stressed.

Motor circuits have to be sized for starting current, which is several times running current. Getting this wrong gives you nuisance tripping that looks like a fault in the pump. Each pump should have its own protection so one failure does not take out the rest. Outdoor enclosures must be genuinely rated and correctly glanded — the cheap ones fill with water in the first storm and corrode internally where nobody looks. And everything gets labelled, so a fault takes ten minutes to find rather than an afternoon.

We also serve these areas

This service is available across Grafton and the surrounding suburbs and villages. These are the areas we are asked for it most.

• Grafton

Frequently asked questions