Service Conductors vs Service-Entrance Conductors

[shieldcracker]

Per Art 100 Service Conductors begin at the Service Point and end in service disconnecting means. On the other hand Service Entrance Conductors can begin at the Service Point (connecting to a Service Drop/ Lateral), or not (connecting to the Underground/ Overhead Service Conductor), either way per NEC they end at Service Equipment terminals.
Its clear that the lines between a service drop or overhead service conductors and the meter box are indeed Service Entrance Conductors, but what about the lines going out of the meter box to a service disconnect or main breaker loadcenter?

 

[wwhitney]

The only mention of the word "meter" in the relevant definitions (basically everything in Article 100 that starts with the word Service) is in "Service Conductors, Underground" as a place that those underground service conductors might terminate. As the service conductors extend all the way to the service disconnecting means, if that disconnecting means is in a separate enclosure from the meter, the service conductors between them are Service Entrance Conductors. If that disconnecting means is in the same enclosure as the meter, then there are no SECs, as per the Informational Note.

In all other cases, the meter is not mentioned in the definitions. So the identity of the service condcutors on the line side and the load side (if any) of the meter are the same. If the meter is on the building with the service disconnecting means (as opposed to, say, on a post 300 feet away at the edge of the property), then the conductors on each side of the meter (barring that underground case above) would be Service Entrance Conductors.

Cheers, Wayne

 

[infinity]

I think that we had a thread a few years ago asking why we need two different definitions.

 

[wwhitney]

I think that we had a thread a few years ago asking why we need two different definitions.

FWIW, service entrance conductors need to be sized with a 125% factor for continuous loads (barring 100% rated OCPD), while other service conductors do not.

So there's that.

Cheers, Wayne