Splice method

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lj

Member
Location
Tampa, FL, USA
My project requires re-feeding a circuit by intercepting and splicing existing 500 kcmil copper conductors in the middle of a long conduit run. NEC 110.14 allows the splice, and a box can be installed at the splice point. I am aware of several common splice methods, such as using (a) two-way compression (butt splice) connectors, (b) split bolt connectors, or (c) terminal lugs on a bus bar. Which of these is the most reliable connection, next most reliable, etc.? Is there another common, reliable splicing method? Thank you.
 

haskindm

Senior Member
Location
Maryland
Installed properly, any listed splice method should be reliable. The old split bolt connectors are fairly foolproof, the only problem is that it takes some skill and time to insulate them properly. There are some devices on the market that are insulated and do not even require that the wiring be stripped. The devices have "teeth" that penetrate the installation and contact the conductor. I have only used them once, but they seemed to work well. They are already insulated so no wrapping of the splice was required.
 

raider1

Senior Member
Staff member
Location
Logan, Utah
I really like These.

They are already coated, you just install the conductor and tighten the allen screws. They come in lots of sizes and configurations. They are expensive, but save a ton of time over the standard splitbolt.

Chris
 

hockeyoligist2

Senior Member
raider1 said:
I really like These.

They are already coated, you just install the conductor and tighten the allen screws. They come in lots of sizes and configurations. They are expensive, but save a ton of time over the standard splitbolt.

Chris
I like them for "easy" but I have had 2 fail in the last year, I didn't install so I don't know how well they were installed.
 

raider1

Senior Member
Staff member
Location
Logan, Utah
ty said:
If you've seen Polaris taps fail, they were probably not tightened properly during installation.

I agree, I have installed Polaris lugs for quite a while and never had a problem.

Chris
 

Jljohnson

Senior Member
Location
Colorado
I use almost exclusively the Polaris style lugs. The cost is ofset pretty well compared to the labor af installing (and uninstalling if you ever need to) all that rubber tape.
 

dlhoule

Senior Member
Location
Michigan
raider1 said:
I agree, I have installed Polaris lugs for quite a while and never had a problem.

Chris

I like them too, but Chris I'm curious about never had a problem. If you installed them for me and I had a problem, I would be calling someone else that I had more confidence in. How do you know if any of your customers had a problem?
 

Jim W in Tampa

Senior Member
Location
Tampa Florida
dlhoule said:
I like them too, but Chris I'm curious about never had a problem. If you installed them for me and I had a problem, I would be calling someone else that I had more confidence in. How do you know if any of your customers had a problem?
Really no reason they could or should fail unless poorly installed.I love them.But then i am not paying for them
 

raider1

Senior Member
Staff member
Location
Logan, Utah
dlhoule said:
How do you know if any of your customers had a problem?

I live in a pretty small community, about 100,000 in the county. Around here all the contractors pretty well know each other, and believe me if something I had done went wrong I would definitly hear about it at the supply house.:D

Chris
 

dlhoule

Senior Member
Location
Michigan
raider1 said:
I live in a pretty small community, about 100,000 in the county. Around here all the contractors pretty well know each other, and believe me if something I had done went wrong I would definitly hear about it at the supply house.:D

Chris

I believe that. Sure doesn't seem possible to out live some of my mistakes. I heard about one I made over 30 years ago just last week. I think that was mention 10,000,000 but I may be off by + or - a few.
 

hockeyoligist2

Senior Member
Well, talking about this got my curiosity up about the failures so I asked a guy thats been with the company 25 years if he knew who done the splices. He said it was either the old boss (a handyman) or Red (machinist)......... explains a lot.
 

tonyi

Senior Member
For 500's, I'd guess probably something in the range of 32-45 ft/lb to get the polaris's internal lug tight enough. That's a fair amount of torque on a small dingus if its not being held down by someone/something firmly when tightening.

I'd bet the ones that failed weren't torqued up enough.
 

tkb

Senior Member
Location
MA
The method I prefer is to use compression butt splices and cold shrink tube.
 
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