cable ampacity - Electrician Talk - Professional Electrical Contractors Forum

waco · 03-25-2009, 08:38 AM

Went and saw the local utility dropped 1-0 Al in ther ditch for a 200 amp service. Called their engineer to confirm they had the right service size and he told me that is normal. "Okay," sez I because they oughta know, but table B.310.9 indicates otherwise.

Interesting because if we had dropped our own cable, it would be 4-0 USE. Much more expensive, I'm guessing.

electricista · 03-25-2009, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by waco

Went and saw the local utility dropped 1-0 Al in ther ditch for a 200 amp service. Called their engineer to confirm they had the right service size and he told me that is normal. "Okay," sez I because they oughta know, but table B.310.9 indicates otherwise.

Interesting because if we had dropped our own cable, it would be 4-0 USE. Much more expensive, I'm guessing.

Utilities are not subject to the NEC. They have their own demand factors and they know what will work for them, usually anyway

.

waco · 03-25-2009, 08:51 AM

Yes. The up side is that they own the drop from the pole to the meter since they dropped the wire and the customer is paying their tab so if there are problems, they own them.

Of course, it started raining last night so I get to wallow in the mud installing the new meter pan. I love it!

waco · 03-26-2009, 08:59 AM

Of course, the issue is now to use 2 or 2 1/2 inch PVC for such small wire or something smaller which would look odd.