ElectricianJeff
Senior Member
- Location
- Southern Illinois
Got in last night from my trip down south to help out the sis.
See:
http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=90432&highlight=dorado
I made her a deal that if she would pay to ship about 50lbs of tools both ways then I would come down for a week and do what I could to help her out. I've been slow and a 1000+ mile harley trip south and back this time of year sounded pretty good so a deal was struck.
Heres what I found with her electrical service when I got there. 100 amp. meter socket with 1 1/4" rigid riser to incoming overhead service. The #2 cu came in the top down through the meter and then back up the riser out the the weatherhead where it was tied to #6 cu that was poked under a piece of trim and run about 6-8' into a 10-12 space panel with no main disconnect.
The range wires had been double lugged where the service conductors were attached and they even had to trim a few wire to get them all to fit under the lugs. The panel had no ground at all but the neutral was grounded at the meter socket with #6 bare to a ground rod. 2-wire conductors throughout the house.
Now I havn't been in the field all that long and all work I've done has been here in my own little world and maybe I need to get out more but heres what I did with the limited amount of tools I had.
After running new circuts for refrig. , micro, d/w, kitchen, baths, c/a etc. I installed a 20/20 space 100 amp. panel, pulled the main and backfeed a 60 amp. breaker as the main. I couldn't replace the short run of #6 due to lack of manpower and ladder so I saw this as the best option at the time. I grounded the panel to a cold waterline in the crawlspace. I left the 100 amp. main laying in the bottom of the panel and told sis that if she increased the load to a point where the 60 amp. breaker would not work then the short run of #6 would have to be replaced by an electrician before she could have a 100 amps.
Oh, no permit, no inspection in case your wondering but what the heck it's my only sister.
Here are my questions:
1. When did the 6 handle rule come into effect? I never have seen a house without a main.
2. What would have happened if a fault condition would of occurred with the stove? Assuming it didn't burn itself out is there protection at the transformer or does it just spark until it burns up or out?
3. I always run in conduit from metercan to panel using the conduit as ground. I looked at a couple of the neighbors and they had similar setups as this one had. Can 5 conductors be run in the mast and meet code? I always wondered why there was 5 holes in the weatherhead when I never used more than 3.
4. Should I have isolated the gounds and neutrals in panel? I did not.
Sorry for the long post but I am wondering what I did wrong or a better way to have dealt with this under the circumstances.
See:
http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=90432&highlight=dorado
I made her a deal that if she would pay to ship about 50lbs of tools both ways then I would come down for a week and do what I could to help her out. I've been slow and a 1000+ mile harley trip south and back this time of year sounded pretty good so a deal was struck.
Heres what I found with her electrical service when I got there. 100 amp. meter socket with 1 1/4" rigid riser to incoming overhead service. The #2 cu came in the top down through the meter and then back up the riser out the the weatherhead where it was tied to #6 cu that was poked under a piece of trim and run about 6-8' into a 10-12 space panel with no main disconnect.
The range wires had been double lugged where the service conductors were attached and they even had to trim a few wire to get them all to fit under the lugs. The panel had no ground at all but the neutral was grounded at the meter socket with #6 bare to a ground rod. 2-wire conductors throughout the house.
Now I havn't been in the field all that long and all work I've done has been here in my own little world and maybe I need to get out more but heres what I did with the limited amount of tools I had.
After running new circuts for refrig. , micro, d/w, kitchen, baths, c/a etc. I installed a 20/20 space 100 amp. panel, pulled the main and backfeed a 60 amp. breaker as the main. I couldn't replace the short run of #6 due to lack of manpower and ladder so I saw this as the best option at the time. I grounded the panel to a cold waterline in the crawlspace. I left the 100 amp. main laying in the bottom of the panel and told sis that if she increased the load to a point where the 60 amp. breaker would not work then the short run of #6 would have to be replaced by an electrician before she could have a 100 amps.
Oh, no permit, no inspection in case your wondering but what the heck it's my only sister.
Here are my questions:
1. When did the 6 handle rule come into effect? I never have seen a house without a main.
2. What would have happened if a fault condition would of occurred with the stove? Assuming it didn't burn itself out is there protection at the transformer or does it just spark until it burns up or out?
3. I always run in conduit from metercan to panel using the conduit as ground. I looked at a couple of the neighbors and they had similar setups as this one had. Can 5 conductors be run in the mast and meet code? I always wondered why there was 5 holes in the weatherhead when I never used more than 3.
4. Should I have isolated the gounds and neutrals in panel? I did not.
Sorry for the long post but I am wondering what I did wrong or a better way to have dealt with this under the circumstances.
