oldsparky52
Senior Member
- Location
- Wilmington, NC USA
How much power does a cell tower use? IDK.
Pulling 3 2/0 and one # 6 through 2 inch
- Thread starter patricknola
- Start date
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electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
IDK either. I assume he is at the mercy of some job specs though. He could use a reduced neutral, if it's not in the specs and that would help a little.
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
Not a whole lot, it’s been years since I done one, but they spec a lot of receptacles, and it’s usually fed by a 6-12 or maybe a 24 circuit 100 amp loadcenter. Usually you just run out of space.
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
200A is prolly a minimum spec. Most sites use way less, it depends on the size of the of the shelter. That's no big deal. The thing that is irritating is 99% of the gear uses batteries and the rectifiers are straight 240V so even if the overall load is 100A or more the only 120V loads are the lights and some convenience receptacles, less the 5A I bet, yet everyone specs a full size neutral.
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
Three 3/0 through a 2" is not that big a deal.
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
Engineers love:200A is prolly a minimum spec. Most sites use way less, it depends on the size of the of the shelter. That's no big deal. The thing that is irritating is 99% of the gear uses batteries and the rectifiers are straight 240V so even if the overall load is 100A or more the only 120V loads are the lights and some convenience receptacles, less the 5A I bet, yet everyone specs a full size neutral.
1. Copper over AL
2. Full size neutrals
3. Wire egc's
4. Going overboard with voltage drop
I did do two cell sites in the mid 2000's. I remember it was 600MCM copper three phase, not particularly far. I don't remember actual service size.
oldsparky52
Senior Member
- Location
- Wilmington, NC USA
I think it's the LBs that are the concern.
electrofelon
Senior Member
- Location
- Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
I've got two different threaded LB's in front of me right now. One says (3) 2/0 max, the other days (3) 4/0 max. They are essentially the same size. The 4/0 one is an Appleton malleable iron with thicker walls, but it has rollers on each side.
- Occupation
- Licensed Electrician
Maybe from a ticky tack code rule perspective. Most times the six times the diameter rule won't get called when you are using LBs. And if it is the problem then changing the conduit size won't fix that. I think the OP is afraid of the pipe size.
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Journeyman Electrician
The roller type will usually allow slightly larger conductors than the standard LB's.
Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
Exactly, this is what I do. Mogul or an LB one size up usually with reducing bushings.
hillbilly1
Senior Member
- Location
- North Georgia mountains
- Occupation
- Owner/electrical contractor
We retrofitted 40-50 of them years ago, they went from 24 volt equipment to 48 volt. All were 100 amp single phase panels. Seems like they called for 4-30 amp 240 volt twist locks. They were pretty neglected, all the batteries had been shot for quite a while. Put in all new equipment.200A is prolly a minimum spec. Most sites use way less, it depends on the size of the of the shelter. That's no big deal. The thing that is irritating is 99% of the gear uses batteries and the rectifiers are straight 240V so even if the overall load is 100A or more the only 120V loads are the lights and some convenience receptacles, less the 5A I bet, yet everyone specs a full size neutral.
A word of advice...
When pulling large conductors through LB's, they can only be pulled in one direction: the wire must enter the side and exit the back. Trying to go the wrong way will be extremely difficult and will very likely damage the insulation.
oldsparky52
Senior Member
- Location
- Wilmington, NC USA
If you can replace the 2 middle LBs (middle of the 4) with wireways, I think your pull will be MUCH easier.
- Status