Nothing a little tape couldn't fix

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wawireguy said:
Thank goodness WA doesn't allow those types of installs. That thing has to be in conduit in our part of the country!
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How old do you think that SE is, I would have no problem believing it was installed in the 50s or 60s.

Newer SE has better sunlight resistance, personally I prefer SE on homes and use it on my own home. It hides much better then pipe.:smile:
 
Mule said:
I know SE is legal, but I just dont like having exposed "unprotected" conductors peaking through the so called outer neutral protection.
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They are not exposed they are insulated. The neutral is not intended to protect the conductors and if it was SER the neutral would not wrap around it at all. :smile:

Obviously the example in the picture had reached the end of it's life a while ago and the HO should have had it repaired.

To me it's like looking at an old roof, if you see a 50 year old roof you don't say "They should never allow that roofing material, it deteriorates" you would say "Hey they need to install a new roof"


....I seriously wonder if large tranny fuse would actually blow in the right conditions...:rolleyes:
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You will almost never blow the primary side fuse of the power company transformer by shorting the service conductors at a home.

If you make a bolted fault most likely the power company conductors will burn free of the customers conductors.

The fuse on the primary side of a power company transformer is not intended to protect the transformer or the secondary side conductors. The fuse is intended to keep the grid up and running even if that one transformer melts down.
 
That service was installed in the '50s when the house was built. If not for the ice storm pulling it off the house it would probably live on for who knows how long.
 
You still see that old Cambric Cotton SE cable and the 60 amp pie plate meter sockets up this way. The POCO's linemen up this way hate these set ups because the neutrals are prone to failure. In fact you still might see some 120 volt services.

Pete
 
I know if I lived where that type of install was the norm I'd be doing it also. Economics vs a mild distaste for one type of legal install : )
 
Mr. Wizard said:
Huh? :-? Not to butt heads with you, but I would have to say that exposed conduit offers far more protection for wire than exposed SE cable.
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No problem. My head can use a bit of butting every now and then. :smile:

There are two different discussions mixed here: One is old, worn SE vs new SE, the other is SE vs conduit.

I was saying that the exposed neutral strands are not a hazard. Occasionally, I'll get a call about this, and explain that those strands are directly connected to the meter encosure. I'm happy to replace the cable if they still want to, as long as they understand the non-issue.

Of course, conductors inside conduit are more protected than conductors inside cable. But, the touch hazard is no greater with an exposed neutral. Even if the conduit is not a CCC, it's firmly bonded to the neutral at the meter hub. Any voltage drop on the neutral is on the conduit.

I like to remind people that conduit is as much about protecting the environment from the wiring as it is about protecting the wiring from the environment. This was especially true in the early days of electricity. Look at Chicago; their concern isn't wire damage, it's fire damage.

SE cable is the norm around here. Most residential services with conduit are those which require masts. There are plenty of apartment buildings and commercial buildings that have SE cable from the POA to the meter, and many with SE (or SER from the disco) to the panel.
 
Look at the se cable this way. This particular installation (and millions more just like it) has been in service fo 50 years. Aside form the fact that it has passed it's useful life, it has been fine for all of those 50 years. The house is still standing, and nobody has been killed. :)

I used to be a pvc guy and looked down my nose at se installations. As long as there is no physical damage likely it's se for me baby. :grin:
 
cowboyjwc said:
And you guys wonder why us guys in the west gasp at some of the things you talk about.:smile:
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I don't wonder at all...people are used to what they have done their entire lives and often have difficulty considering a different way of doing things. That's just human nature. :) Having seen many regional differences, both in my travels around the country and pictures here on the forum, I can conclude that no one way it better than the other. Whatever particular method in question is suitable for the area and it works for that area, whether it's SE cable, surface mounted outdoor panels in Phoenix, or service risers buried in the wall in California, that's just how it's done. No reason to criticize it just because it's different. :cool:
 
peter d said:
I don't wonder at all...people are used to what they have done their entire lives and often have difficulty considering a different way of doing things. That's just human nature. :) Having seen many regional differences, both in my travels around the country and pictures here on the forum, I can conclude that no one way it better than the other. Whatever particular method in question is suitable for the area and it works for that area, whether it's SE cable, surface mounted outdoor panels in Phoenix, or service risers buried in the wall in California, that's just how it's done. No reason to criticize it just because it's different. :cool:
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Wasn't criticizing, just joking, besides I live in California, you don't even know different 'til you've walked Hollywood Blvd on a Friday night.:D

Like my grandpa used to say; "If we all liked the same thing everone would have been chasing your grandma.":wink:

And that's "galvinized" service risers buried in the wall, with no coupling allowed.
 
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