Service drop height verses drip loop height

[Stevenfyeager]

230.24 B, (1) says 10 ' for lowest point of drip loop, and (2) says residential property overhead service conductors : 12'. ( My POCO (Duke E) specs don't have a sentence like (1).) So can the point of attachment, ie., service drop conductors can be 12' with the drip loop hanging down to 10' ? I ask, because my POCO specs say "the service drop attachment must be located at a height of 12' under conditions of max sag at any point along the span of the service drop conductors." It sounds like "attachment" is 12', which would mean the drip loop would hang lower than 12. Their drawing does show 10 1/2 ' min ht of drip loop. (for 300 v)
Thanks!

 

[retirede]

230.24 B, (1) says 10 ' for lowest point of drip loop, and (2) says residential property overhead service conductors : 12'. ( My POCO (Duke E) specs don't have a sentence like (1).) So can the point of attachment, ie., service drop conductors can be 12' with the drip loop hanging down to 10' ? I ask, because my POCO specs say "the service drop attachment must be located at a height of 12' under conditions of max sag at any point along the span of the service drop conductors." It sounds like "attachment" is 12', which would mean the drip loop would hang lower than 12. Their drawing does show 10 1/2 ' min ht of drip loop. (for 300 v)
Thanks!

IMO, the span is between points of attachment and would not include the drip loop.

 

[Fred B]

Generally the reason for the minimum sag is to limit the chance of accidental contact and snagging with damage to conductors or attachments. The drip loop is simply to limit the ability for water ingress at usually service point, and generally has very limited chance of snagging.
Point of attachment should be high enough to allow lowest point of the supply line's sag to be at or above the minimum required along the path of the overhead conductor. That means the finished grade along the span and the POCO's connection point elevation would dictate your POA height and it could be as little as 12 ft but could be much more. The drip loop should be at a level to prevent incidental contact by someone on foot from the ground or other elevated surface ie.: deck, porch, window.

Usually our POCO wants enough of the drop line for them to make up a drip loop connection at the service POA.

It sounds like "attachment" is 12', which would mean the drip loop would hang lower than 12. Their drawing does show 10 1/2 ' min ht of drip loop.

12ft is just a Minimum height of POA not a mandatory set point. 10 1/2 ft is not an unreasonable drip loop minimum height with a 12ft POA and if that is their requirement, well... They also usually want your POA at an elevation lower than theirs at the pole but "your" house on the hill might simply only allow the min POA with an overall down slope to POCO pole.

Our POCOs all want at least 3 ft of free service drop conductors to make up the drip loop from.

 

[Stevenfyeager]

Thank you.