jmoschetti45
Member
- Location
- Michigan
I intend to switch from (very dysfunctional [long story in itself]) overhead to underground service at home. My local utility WPPI says fine, not a problem, put on a pedestal and dig us a trench and we'll hook 'er up. Great. Come to find out, I'd only be the second one in town with UG service....probably for this exact scenario playing out....
Was told I need a meter box with UG capability (obviously....), 4 jaw, ringless, lever bypass. Should be easy....
Round 1. My thoughts were pedestals are ugly...why can't I get a UG or OH/UG meter box. Found a nice one...submitted....no dice. "We can't hook up to that, it doesn't have enough room for our 4/0 feeders"..... I don't have the sheet for it handy, but it clearly stated (and judging from the dimensions) that it could handle #6 - 350kcml wires... I asked a friend who works for a different poco, and they approve of those and he has personally hooked up several of exactly those with no problems....
Round 2. I found another meter box, this one was obnoxiously large, but still a better option than a pedestal... I'm pretty sure I could cram 6 350kcml in there and it'd still meet fill and bend radius requirements with flying colors.... I also asked what size conduit they would prefer going down, just in case it wasn't going to be the 2" norm... "We can't hook up to that, we can't use conduit, it has to be a pedestal for our interconnect"....
Round 3. I searched for 2 days.... A ringless pedestal with lever bypass and 4 jaws is virtually impossible to find. I can find them in 5 jaw, or 320A....
Round 3A. I checked with my buddy at the other poco, he's never had an issue with putting a 4 jaw meter in a 5 jaw socket...the jaw isn't in the way and poses no risk. "We can't put a 4 jaw meter in that, try again"
Round 3B. I submit the 320A model...exact specs met. "That's not going to work, you need a 200A model".
Round 4 (desperate times...) I request 320A service. I realize this is going to involve some labor, a can, spark gap, acsr, etc out of my pocket. I'm willing to write a blank check at this point..... "You have no need for 320A service, you're not going to get it"
Does anyone know of a pedestal meter that meets my needs?? I'm about to ask the one person in town who has one if I can investigate it and see if I can figure out what make/model it is....
Was told I need a meter box with UG capability (obviously....), 4 jaw, ringless, lever bypass. Should be easy....
Round 1. My thoughts were pedestals are ugly...why can't I get a UG or OH/UG meter box. Found a nice one...submitted....no dice. "We can't hook up to that, it doesn't have enough room for our 4/0 feeders"..... I don't have the sheet for it handy, but it clearly stated (and judging from the dimensions) that it could handle #6 - 350kcml wires... I asked a friend who works for a different poco, and they approve of those and he has personally hooked up several of exactly those with no problems....
Round 2. I found another meter box, this one was obnoxiously large, but still a better option than a pedestal... I'm pretty sure I could cram 6 350kcml in there and it'd still meet fill and bend radius requirements with flying colors.... I also asked what size conduit they would prefer going down, just in case it wasn't going to be the 2" norm... "We can't hook up to that, we can't use conduit, it has to be a pedestal for our interconnect"....
Round 3. I searched for 2 days.... A ringless pedestal with lever bypass and 4 jaws is virtually impossible to find. I can find them in 5 jaw, or 320A....
Round 3A. I checked with my buddy at the other poco, he's never had an issue with putting a 4 jaw meter in a 5 jaw socket...the jaw isn't in the way and poses no risk. "We can't put a 4 jaw meter in that, try again"
Round 3B. I submit the 320A model...exact specs met. "That's not going to work, you need a 200A model".
Round 4 (desperate times...) I request 320A service. I realize this is going to involve some labor, a can, spark gap, acsr, etc out of my pocket. I'm willing to write a blank check at this point..... "You have no need for 320A service, you're not going to get it"
Does anyone know of a pedestal meter that meets my needs?? I'm about to ask the one person in town who has one if I can investigate it and see if I can figure out what make/model it is....