Pedistool service, 3 wire to house or 4 wires?

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mark henderson

mark henderson

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Leander Texas
Ok we have a meter on a pedistool at the street, there is a breaker there. To the house we run a 3 thnn to feed the service there is CEE there and a main breaker. The inspector is now wanting us to run 4 wires and separate neutrals and grounds?

Mark
 
You can run a 3 wire, drive a ground rod and tie the grounded and grounding bars together as long as there are no continous metallic paths between the two structures. 250.32 (A) (2)
 
Washington state won't allow regrounding of the neutral. Even thought the NEC allows it, I, Mike Holt and many others don't recommend it.
 
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But is it permitted in Texas? If so his original 3 wire setup could be code compliant.
 
tom baker said:
Washington state won't regrounding of the neutral. Even thought the NEC allows it, I, Mike Holt and many others don't recommend it.
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It maybe permitted if it is existing so long as there are no metallic connection between the two structures.
 
I was taught that after first point of disconnect they must be seperated.I dont completely agree with this thinking but i do it.Electrically the breaker does nothing other than protect conductors and make a way to turn it off.
 
Mark, There may be other issues also. House service panel size, cable distance and type, etc...What's pedestal size and is this a remod?
 
These are new construction homes permited in austin texas. Pedistol breakers range from 125 amp to 200. On average lenghts are 65 to 75 feet to house. The pipe is pvc no metal parts from poco ped to house. The service is built with a meter can and pvc nipple to main panel.

Thanks for the input so far.
Mark

One more thing the outside servive only has the main,subpanel and a/c breakers
 
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Jim W in Tampa said:
I was taught that after first point of disconnect they must be separated. I don?t completely agree with this thinking but I do it. Electrically the breaker does nothing other than protect conductors and make a way to turn it off.
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The role that the breaker plays (i.e., protecting conductors and turning off the circuit) is not relevant to the issue of joining versus separating the ground bus and neutral bus. Essentially, you are right about that. The thing we want to avoid, however, is giving the normal flow of neutral current a second parallel path to follow: the path that would include every single Equipment Grounding Conductor on the site. This would be a particularly bad situation where you have metal conduit throughout the facility, whether or not that conduit is intentionally connected so as to serve as an EGC.
 
mark henderson said:
Ok we have a meter on a pedistool. . . .
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Mark, first let me say, “Welcome to the Forum.” Secondly, please forgive me if I say that you have posted one of the funnier misspellings I have seen in a while. I am not offering to make jest of you, and we all misspell words from time to time, and I most often overlook such things. To fulfill the mission of this Forum, it is more important for us all to gain an understanding of the question and to provide any assistance that we can. That mission can be achieved without regard to possible spelling, grammar, or word usage problems.

That said, the word you want is “pedestal.” When I read “pedistool,” I envisioned a small, three-legged support for your feet. It might also be the seat that a child would sit upon, while waiting in a doctor’s office to see the pediatrician.

Anyway, I hope you are getting the information you needed.

Regards,
Charlie
 
The only clue here I see is the air conditioner circuit. If the breaker for this is in the street pedistal, and you have a feeder to the building, I think you'll have the parallel grounded metal pathway that isn't allowed with a 3-wire feeder to a detached structure.

This is because the A/C compressor must have a grounded branch circuit, so you'll have an EGC from the street pedistal to the A/C unit. The A/C unit has metal refirdgerant pipes that connect to the air handler. This air handler is grounded, but is grounded to the house panel and here'e your parallel path.
 
Ok spelling is not my strong point. Thank you for the welcome:smile:


At the pedestal there is only one breaker that will disconect the power to the main panel on the outside of the home.
 
Even though a 4-wire would be more to the AHJ's liking and not a local issue, the 3-wire would comply to the NEC. What is the AHJ's write-up?
 
Charlie,

When I read your reply on "pedistool" I spit a "Micky d's" fish sandwich and a "Coke" all over the cab of a Municipal vehicle. That was funnier than heck.
Mark welcome.....I mispell constantly....but I think everyone get's the context or content of our posts.
 
mark henderson said:
Ok spelling is not my strong point. Thank you for the welcome:smile:


At the pedestal there is only one breaker that will disconect the power to the main panel on the outside of the home.
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If you didn't know this already you can download a free spell check here:

http://www.iespell.com/

Works very well with this forum.
 
mark henderson said:
Ok we have a meter on a pedistool at the street, there is a breaker there. To the house we run a 3 thnn to feed the service there is CEE there and a main breaker. The inspector is now wanting us to run 4 wires and separate neutrals and grounds?

Mark
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I missed the mention of "3 thnn" earlier. Would you define the cable type lateral you are using. That may be the other reason for a balking AHJ.
 
pedestal service 3 wire to house or 4wire

pedestal service 3 wire to house or 4wire

gndrod said:
I missed the mention of "3 thnn" earlier. Would you define the cable type lateral you are using. That may be the other reason for a balking AHJ.
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I agree, I once inspected a sub panel with the neutral and egc isolated. I passed the service. When I went back for the final I found that the electrician installed a chime transformer and tied the ground from the transformer to the neutral bar. RED TAG
 
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