3 phase meter criss-cross conductors

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jaylectricity

jaylectricity

Senior Member
Location
Massachusetts
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licensed journeyman electrician
The conductors between the meter socket and main breaker criss-cross on the right.

Does that mean I need to switch the colors or is that some way of keeping them in the same order?

20240206_110043.jpg
 
It's typical for 3ph meters to have the high leg on the right, and everything else to have it in the middle.

You don't need to do anything to accommodate this. Your colors suggest this is not a high-leg service.
 
What Larry said !
Notice the yellow sticker noting the unit was designed for High=Leg services. If you have a 208Y120 as your color code indicates, you don't need to address it
 
The high leg always comes in on “C” phase for the meter to work correctly, then moves to “B” after that to be code compliant. Since this is a new installation, was this just a meter main that was available? And that the service is actually a wye as marked? If it is a delta, the “B” phase will need to be remarked orange, or tagged as such.
 
Long ago, did the NEC specify the high leg on the first phase instead of the middle? And red instead of orange? I think I recall seeing a very old installation that was done that way. So back then, the meter base would have somewhat matched the service construction, high leg on one side.

Re: the 10k breaker - it seems common for Siemens to provide big main breakers with a such a small SCCR, more common than the other manufacturers. I think they all have their high-end products and low-end, but I've used new residential service equipment from all 4 of the biggest manufacturers, and it seems easier to get a higher SCCR on the main breaker with the other three brands.
 
Mr. Serious said:
Long ago, did the NEC specify the high leg on the first phase instead of the middle? And red instead of orange? I think I recall seeing a very old installation that was done that way. So back then, the meter base would have somewhat matched the service construction, high leg on one side.

Re: the 10k breaker - it seems common for Siemens to provide big main breakers with a such a small SCCR, more common than the other manufacturers. I think they all have their high-end products and low-end, but I've used new residential service equipment from all 4 of the biggest manufacturers, and it seems easier to get a higher SCCR on the main breaker with the other three brands.
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It’s always been orange and b phase in the panel for as long as I can remember. (At least since the late 70’s) The reason it is required on B phase at the service disconnect, is it’s always the center phase, especially in a switchgear, if it is accessible from the back. I take it though some jurisdictions had their own way of identifying and location. Most that land on “C” in the service disconnect, is because the electrician didn’t know the code requirement.
 
Yes, it may have been the case that the electrician wasn't familiar with code requirements for this type of service. I met a lot of electricians that told me the high leg should be red, when I know the NEC actually says orange. One of them was an older man, so I thought maybe the code used to be written that way.
 
Mr. Serious said:
Long ago, did the NEC specify the high leg on the first phase instead of the middle? And red instead of orange?
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Not that I remember, and yes. It was red, but it was always in the middle as far as I recall.

hillbilly1 said:
It’s always been orange and b phase in the panel for as long as I can remember. (At least since the late 70’s)
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Not always. It was even called the red phase. Some panels had red coloring along the bus.
 
LarryFine said:
Not that I remember, and yes. It was red, but it was always in the middle as far as I recall.


Not always. It was even called the red phase. Some panels had red coloring along the bus.
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I think it may have come from utilities marking it red on their end, so electricians just followed suite. The code classes I took at trade school, it was orange and “B” phase then. I think we were studying the 78? Code book.
 
hillbilly1 said:
I think it may have come from utilities marking it red on their end, so electricians just followed suite. The code classes I took at trade school, it was orange and “B” phase then. I think we were studying the 78? Code book.
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I've been doing electrical work for well over 50 years, and seen and worked on much older than that.
 
I didn't want to get into this argument because I don't have a reference for it, but I believe it's correct to say that long, long ago, perhaps in the 1950s or '60s, it was done with red, and on one side instead of the middle, but I don't remember if it was the left side or the right side. The old installation I saw was probably pre-1970s.
 
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