Hourly Consultant Help on 3-PH commercial power design?

[customfab4x4]

I'm trying to find a qualified electrician who specializes in 3-phase industrial / commercial applications that can help me with my design including proper neutral wire sizing (which is my biggest challenge). I am the GC for a 480V power installation (Wye) specific to our business property and expansion efforts. We need to operate a few different drive motors and HF electronics requiring 80A to 120A 480V service along with 240V 3P and your more typical 120/240 1P needs. I need to complete the design so I can get together our budget for materials and get those on order by next week.

I've attached a layout of the design at this point. My initial focus in simply sizing everything for a 400 ft underground run to our Main Service Panel. From there we branch off to subpanels and various 480V equipment.

I would be happy to pay a qualified expert $100/hr for the design and calculation support. I've tried doing this through JustAnswer and failed at finding a single electrician that knew more about 3Ph than me (sadly). So very much hoping someone on this forum would be willing to work directly with me. If there is a specific consulting rate you seek, just let me know. As an engineer, I do side consulting work for $100/hr so figured this would be fair. Less about the money and more about getting qualified expert advice and recommendations.

Please Message Me Directly if you can offer support.

 

[Jraef]

Different states have different rules on consulting work. If you are not an electrical contractor doing it yourself under your own license (the rules on that vary across the country as well), you may need the services of a PE registered in your state.

 

[ptonsparky]

One of my former employers told me if you don't moonlight for at least 1.5 of your normal hourly rate, you're foolish.

 

[ron]

Depending on where the meter is in your oneline (at the main service panel or at the source side of the ~400' run, your neutral may be very different, as it may be utility requirements vs NEC requirements.

 

[electrofelon]

I'm trying to find a qualified electrician who specializes in 3-phase industrial / commercial applications that can help me with my design including proper neutral wire sizing (which is my biggest challenge). I am the GC for a 480V power installation (Wye) specific to our business property and expansion efforts. We need to operate a few different drive motors and HF electronics requiring 80A to 120A 480V service along with 240V 3P and your more typical 120/240 1P needs. I need to complete the design so I can get together our budget for materials and get those on order by next week.

I've attached a layout of the design at this point. My initial focus in simply sizing everything for a 400 ft underground run to our Main Service Panel. From there we branch off to subpanels and various 480V equipment.

I would be happy to pay a qualified expert $100/hr for the design and calculation support. I've tried doing this through JustAnswer and failed at finding a single electrician that knew more about 3Ph than me (sadly). So very much hoping someone on this forum would be willing to work directly with me. If there is a specific consulting rate you seek, just let me know. As an engineer, I do side consulting work for $100/hr so figured this would be fair. Less about the money and more about getting qualified expert advice and recommendations.

Please Message Me Directly if you can offer support.

Ok a few comments:

The non fused disconnect is odd and not even code compliant if the service point is on the line side of it. What is its purpose? IF you can skip the disco altogether and run service conductors all the way to your service panel that would save you having to run an EGC. IF that is some sort of utility or local requirement, watch your SCCR as its only 10k for NF safety switches. You would have to go to a fused switch to go higher and then that is your service disconnect (unless its on the utility side of the service point). Of course if you have a service disconnect there, then you need an EGC with the 400' run.

For wire size I would probably be looking at 2 parallel runs of 350 AL. I would probably just go two sizes down for the neutral and use 4/0 (ok that is three sizes), even that is likely overkill.

 

[hillbilly1]

Ok a few comments:

The non fused disconnect is odd and not even code compliant if the service point is on the line side of it. What is its purpose? IF you can skip the disco altogether and run service conductors all the way to your service panel that would save you having to run an EGC. IF that is some sort of utility or local requirement, watch your SCCR as its only 10k for NF safety switches. You would have to go to a fused switch to go higher and then that is your service disconnect (unless its on the utility side of the service point). Of course if you have a service disconnect there, then you need an EGC with the 400' run.

For wire size I would probably be looking at 2 parallel runs of 350 AL. I would probably just go two sizes down for the neutral and use 4/0 (ok that is three sizes), even that is likely overkill.

Probably direct metered cold sequence metering, being 400 amp 480 volt. The disconnect is drawn on the wrong side of the meter, non-fused is acceptable there.

 

[electrofelon]

Probably direct metered cold sequence metering, being 400 amp 480 volt. The disconnect is drawn on the wrong side of the meter, non-fused is acceptable there.

Maybe. Most POCOS in my experience do now allow class 320 three phase metering, but maybe this one does and the drawing is wrong, which would make the disco a meter disconnect switch per 230.82(3)