Underground conductor insulation preference.

[ritelec]

I've always installed thhn/thwn on underground services, feeder and circuit conductors.

I may be putting in an underground service soon and have been thinking of going with xhhw.

Any thoughts of continuing as usual l(thhn/thwn) or go for the xhhw???

Thank you

 

[Cow]

We do a lot of ag and industrial services.

We use everything from copper THHN to aluminum USE to aluminum XHHW.

With copper up right now, it's hard to argue against aluminum XHHW or USE when you look at the price per amp. We've got a bunch of long feeders coming up, a 600, 900, and a 1200 footer. I'm ordering up colored aluminum XHHW to make our lives easier. Nobody wants to handle that much copper, even with a feeder and tugger.

 

[ptonsparky]

The slick coating that is on the Al XHHW we order is worth any cost difference. It is already a bit smaller in diameter. It is very slick so don’t use a pulling sock directly on the insulation. Strip it off to the conductor.

 

[sameguy]

Compact conductors.