What Power Pole

[Little Bill]

I'm sure that's what the guy said after he hit the pole that this service was fed from.

I gave the owner of the property (rental) an estimate to repair this. Funny how most people just think you just have to "put it back and replace just what you have to".

I have to replace it all and move it to comply not only with the NEC but with POCO requirements also. As you can see from the pics, the meter was really low and POCO requires a meter to be 5-1/2' from grade to center of meter. Also they need 12' from grade to point of attachment, 2-1/2" rigid for the riser. To get this, I'll have to move the meter to the front corner of the house. That's also so the drop will clear a tree that the old one was running through and against. The conductors had rubbed the tree so much that the insulation was gone.
Moving the meter will also take care of the NEC clearance requirements for the door.

At least I'll have a shady place to work with all the trees if I get the job!

 

[ActionDave]

I'm sure that's what the guy said after he hit the pole that this service was fed from.

Did he only hit it once, or take a couple of whacks at it?:lol:

 

[Little Bill]

Did he only hit it once, or take a couple of whacks at it?:lol:

From the looks of the parts from the truck left in front of the house only once at about 60 MPH!:jawdrop:

 

[growler]

I'm sure that's what the guy said after he hit the pole .

It's hard to get any money out of a rental property owner ( old house type) but if this is caused by an auto accident then see if the guy had insurance and if his insurance is willing to pay.

I have billed a few electrical repairs against auto insurance companies and have gotten paid, not that uncommom at all.

If the owner deals with the insurance company he will try to keep the money and find someone cheap to do the repairs.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I gave the owner of the property (rental) an estimate to repair this. Funny how most people just think you just have to "put it back and replace just what you have to".

At least I'll have a shady place to work with all the trees if I get the job!

put a coat of paint in the bid for that side of the house, willya?
it could use it.

 

[Little Bill]

put a coat of paint in the bid for that side of the house, willya?
it could use it.

What, and double the value of the house, I don't want to give the owner the image of taking care of his properties!:lol:

 

[renosteinke]

Every PoCo standard I've seen requires the service drop to be supported by the frame of the building - not just screwed to the siding.

Yet, I've never seen that enforced. Looking back, I shudder at the thought of the way I "anchored" my earlier service changes.

End result is that a good tug on the service wires peels the service right off. The fitting at the meter can provices a pivot point, and sparks fly.

 

[charlie b]

I'm sure that's what the guy said after he hit the pole that this service was fed from.

There is a walkway immediately in front of that meter, and no room whatsoever for a vehicle to have run into the service equipment. Was this the work of a vandal? A disgruntled tenant? I don't think even a sledge hammer could have done this damage, as there is no evidence of violent impact. It almost looks like someone tried to take the thing apart, but I can't imagine why. :happysad:

 

[renosteinke]

Charlie, I think the power pole that you can't see got tilted, pulling the wires. I don't think the service was hit; I think it was pulled off the wall.

I've dealt with an identical failure where a tree-trimmer dropped a limb on the wires- causing the overhead wires to pull the mast right off the wall. I also have a picture of a mast that bent at the roofline as the result of an ice storm.

 

[iwire]

I would rather the drop pulls out relatively easily than have it pull framing members out of the house when a truck catches a wire and drags things away.

 

[weressl]

I'm sure that's what the guy said after he hit the pole that this service was fed from.


I gave the owner of the property (rental) an estimate to repair this. Funny how most people just think you just have to "put it back and replace just what you have to".

I have to replace it all and move it to comply not only with the NEC but with POCO requirements also. As you can see from the pics, the meter was really low and POCO requires a meter to be 5-1/2' from grade to center of meter. Also they need 12' from grade to point of attachment, 2-1/2" rigid for the riser. To get this, I'll have to move the meter to the front corner of the house. That's also so the drop will clear a tree that the old one was running through and against. The conductors had rubbed the tree so much that the insulation was gone.
Moving the meter will also take care of the NEC clearance requirements for the door.

At least I'll have a shady place to work with all the trees if I get the job!

If you just repair, you would expect it to be grandfathered. No? (If it was functional before and neither the POCO, nor local AHJ had filed a violation on the existing installation, they legally can't take the position to force the installation to be compliant with the current requirements.)

 

[480sparky]

I would rather the drop pulls out relatively easily than have it pull framing members out of the house when a truck catches a wire and drags things away.

 

[renosteinke]

A "breakaway" service ... now, there's a thought. Maybe we just need to replace the PGC's with a an Amphenol (non locking) connector

Methods of attachment, alas, are not up to us. The PoCo has decided they'd rather pull the house down than have the wires come free. Since they're the AHJ, it's their call.

Though, as I mentioned, it's a detail I have never seen enforced.

 

[Little Bill]

There is a walkway immediately in front of that meter, and no room whatsoever for a vehicle to have run into the service equipment. Was this the work of a vandal? A disgruntled tenant? I don't think even a sledge hammer could have done this damage, as there is no evidence of violent impact. It almost looks like someone tried to take the thing apart, but I can't imagine why. :happysad:

Charlie, the pole at the street in front of the house was what was hit by the truck. There was enough force from the pole coming down to yank all the service loose from the house. POCO had already replaced the pole when I got there so there was nothing to take a picture of to show the pole. They said it broke the pole all the way off for a cost of $50,000.00.

If you just repair, you would expect it to be grandfathered. No? (If it was functional before and neither the POCO, nor local AHJ had filed a violation on the existing installation, they legally can't take the position to force the installation to be compliant with the current requirements.)

That's not how it works in the real world, or at least here anyway. If you have the POCO disconnect the lines for any reason, they make you bring everything concerning the drop, meter, etc. up to the current requirements before they will reconnect.

Moot point anyway, I did the repairs today. Yes in 107 deg. weather!:happysad:

 

[Hv&Lv]

I would rather the drop pulls out relatively easily than have it pull framing members out of the house when a truck catches a wire and drags things away.

I have had that happen to me on a friday afternoon around 3:45. I am sure every lineman has seen the same situation at least once.

 

[Hv&Lv]

A "breakaway" service ... now, there's a thought. Maybe we just need to replace the PGC's with a an Amphenol (non locking) connector

Methods of attachment, alas, are not up to us. The PoCo has decided they'd rather pull the house down than have the wires come free. Since they're the AHJ, it's their call.

Though, as I mentioned, it's a detail I have never seen enforced.

It has been thought of, but as of yet, there isn't a breakaway connection that will hold the connections together well enough to be trouble free for years.

 

[Hv&Lv]

POCO had already replaced the pole when I got there so there was nothing to take a picture of to show the pole. They said it broke the pole all the way off for a cost of $50,000.00.

:jawdrop: The pole in iwire's post wouldn't cost that much to replace! $5,000 I can believe. I have replaced many for less than $2,000 all materials and labor.We charge for everything on a broke pole, and I mean everything, including the men's time getting from home and back to home.

 

[Little Bill]

:jawdrop: The pole in iwire's post wouldn't cost that much to replace! $5,000 I can believe. I have replaced many for less than $2,000 all materials and labor.We charge for everything on a broke pole, and I mean everything, including the men's time getting from home and back to home.

That figure came straight from the POCO's engineer. It had the transformer for several houses, cable, telephone, and a bunch of other stuff that I can't identify. I don't know what all that figure includes but I do know the power (at my house) was off for about 3 hours.
This happened about 2:00am Sunday morning. I'm sure overtime was included for all the workers that were there.
Since I know nothing of the cost for such cases, I didn't question the engineer when he told me.