I have a customer who wants a new service for their mobile home. The service will be located closer to the road by POCO requirements so the feeder will be around 60' plus from service to mobile home.Do i need a second disconnect within 30' of home? Is there anything else I need to look into, the home has never had power and probably not up to current code. I know they will need a permit for home I was just looking for insight with mobile home. I havent done one in a while, well at least an older mobile home. I did one a few years ago. The problem wasnt the city it was the POCO they made us do alot of changes to service before they would give us power. thanks for any adivse.
mobile home
- Thread starter MBLES
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Craigv
Senior Member
- Location
- Boyertown, PA, USA
You should see whether your utility has a requirements document online. Most do, many are rather tricky to find. What's the utility you're dealing with?
As far as NEC is concerned, (which has nothing to do with the utility's requirements), mobile homes are covered in Article 550. It should have a single disconnecting means consisting of a circuit breaker or switch and fuses ( 550.11(A) ) at or near the point of entrance of the cordset or feeder, readily accessible, marked "Main", and the bottom of the disconnect assembly must be at least 24" above the floor level.
A supply cord and plug is covered by 550.10 for calculated loads up to 50 amps. It shall be between 21 ft. and 36.5 ft. overall length, of which at least 20 ft. shall be outside from entrance to plug. For calculated loads above 50 amps a permanent feeder can be installed.
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
And one needs a service disconnecting means within 30’ of the exterior per 550.32, both are required.
Craigv
Senior Member
- Location
- Boyertown, PA, USA
Yeah, if the PoCo sticks to their "it needs to be close to the road" requirement, he'll have at least three disconnecting means. A call to Engineering and hopefully a site review appointment might be helpful. I make a point of building a good rapport with those guys...they can make or break these more unusual situations.
Adamjamma
Senior Member
- Location
- Jamaica and london
saw one in Virginia near Smith Mountain Lake, a few years back...had a meter and cutoff by road, near mailbox... then you drove into the property... about twenty feet from his trailer he had another box coming out of the ground, which had a disconnect in it... and then he had a disconnect on his mobile home... with the panel inside...
Told me he would have built a house by then but his property cost him ten grand... then it cost him another fifteen grand to run the power to the building spot... his well and septic only cost him five grand... by the time he was done his check from uncle sam was all but wiped out so the mobile home he put in as a temporary to build his retirement house became all that he could afford at the time...
First I had heard about the requirement that a cutoff be within 30 feet of a trailer, but he and I agreed it made sense... he actually paid more for his power because he ran everything in the expectation of needing a 200 amp service on his house later... last I visited him, all he had done was the foundation for the house...
Told me he would have built a house by then but his property cost him ten grand... then it cost him another fifteen grand to run the power to the building spot... his well and septic only cost him five grand... by the time he was done his check from uncle sam was all but wiped out so the mobile home he put in as a temporary to build his retirement house became all that he could afford at the time...
First I had heard about the requirement that a cutoff be within 30 feet of a trailer, but he and I agreed it made sense... he actually paid more for his power because he ran everything in the expectation of needing a 200 amp service on his house later... last I visited him, all he had done was the foundation for the house...
growler
Senior Member
- Location
- Atlanta,GA
As jumper says you will need a disconnect within 30 ft of the home because that's an NEC requirement.
When dealing with mobile homes the rules can change from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. You have to start out with zoning to make sure a mobile home is allowed where they wish to put it. Then there is sewage and water connections. Mobile home tie downs and under-pinning.
When dealing with mobile homes it's a good idea to check with the AHJ before giving a price for the work.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
Problem I have always had is the way this is worded. Sometimes the "service" is more than 30 feet away. I have always been able to put a disconnect withing 30 feet whether it is service or feeder supplied. NEC sort of assumes only time they will be feeder supplied is in mobile home parks, not true.
I still believe the intent here is to have a disconnecting means within 30 feet of the mobile home regardless of whether it is service or feeder supplied. I could understand them wanting it to be rated as suitable for use as service equipment even if supplied by a feeder though.
Adamjamma
Senior Member
- Location
- Jamaica and london
If you talk with volunteer firemen they will probably request that the disconnect box have reflective tape on it so they can find it in the dark... but it is not a requirement...
Craigv
Senior Member
- Location
- Boyertown, PA, USA
Agreed, NEC should specify a disconnecting means, not Service Disconnect, within 30 feet, where the utility has installed a service disconnect beyond that distance.
Adamjamma
Senior Member
- Location
- Jamaica and london
Isnt it still legal to be a service disconnect at the meter and a service disconnect near the trailer, using underground feed, without it becoming a feeder, if all you disconnect are the live wires and you do not ground the neutral? until the disconnect near the mobile home? Or would you be required to run the 4 wire system as a feeder, not a service, from the first disconnect, which is a service disconnect for line safety only?
I mean, the service disconnect near the meter is only to allow the wire to be disconnected if it is damaged between the meter and the main disconnect for the mobile home... such as digging a fence pole in wrong spot or a tree falling down and digging up the wire... it is not for allowing connections to the power nearer to the roads...
Very confusing on this one here... Because I can see the need for more than one service disconnect in the case of feeding a remote house, like on a farm. Otherwise, we would need larger conductors and larger conduits to feed underground , or even above ground, if we have a requirement to have a meter at the property line, and a disconnect within thirty feet of the dwelling.
hmmm...need to read more of these code books to see what I am missing.
I mean, the service disconnect near the meter is only to allow the wire to be disconnected if it is damaged between the meter and the main disconnect for the mobile home... such as digging a fence pole in wrong spot or a tree falling down and digging up the wire... it is not for allowing connections to the power nearer to the roads...
Very confusing on this one here... Because I can see the need for more than one service disconnect in the case of feeding a remote house, like on a farm. Otherwise, we would need larger conductors and larger conduits to feed underground , or even above ground, if we have a requirement to have a meter at the property line, and a disconnect within thirty feet of the dwelling.
hmmm...need to read more of these code books to see what I am missing.
Craigv
Senior Member
- Location
- Boyertown, PA, USA
In NEC's world, there is only one service disconnect...the first after the utility's termination point, typically the meter. Any other disconnects are "equipment", not "service equipment", and are feeder supplied.
Article 550 does, however, allow for mobile homes to have the service disconnect further than the 30 foot requirement, if a second disconnect rated for use as service equipment is located within 30 feet. It's in the same rule but the wording seems to confuse people or not even be noticed, which is why I mentioned earlier that it should be changed. This results in there being three disconnects to a mobile home, which is rather ridiculous and unnecessary...it serves no useful purpose or safety enhancement...if it's safer then why not require the same for any other dwelling unit?
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
Like Craig said, "Service Disconnect" has a relatively narrow definition in NEC, yet they sort of ignore that definition to some extent in this application.
If you have a premises that has no connection to POCO you have no "service disconnect".
If you have a campus, farm, or any other multi-building premises your "service disconnect" may very well be hundreds of feet away, and may even have multiple feeders and/or even have voltage transformed a time or two before getting to the mobile home.
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