Service Disconnect

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VIC1958

Senior Member
Can anybody point out in the code (2005) that by "pulling" the meter is or is not allowed to be a form of disconnection.
Thanks
 

iwire

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Location
Massachusetts
Can anybody point out in the code (2005) that by "pulling" the meter is or is not allowed to be a form of disconnection.
Thanks

I see on your profile you are fire fighter, does this have to do with the job?

Basically using a meter as a disconnecting or connecting means is dangerous.
 

qcroanoke

Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
Location
Roanoke, VA.
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Sorta retired........
I see on your profile you are fire fighter, does this have to do with the job?

Basically using a meter as a disconnecting or connecting means is dangerous.

Pulling a meter under load is not a good idea. And reconnecting under load is even worse. You will see some arcing.
I'm pretty sure the code doesn't allow the meter as a disconnecting means.
 

GoldDigger

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Placerville, CA, USA
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Retired PV System Designer
It can be used as an isolating means (removed with no load to keep power from being reapplied). But even then, with no load, a POCO worker will wear PPE in case a faulty meter or socket causes an arc flash event. There is no tight tolerance fast acting overcurrent protection ahead of the meter to reduce the flash.
Circuit breakers or disconnect switches, on the other hand, are made to interrupt a load or a downstream arc.
 

iwire

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Location
Massachusetts
It can be used as an isolating means (removed with no load to keep power from being reapplied).

Can it be?

I would bet OSHA and other standards would have an issue with that unless you have some sort of lock out device to prevent the meter from being put back in.
 

GoldDigger

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Placerville, CA, USA
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Can it be?

I would bet OSHA and other standards would have an issue with that unless you have some sort of lock out device to prevent the meter from being put back in.
Although it can be an isolating device, it indeed would not meet the requirements for a LOTO disconnect.
Even if you take the meter with you to the work site and keep it in your tool box somebody could come in with another interchangeable standard meter and plug it in.
 

iwire

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Location
Massachusetts
Although it can be an isolating device, it indeed would not meet the requirements for a LOTO disconnect.
Even if you take the meter with you to the work site and keep it in your tool box somebody could come in with another interchangeable standard meter and plug it in.

Exactly, which means it's no more an isolating device than it is a disconnecting means. :)

It's a meter and a meter socket, nothing more.
 

Cavie

Senior Member
Location
SW Florida
I see on your profile you are fire fighter, does this have to do with the job?

Basically using a meter as a disconnecting or connecting means is dangerous.

I don't know the reason for it (star alignment I guess) but I find a lot of fire fighters working as electricians as a second job.
 

102 Inspector

Senior Member
Location
N/E Indiana
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Inspector- All facets
I started as an electrician, became a vol. firefighter and now inspector. The meter is a requirement of the POCO and serves no other purpose than to provide a means for them to collect money. I would never accept a meter as a means of disconnect. As safety officer, I never allow my firefighters to pull a meter at the scene. We have a meter pulling device that encloses the meter but it has its limits. I am the only person that can pull a meter at the fire scene and I always look at the speed the meter is spinning first. Seen too many videos of arc flash and do not want to be the next post on youtube.
 

VIC1958

Senior Member
Thanks for the code section and yes......I have pulled more meters than I really care to admit. Trying to talk our City owned utility to make it mandatory that an exterior fused disconnect is incorporated on all new houses and service upgrades.
 

102 Inspector

Senior Member
Location
N/E Indiana
Occupation
Inspector- All facets
Question is would that be POCO owned or customer owned. Now all interior panel become load side panels. The NEc states disconnect outside or immediately inside the structure so an ordinance to change the NEC reference might be required. I think a community in the southern part of my state did that, but the legality has been questioned. As a firefighter I understand it from a safety point of view, but as a homeowner, do I really want my neighbor to be able to walk up and shut my power off any time he feels like it?
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Trying to talk our City owned utility to make it mandatory that an exterior fused disconnect is incorporated on all new houses and service upgrades.

I hope that does not happen without a clear history showing a true benefit for it.

I agree with 102 Inspector , to a firefighter there is a reason for it, for a homeowner I would not want one on the outside of my home.

Here the FD calls the power company to kill the power to a building when they need that to be done.
 

GoldDigger

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Location
Placerville, CA, USA
Occupation
Retired PV System Designer
Here the FD calls the power company to kill the power to a building when they need that to be done.
How long does that typically take? There are a bunch of videos on the net of fire fighters watching a house burn down while waiting for POCO. (Admittedly those were major problems like a fallen primary.)
 

ActionDave

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Location
Durango, CO, 10 h 20 min from the winged horses.
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Licensed Electrician
....Trying to talk our City owned utility to make it mandatory that an exterior fused disconnect is incorporated on all new houses and service upgrades.

.... As a firefighter I understand it from a safety point of view, but as a homeowner, do I really want my neighbor to be able to walk up and shut my power off any time he feels like it?
It has been a requirement where I live to have a disconnect on the outside of any building for a long, long time. The whole county functions with no major problems, very little minor ones for that matter. You are allowed to put a lock on your disconnect to prevent any ne?er-do-wells from messing around with your power.
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
It has been a requirement where I live to have a disconnect on the outside of any building for a long, long time. The whole county functions with no major problems

It has never been a requirerment here and the whole New England area functions with no major problems. .... Well at least as far as the subject at hand. :)
 
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