Main Disconnect Location Code

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Mike Lamb

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Could someone please direct me to the reference as to how close the main disconnect should be from where the SEC enters the interior of the house?
 
As far as the NEC is concerned see 230.70

Roger
 
dosnt the main disconect have to be withen 5ft of were the seu enters the bulding or you have to install the main outside
 
The code does not give any specific distance. It says "nearest the point of entrance" and in my opinion it means exactly that. Many areas have local rules that specify a distance. Ours is 10'.
 
225.32 Location. The disconnecting means shall be installed
either inside or outside of the building or structure
served or where the conductors pass through the building or
structure. The disconnecting means shall be at a readily
accessible location nearest the point of entrance of the conductors.
For the purposes of this section, the requirements
in 230.6 shall be utilized.
 
ammklq143 said:
225.32 Location. The disconnecting means shall be installed
either inside or outside of the building or structure
served or where the conductors pass through the building or
structure. The disconnecting means shall be at a readily
accessible location nearest the point of entrance of the conductors.
For the purposes of this section, the requirements
in 230.6 shall be utilized.
Click to expand...
Although the wording is the same as 230.70, article 225.32 is dealing with feeders not Service Entrances.

Roger
 
While the NEC does not exactly specify how far in the bldg. the service disconnect may be, and while some AHJ's do have a specific limit, I'm finding that more and more POCO's that require the main to be outside and ajacent to the meter. I think the thinking on the POCO's part is they don't want to deal with pulling a meter under load, so this is convienent for them to have the main next to the meter.
I seem to remember that George Stolz was going to/did make a proposal to have all service equipment outside. Well, he can take heart in knowing that I have a POCO that requires this-no matter how large or small. On really large services it adds a lot of cost because the equipment is so large it often ends up out in the wilderness away from the building and then you need another disconnect in the MDP to satisfy Art. 225.32. Oh, and don't forget that this now makes the circuit to the building a feeder, and on a large service, this makes for a lot of extra copper for the EGC. I think this is the future, and I'm not so sure that is not a bad idea.
 
Volta said:
Well, you are surely right-

but, the OP did say main, not service. Could be fed from the garage . . . :cool:
Click to expand...
Ahhh, but the OP did use "SEC" which could mean Service Entrance Conductors. ;)


Roger
 
texie said:
While the NEC does not exactly specify how far in the bldg. the service disconnect may be, and while some AHJ's do have a specific limit, I'm finding that more and more POCO's that require the main to be outside and ajacent to the meter. I think the thinking on the POCO's part is they don't want to deal with pulling a meter under load, so this is convienent for them to have the main next to the meter.
I seem to remember that George Stolz was going to/did make a proposal to have all service equipment outside. Well, he can take heart in knowing that I have a POCO that requires this-no matter how large or small. On really large services it adds a lot of cost because the equipment is so large it often ends up out in the wilderness away from the building and then you need another disconnect in the MDP to satisfy Art. 225.32. Oh, and don't forget that this now makes the circuit to the building a feeder, and on a large service, this makes for a lot of extra copper for the EGC. I think this is the future, and I'm not so sure that is not a bad idea.
Click to expand...
Understandable for small services with self contained metering. Large services usually have CT metering and pulling the meter doesn't disconnect the load. Most (but not all) CT metered services are supplied by an individual transformer anyway so the POCO can and often do disconnect the supply to the transformer without shutting down other users when they need to work on something.
 
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