Point of atchment

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domnic

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Electrical Contractor
On a service drop does the weather head have to be above the point of atchment?
 
230.54(C) Service Heads and Goosenecks Above Service-Drop Attachment. Service heads and goosenecks in service-entrance cables shall be located above the point of attachment of the service-drop conductors to the building or other structure.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
230.54(C) Service Heads and Goosenecks Above Service-Drop Attachment. Service heads and goosenecks in service-entrance cables shall be located above the point of attachment of the service-drop conductors to the building or other structure.
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Not necessarily, always leave a drip loop before the weather head . Often a drop is attached at the facial board level for max height and the weather head is under the overhang , Read the exception to 230.54 (C) :grin:
 
I am aware of the exception and it is a very poorly worded one as it does not actually say you can place the service head below the point of attachment, however I believe that is the intent of the section. That being said, it is a poor practice even where permitted. Under the right conditions if the splice is above the service head water can migrate down the space between the strands of the conductor and enter the equipment. This can happen even with a drip loop, unless the drip loop is formed in a shape that takes the top of the drip loop above the elevation of the splice.
 
LarryFine said:
I'm sure there are a few. :grin:
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But the only one that counts is the one with the big 'C' at the beginning.

They require a minimum of 6 inches between the point of attachment and the weatherhead, attachment being the lower of the two, of course.

Look at page 27 of this really cool PDF.

http://www.consumersenergy.com/uplo...Service-Metering-Information-Requirements.pdf

Also dig down a little bit and check out the transfer switch wiring diagram, which is a POCO requirement, and the neutral is not switched. See page 61.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
I am aware of the exception and it is a very poorly worded one as it does not actually say you can place the service head below the point of attachment, however I believe that is the intent of the section. That being said, it is a poor practice even where permitted. Under the right conditions if the splice is above the service head water can migrate down the space between the strands of the conductor and enter the equipment. This can happen even with a drip loop, unless the drip loop is formed in a shape that takes the top of the drip loop above the elevation of the splice.
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Why would you argue with the code when it is giving you a way out by saying when it is impractical to locate the WH above the point of attachment , the only requirement is to locate within 24" of attachment. In my post I said leave a drip loop , I thought people would know what that means, it means the water would reach a low point and then have to travel up hill to get to WH . This is a common practice on town houses on the gable end side where the drop crosses the highway , the attachment will be above the single 10 ft conduit for mast. I have never seen any one flagged for this , even with more than 2 ft from the WH. Remember the poco sets the attachment point , they can put it where they want , if it gets flagged they have to move it , seldom will the ahj question it of course on a mast above a roof it has to be be tall enough , but there again the poco wont hit it anyway if it does not give clearance from ground.
 
jetlag said:
Remember the poco sets the attachment point , they can put it where they want , if it gets flagged they have to move it , seldom will the ahj question it of course on a mast above a roof it has to be be tall enough , but there again the poco wont hit it anyway if it does not give clearance from ground.
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Around here the electrician installs the point of attachment device not the POCO.
 
jetlag said:
Why would you argue with the code when it is giving you a way out by saying when it is impractical to locate the WH above the point of attachment , the only requirement is to locate within 24" of attachment.
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It doesn't really say you can install it below the point of attachment, but I agree that is what it means.
In my post I said leave a drip loop , I thought people would know what that means, it means the water would reach a low point and then have to travel up hill to get to WH
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As I said, unless the drip loop is formed in a manner that places the top of the drip loop above the splice point, it is possible for water to run in the spaces between the strands under the insulation and down into the service equipment. The water will enter the space under the insulation and can travel up to the same level as the end of the insulation at the point where the service entrance conductors are spliced to the service drop. The water will continue around the drip loop and down into the equipment unless the top of the drip loop is above the splice point. The possibility of this is greatly reduced where a compression connector of some type is use for the splice between the service drop conductors and the service entrance conductors.
This is a common practice on town houses on the gable end side where the drop crosses the highway , the attachment will be above the single 10 ft conduit for mast. I have never seen any one flagged for this , even with more than 2 ft from the WH. Remember the poco sets the attachment point , they can put it where they want , if it gets flagged they have to move it , seldom will the ahj question it of course on a mast above a roof it has to be be tall enough , but there again the poco wont hit it anyway if it does not give clearance from ground.
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The power company is not covered by the rules in the NEC. They can place the point of attachment anywhere they want to. it is the electricians problem to put the service head in the correct location in relation to the point of attachment.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
It doesn't really say you can install it below the point of attachment, but I agree that is what it means.As I said, unless the drip loop is formed in a manner that places the top of the drip loop above the splice point, it is possible for water to run in the spaces between the strands under the insulation and down into the service equipment. The water will enter the space under the insulation and can travel up to the same level as the end of the insulation at the point where the service entrance conductors are spliced to the service drop. The water will continue around the drip loop and down into the equipment unless the top of the drip loop is above the splice point. The possibility of this is greatly reduced where a compression connector of some type is use for the splice between the service drop conductors and the service entrance conductors. The power company is not covered by the rules in the NEC. They can place the point of attachment anywhere they want to. it is the electricians problem to put the service head in the correct location in relation to the point of attachment.
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Around here you can set a point of attachment but the poco will provide it if you dont . The problem is sometimes the poco wont use the point you provide and go higher. Lets say you have a drop that crosses the road , You can see the poco has been connecting drops way over 20 ft high on the pole . So you install a meter base and 10 ft mast on the side of a house for all total of approx 15 ft. ,knowing the drop wont dip below 20 ft before it crosses the road to hit the house a little below the WH. So you set an attachment there. When the poco comes they disreguard your attachment and go 2 ft above the mast and wind up with several feet more than they need to cross the road and several ft more than they need for 12 ft crossing the property . I have had it to happen many times. But I dont keep raising the mast trying to predict where the poco will hit when I know i have provided a tall enough mast .
 
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infinity said:
Around here the electrician installs the point of attachment device not the POCO.
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Same here except the POCO tells the the 'lectrician where to put it.

Funny thing is, the POCO dictates the install (placement, attachment method, hardware, etc.) and then never inspects it. Had a job where following the POCO direction was WAY WAY overkill (drop length approx 10ft), but was installed that way with much effort, and no one confirmed that it had been done right.
 
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