Spliced Service Conductors?

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smallfish

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Seems the service conductors came up short. Can these conductors be spliced in their service disconnect? And if so by what types of devices? We're talking three parallel sets of 4-350kcmil. Thanks.
 
smallfish said:
Seems the service conductors came up short. Can these conductors be spliced in their service disconnect? And if so by what types of devices? We're talking three parallel sets of 4-350kcmil. Thanks.
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Good question for your local power company.
Its usually their call.

Ive seen it done.
 
Wow thats alot of reycycling..... I sounds like you don't want to eat the feeder so to speak - and re-pull it. But you could chalk it up as experiance - put in the right length, and store the wire for the next job in a no interest bank in the back of the shop with a tag showing its correct length....

Other than that you need to wiegh the options of cost of terminations and accomadating them vs re-pull, workman-like manner, or lowering or raising the equipment to accomadate them.... - OK - I'll be the first - "Wire Stretcher!" :D Anyway moving along... I would re-pull it, if you say ordered 100' and got 98' from the supply house - DEMAND RECOURSE! If you ordered 98, but NEEDED 100' - suck it up and store for the next job. There will eventually be one....

Anyway - for the future - go long! As you can see going tight or short can cost more than double in mats and labor. I usually count 8' as 10' and add a few at each end - So what I'm 6' too long, I'm not 1" too short. I have also pulled a poly line into a conduit, then pulled it out - rolled on a stick and gone to the supply house and said "I need it that long!"
 
Spliced Service Conductors?

Does NEC prohibit splicing of service conductors in their own service disconnect? By splicing, I imagine it could be considered a violation of NEC110.12 (Mechanical execution of work).
But if it is not a violation, what type of connector is acceptable (for example, an insulated barrel connector with set screw)?
I did email POCO to ask if it's under their rules or NEC's.
 
Following Hillbilly, the Handbook offers the following explanatory text directly after 230.46 (the red highlight is my emphasis):
Splices are permitted in service-entrance conductors if the splice meets the requirements of 230.46. Splices must be in an enclosure or be direct buried using a listed underground splice kit. It is common to have an underground service lateral terminate at a terminal box either inside or outside the building. At that point, service conductors may be spliced or run directly to the service equipment.
Splices are permitted where, for example, the cable enters a terminal box and a different wiring method, such as conduit, continues to the service equipment. Splices are most common where metering equipment is located on the line side of service equipment, service busways, and taps for supplying up to six disconnecting means.
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And it goes without saying. . .don't do it like this:

ServiceCondSplice66web.jpg


Some hack assembled this prize from salvaged meter lug parts. That's #6 THW shoved into the splayed end of #2 RHW. After a serving of tape was wrapped on, the #6 was landed on the 100 Amp service disconnect.

Gotta love it.

The only thing that saved the building was a board up for skipping out on the mortgage and the subsequent Code Compliance that the vacancy triggered.
 
I'd recommend that you use a product along the lines of Burndy's Insulink. That would take up zero room, and normally uses the .840 press die you might already own, since that's a popular die.
 
al hildenbrand said:
Some hack assembled this prize from salvaged meter lug parts. That's #6 THW shoved into the splayed end of #2 RHW. After a serving of tape was wrapped on, the #6 was landed on the 100 Amp service disconnect.
Click to expand...

Yankee ingenuity and thriftiness all in one. :rolleyes:
 
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