Should gooseneck bends be required for service entrance pipes?

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NoahsArc

Senior Member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
Residential EC
A common issue I see in the land of pipe, in homes particularly, is corroded panels. Enough water can get through the meter enclosure into the pipe (or alone the outside), surface tension down the wires probably, and drip into the panel to cause issues over time, failed MBs especially as it tends to go right in those. This is for full basements (or similar), where you poke the pipe through the meter/siding horizontally, then 90 directly down into the top of the panel. I feel like having a pronounced goose neck would keep almost all of that water out of the panel. Yes, there's duct seal or caulk (often ignored by installers), but I feel like a simple goose neck would be more reliable over time. Physics > goo.

Should this become a common requirement for conduit installs?
 

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Buck Parrish

Buck Parrish

Senior Member
Location
NC & IN
I am pretty sure I can say about 99 percent of us do not have a problem with water entering our panels , meter or main breaker panels. So I would say no, it should not be required. In fact I think the water might still cling to the goose neck.
How's about an LB would that work better ? (y)

Are you in middle Illinois? Where their are little to no inspections like Indiana.
 
H

Hv&Lv

Senior Member
Location
-
Occupation
Engineer/Technician
Isn't that just a longer version of the weatherhead??
I believe I have only seen one of these ever.
And IIRC it was on a service that was ripped off the house. The electrician that fixed it went back with a regular weatherhead.
 
electrofelon

electrofelon

Senior Member
Location
Cherry Valley NY, Seattle, WA
NoahsArc said:
A common issue I see in the land of pipe, in homes particularly, is corroded panels. Enough water can get through the meter enclosure into the pipe (or alone the outside), surface tension down the wires probably, and drip into the panel to cause issues over time, failed MBs especially as it tends to go right in those. This is for full basements (or similar), where you poke the pipe through the meter/siding horizontally, then 90 directly down into the top of the panel. I feel like having a pronounced goose neck would keep almost all of that water out of the panel. Yes, there's duct seal or caulk (often ignored by installers), but I feel like a simple goose neck would be more reliable over time. Physics > goo.

Should this become a common requirement for conduit installs?
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Personally I have very rarely seen water flowing in as you describe. I cannot think of a single instance actually. Also, perhaps I am misunderstanding, but I dont recall every seeing the conduit installation as you describe. I just about always see an LB. I suppose water could still surface tension along the wire through the LB, but I have just never seen it be an issue.
 
M

MTW

Senior Member
Location
SE Michigan
@NoahsArc
I have had it happen several times over the years, wind blown rain getting in the entrance cap clamp or wire holes, where the wires enter the weather head, even with a proper drip loop. It depends on mast location and where the prevailing wind direction comes from. It would run down the inside of the GRC mast, into the meter can, then drip straight through the meter can, and into the SE cable jacket or conduit on the load side, on the bottom of the meter enclosure. Then follow the conductors down straight into the main breaker in the basement. Once I learned that, the source of the water, I always caulked the opening of the SE cable entrance, in the meter enclosure, leaving the bottom of the meter can, or if it was conduit leaving, seal it up with some duct seal, but ensure to put some small drain holes in the bottom of the meter can enclosure. That became standard practice for overhead services for me. Never had a problem again after adopting that procedure on the install. Bending a goose neck on a 2" GRC would have looked goofy, they do make 90 degree entrance caps, but sealing up the exiting conduit or cable and putting in a couple drain holes was much better and with standard materials.
 
N

NoahsArc

Senior Member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
Residential EC
electrofelon said:
Personally I have very rarely seen water flowing in as you describe. I cannot think of a single instance actually. Also, perhaps I am misunderstanding, but I dont recall every seeing the conduit installation as you describe. I just about always see an LB. I suppose water could still surface tension along the wire through the LB, but I have just never seen it be an issue.
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Little Bill said:
You have a weatherhead, and should be leaving a drip loop. No gooseneck needed!
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We don't have weatherheads, it's underground services here, fed directly from meter enclosures, as per the picture. That may be why you never see it, you do your installs differently.
Buck Parrish said:
I am pretty sure I can say about 99 percent of us do not have a problem with water entering our panels , meter or main breaker panels. So I would say no, it should not be required. In fact I think the water might still cling to the goose neck.
How's about an LB would that work better ? (y)

Are you in middle Illinois? Where their are little to no inspections like Indiana.
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Chicagoland. Code compliance isn't an issue in newer homes here, to put it mildly.

I've seen too many already in my short time at this. Just replaced a panel last week due to water corroding out the MB and eating up the panel and terminations. So many panels I look at have some corrosion at the bottom or dripped on the lugs. Whether inside or outside the conduit, a gooseneck should prevent most of that.
 
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