Are there any licensed electricians for the state of Georgia running amuck on these boards? I’m trying to figure out why my main breaker is sized to exactly 2/3 of the main panels listed capacity.
The electrical path for my 2-year old home is from the street to a meter, to a main breaker panel outside the home (150A breaker), to the main panel inside the home via a 600V 3 CDRS (conductors?) 2/0-AWG line feeding a Cutler-Hammer panel rated for 225A.
Curious to know if the ‘600V 3 CDRS 2/0 AWG line is capable of more than 150A. The indoor-panel-to-outdoor-main-break run is about 40’.
Replies
ER101228 Here.. The rating of your service is predicated on the size of the wire from your exterior disconnect to your panel. The reason the panel is sized for 225A is because 200 amps is one of the standard sizes and they just wanted to stay above that.
No, you cant put in a larger breaker because you would need 4/0 for that.
Located in Athens...where are you?
I look down my nose at people who dare to look down their nose at people.
Pete, this is kinda what I thought. BTW, I live in hell, can't you tell? BTW2, what is it going to cost to run 4/0 from the breaker to the main? The physical path from one panel to the other is very accessible as the basement in only in the DIY prep stages for finishing (i.e. I haven't done anything yet).
BTW3, why are electricians so expensive? Hehe, couldn't resist that one. Seriously, though, I could provide pictures of the panel locations, where it comes through the wall, runs through the joists, etc.
Edited 4/15/2002 1:26:15 PM ET by kartman0
You must be a female GT professor then (being from Hell and all) Oh noo... I just noticed the man part. Sure send me pics and I will cyberestimate it for you.
Pete
I look down my nose at people who dare to look down their nose at people.
Ok, lemme get them to you tomorrow morning. I'm at work now (can you tell), and the only thing I can do is sit, roll-over, and play like I'm working. Actually, I'm in northern Gwinnett county, outside of Buford (near gravel springs and camp branch). Keep in mind that my subdivision is not on any map and hasn't been since its creation 2.5 years ago. The US Mail is still screwed.
Pete: I'm in Dawson Cty, about 90 mi from you. Got a question about derating cables, based on "Bundling" them together. It makes sense if you run them close to one another, perhaps held together by wire ties. But, what about when a bunch of them run through the same hole in a wall? They are spread out on either side of the hole.
The real question, however. I bought a bag of 3M plastic wire stackers today. They will hold up to 8 cables, none of them really touching. The bag says "...derating must be considered when 5-8 cables are installed." How close can cables be to one another? Or am I asking how long is a piece of string? Is this truly an inspector's interpretation/whim?
Thanks.
DonThe GlassMasterworks - If it scratches, I etch it!
Pete, I emailed (through this forum) the URL for the pictures as promised, on Yahoo's photo database. Lemme know if you get that URL, or if I should post it here.
I agree with Pete your limited by the wire size to the meter.
You would need to upgrade your conductors between the meter and the main. The max ampacity of the meter and size of the drop and even the transformer size can come into play. Any good electrician should be able to help you with the line on your side of the meter. Opening the meter means cutting a seal, with power company approval, and working it live or having the company cut power at the pole. No big problem either way but safer disconnected.
The utility end sizing would also need power company help to tell you if the drop and such are up to the load. Around here a line crew will often look at the situation and call engineering and have them do a check of the circuit listings. Most times this is done by radio and they have an answer in about 10 minutes. Most times the lines are up to it.
Why would you want to do all this. Are you having problems? If you are not I wouldn't worry about it. It can be done at any time in the future.
4Lorn1, you bring up a good point. I had been considering the main conductor that runs from the main breaker (outside next to the meter) and the main panel (inside the basement). I did not consider the conductor from the meter to the main breaker, nor the conductor from the street to the meter! Sounds like more questions for the electric company!
Just a couple points... For 200A service, 4/0 was mentioned... but... it should be mentioned that you'd need 4/0 Aluminum (or 2/0 Copper).
Yup, you need to worry about everything... assuming you have an overhead entrance, the utility will have to comment about whether their lines are large enough. The drop to the meter, and the lines from the the meter/disconnect to the breaker panel are your problem.
One last point that comes to mind... make sure your GEC (grounding electrode conductor) is sized properly also. I can't remember offhand, and don't have the code book in front of me, but if you're going from 150A to 200A, you may have to size that up as well.
I'm starting to wonder if it just isn't easier to ask Jackson EMC to simply add a second meter and run a second, independent panel for just the basement.
There are several problems with that.
The rates vary for different companies, but most of them have a fixed fee and/or sliding scale for usage. In my area it would cost an extra $6.48 a month for the meter. Along with the sliding scale it would probably cost me about an extra $100 a year. It would not take long to pay for doing it "right".
In some areas zoning will not allow this. They are afraid that there it will be converted into rental units.
Some power companies will only supply one meter per residential property. I know that people that run into this where people wanted a separate meter for a shop as it was too far to run from the house meter. In other areas they will drop as many as you want.