View Single Post
  #17   Report Post  
Posted to alt.home.repair
dpb dpb is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 12,595
Default Connecting Ground wire with a Split Bolt

On 11/16/2015 11:36 AM, wrote:
....

It does sound like he has 2 parallel service disconnects grouped on
that maypole. That would allow 400a.
On the line side of the service disconnect, it is all up to the power
company what they want to run.
I have seen the PoCo bring the same triplex they use for a 200, to a
320 or 400 service. It is up to the customer to complain that they
have low voltage before the PoCo will act. They are eating the I2R
losses for that smoking power drop. They usually do size an
underground lateral using 310.15(B)(6) but that is still smaller than
you get with the regular 310.16 ampacity table.

They are not really serious about wire size until you get to
commercial because most homeowners greatly overestimate their power
usage ... unless it is Al Gore. ;-)

If you averaged 100a your bill would be almost $2600 a month at .15 a
KWH. The PoCo engineering department can see your bill.
If it got that big, the DEA would be breaking down your door looking
for a grow operation.


In sidebar discussion at the end of the earlier thread where I was
digging for the location of my bad neutral he said he has a "small" farm
w/ only a couple of old tractors baling a little hay for what seems to
be a few head of (presumably?) cattle.

That would seem _way_ excessive service capacity; I wonder if it isn't
actually the same as the service here on a far larger operation that has
a single service off the pole but that goes back up to the top and from
there goes to multiple locations. That certainly would fit more nearly
what he described there.

It'd be possible in a larger dairy operation or hog farrowing facility
or even poultry with heavy milking machine/refrigeration in the former
or HVAC/ventilation loads in the latter, but it certainly doesn't seem
that would be the kind of operation he's got.

I think it is just mis-described meself; a pitchure could shew a lot...

--