Love AL THHN simpul colors

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electrofelon

electrofelon

Senior Member
Location
Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
Occupation
Electrician
I just have to rave about my new favorite material. Doing a job where I needed 250 feet X 4 of 500 Aluminum. We have been using the AL THHN colors for the 480 feeders on the large solar jobs I have been helping a friend/former partner on for the last year or so, but this is the first of my own jobs I sprung for them. Its the way to go. I dont think Ill ever be phase taping XHHW anymore, unless its a small amount of wire. It cost me about 10 cents more per foot, plus $20 cut charge per color, plus freight of $85, for a total of about a $300 increase in the wire bill. No phase taping, pulls super nice, looks professional. I am so puzzled why supply houses dont stock THHN instead of XHHW, it makes no sense (in just black, I dont except them to stock all the colors).
 

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No idea, but I can certainly see why it would be nice. Personally I hate pulling all black conductors then phase tapping them and the Sim-pull technology is light years ahead of anything Ive touched. Absolutely love it!:D


BTW, Square D I line? :cool:
 
mbrooke said:
No idea, but I can certainly see why it would be nice. Personally I hate pulling all black conductors then phase tapping them and the Sim-pull technology is light years ahead of anything Ive touched. Absolutely love it!:D
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i can deal with taping.....

but i won't use anything other than simpull, including other companies "pulls like simpull" technology.
i've had very bad experiences with some of those.

aluminum simpull, hypressed lugs, and heat shrink or cold shrink to keep moisture from wicking in and
degrading the connection, and i can't see any reason to pull copper feeders, ever.
 
mbrooke said:
BTW, Square D I line? :cool:
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Yes 1200 amp MLO with one 300 amp breaker! The project is happening in phases, and I can get LA frame breakers from a place online for the same price as they would have been with the panel board, so I held off for cash flow and in case the rest falls through.

i won't use anything other than simpull,
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In your neck of the woods are they stocking black AL THHN or do you have to order it?
 
electrofelon said:
In your neck of the woods are they stocking black AL THHN or do you have to order it?
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my wholesale house doesn't keep large aluminum in stock,
but they can have it in two days, so it's not that big a deal.

the first time i ordered simpull, and my wholesale house
found simpull backordered for large spools, and wanted
to substitue "pulls like simpull" wire. it was a disaster.
started the first pull of 700 or so feet, got it in to the middle
90 at 150' or so, and it stopped cold turkey. poured ten gallons
of polywater down the pipe, left it over night, and finally got
it moving again.

only southwire for me.
 
electrofelon said:
Yes 1200 amp MLO with one 300 amp breaker! The project is happening in phases, and I can get LA frame breakers from a place online for the same price as they would have been with the panel board, so I held off for cash flow and in case the rest falls through.
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Looks good, and nice choice in equipment. :)


In your neck of the woods are they stocking black AL THHN or do you have to order it?
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XHHW for AL, THHN is usually a special order item. In fact I used to assume AL was incompatible with THHN because I never saw it.
 
thhn

thhn

electrofelon said:
I just have to rave about my new favorite material. Doing a job where I needed 250 feet X 4 of 500 Aluminum. We have been using the AL THHN colors for the 480 feeders on the large solar jobs I have been helping a friend/former partner on for the last year or so, but this is the first of my own jobs I sprung for them. Its the way to go. I dont think Ill ever be phase taping XHHW anymore, unless its a small amount of wire. It cost me about 10 cents more per foot, plus $20 cut charge per color, plus freight of $85, for a total of about a $300 increase in the wire bill. No phase taping, pulls super nice, looks professional. I am so puzzled why supply houses dont stock THHN instead of XHHW, it makes no sense (in just black, I dont except them to stock all the colors).
Click to expand...

thhn is not sunlight resistant,xhhw is
 
mbrooke said:
Looks good, and nice choice in equipment. :)




XHHW for AL, THHN is usually a special order item. In fact I used to assume AL was incompatible with THHN because I never saw it.
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Yeah, I used to think AL just plain wasn't made with THHN insulation. The only time I have seen it without a special order, is in large aluminum MC cable where the inners are sometimes THHN and sometimes XHHW.

I actually mixed equipment. I didnt need a series rating, and the siemens P1for the sub was much less expensive. For the main, Siemens and 'D were about the same. I like square D, but I really wanted an I-line in this case because Ill be adding breakers later, and I am ok adding an I-line breaker without a shutdown. My only compliant is I wish there was a little more working space under the lugs. The top pipe comes in in the middle of the neutral bar, and they are as tight to the bottom as I could get. Compare that to the Siemens below....granted apples to oranges, but siemens does always seem to be more roomy.

thhn is not sunlight resistant,xhhw is
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I am not sure if the sunlight resistance is in the spec or an "option" for the manufacturer, but simpul THHN is sun res for sizes #2 and larger.
 

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electrofelon said:
I just have to rave about my new favorite material. Doing a job where I needed 250 feet X 4 of 500 Aluminum. We have been using the AL THHN colors for the 480 feeders on the large solar jobs I have been helping a friend/former partner on for the last year or so, but this is the first of my own jobs I sprung for them. Its the way to go. I dont think Ill ever be phase taping XHHW anymore, unless its a small amount of wire. It cost me about 10 cents more per foot, plus $20 cut charge per color, plus freight of $85, for a total of about a $300 increase in the wire bill. No phase taping, pulls super nice, looks professional. I am so puzzled why supply houses dont stock THHN instead of XHHW, it makes no sense (in just black, I dont except them to stock all the colors).
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Out of curiosity, what does a violet B-phase mean, in contrast to the industry norm of an orange B-phase?
 
Carultch said:
Out of curiosity, what does a violet B-phase mean, in contrast to the industry norm of an orange B-phase?
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Some areas require it because if I understand correctly orange should technically be reserved for a high leg identification. 110.15
 
ADub said:
Some areas require it because if I understand correctly orange should technically be reserved for a high leg identification. 110.15
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There is an existing 240 high leg service serving this building. I actually almost spaced on that before ordering my colors! If I had, this thread would likely have a different title ;)
 
GoldDigger said:
But there is some question of why you would want a three phase 480 delta and a single phase three wire 240/480 system.
The need for single phase 120/240 seems far greater. :)
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Hey man I just work here haha
 
GoldDigger said:
But there is some question of why you would want a three phase 480 delta and a single phase three wire 240/480 system.
The need for single phase 120/240 seems far greater. :)
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While very few POCO would supply one today, they used to be fairly common in some areas where they needed 480 3 phase but only had 2 phases of a primary wye available. This allowed them to supply a grounded system with out having to corner ground. We still have a number of them in my area. There is no practical use for the 416 volt leg to ground or the 240 volt to the center tap. It is just a poor mans way to get 480 volt 3 phase when you don't have all 3 phases of the primary available and still have a convenient way to ground the system.
 
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