I have a telegraph pole, made from a pine tree which has been tarred and creosoted.
I have a 24 volt, 3 phase wind turbine that I intend to mount on the top of it.
I also have some uninsulated hard drawn copper wire approximately 3.75mm diameter.
Can I simply run these down the pole without stand-off insulators, or will the wood be conductive enough to short out the wires when it rains?
I know that for high voltages this would be a no no, but will 24 volts be OK?
I was thinking of spacing the 3 wires about 30mm apart.
The pole is 8 or 9 metres high but the cable run would be 6 or 7 metres.

 

Pine tree with tar and creosote is highly flammable!
Not sure if you would ever experience tracking, but possible.
Maybe not worth the chance?
Max.

 

I was hoping to not to have to spend £20 on pvc tubing to run the individual wires in, but if I need to I will.
I thought someone here with experience of low voltage installations might be able to tell me if wet telegraph pole would leak sufficient current to cause problems.

 

Welcome to AAC.

You should insulate the wires for several reasons. While the pole is not likely to be a problem, if you have a path, made by water, between the wires, you are likely to have corrosion problems.

You could try something like Pex pipe which is flexible and cheap to insulate the wires.

 

You could use electric fence insulators. or TV antenna wire standoffs.
That way there's no worry about the wires being shorted.

 

Thanks for the advice guys, I've ordered 25 metres of https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clear-4m...ir-Pump-Hose-Pipe-Tube-4-6mm-PVC/264250135107 with which to sleeve the wires, I can seal the ends with silicone sealer and then use normal cable clips to attach to wires securely to the pole.
I just hope I'll be able to thread the wires into the pipes without too much faffing about.

 

If you have any problems getting the wires through, try using twine and a vacuum cleaner to suck the twine down the pipe and use it as a pull string.

 

One tricky method exists to make the mast rotating, between basement bearing and top bearing fixed by three steel puller-wires. Then generator may stand on the ground thus the thick wires may be as short as one may want. This idea may utilize as vertical axis turbines as well horizontal axis turbines.