Hi Everyone,
We have a house which when built , had plans for future expansion.
They left in the walls a wire from the panel (not connected!) to the
outside when the addition would go.We wanted to know what this wire
could be used for, or is it big enough to feed a subpanel for the
planned expansion?

The wire is marked : essex 4-4-4 type se ?HHW

I know an electrician would be able to help but I hate to bother them
with what should be a simple question, and most contractors round here
would much rather trench a new feed or tear up our walls to get a
feed....So.. How many amps could it feed ?.

Amny help very much appreciated
G

On second look with my glasses on! its :
"essex 4-4-4 type se XHHW CDRS 600volt"
Then this marking repeats. What if not a sub panel was this for?
Cheers,
G



4 gauge is generally good for 85a copper or 65a aluminum but if this
is really only 3 wire you can't use it for a sub panel. If this is
really 3 insulated 5 ga conductors with a concentric wound bare ground
(usually called SER) then it is OK for a sub.

In article om, "AustinScoobee" wrote:
On second look with my glasses on! its :
"essex 4-4-4 type se XHHW CDRS 600volt"
Then this marking repeats. What if not a sub panel was this for?

Type SE = Service Entrance

SE cable is used to connect the power company's lines to the meter base, and
the meter base to the service entrance panel (main panel). Four conductors are
not necessary at that point, because the fourth wire originates at the main
panel, not at the utility transformer. A feed from the main panel to a
subpanel needs four conductors.

That said... you might *have* four conductors -- three insulated conductors
with a wire mesh sheath wrapped around them.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

If it just listed the three numbers, it would indicate only three
conductors, so it probably wasn't for a sub panel, at least a 120/240 volt
sub panel. It could have been for an air-conditioning condenser unit or heat
pump


"AustinScoobee" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hi Everyone,
We have a house which when built , had plans for future expansion.
They left in the walls a wire from the panel (not connected!) to the
outside when the addition would go.We wanted to know what this wire
could be used for, or is it big enough to feed a subpanel for the
planned expansion?

The wire is marked : essex 4-4-4 type se ?HHW

I know an electrician would be able to help but I hate to bother them
with what should be a simple question, and most contractors round here
would much rather trench a new feed or tear up our walls to get a
feed....So.. How many amps could it feed ?.

Amny help very much appreciated
G

Some kind of BODACIOUS heat pump there with 100a service.

--
Steve Barker



"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
If it just listed the three numbers, it would indicate only three
conductors, so it probably wasn't for a sub panel, at least a 120/240 volt
sub panel. It could have been for an air-conditioning condenser unit or
heat pump

What 100 amps, it's only good for 65


"Steve Barker LT" wrote in message
...
Some kind of BODACIOUS heat pump there with 100a service.

--
Steve Barker



"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
If it just listed the three numbers, it would indicate only three
conductors, so it probably wasn't for a sub panel, at least a 120/240
volt sub panel. It could have been for an air-conditioning condenser unit
or heat pump

Hi everyone,
Sorry to resurect an old thread, but I had to relate this.
We had an electrician out. He told us this wire was likely for a
planned addition and this would be for a feeder to the addition's sub
panel. Confused, I said to him "but we have only 3 conductors, and no
ground?" To this he replied:

"It is common practice to ground the sub panel AT the subpanel, there
is no need to run a ground from the main breaker box. This also saves
copper."

So ... Is this indeed common practice/code?

G

AustinScoobee wrote:
Hi everyone,
Sorry to resurect an old thread, but I had to relate this.
We had an electrician out. He told us this wire was likely for a
planned addition and this would be for a feeder to the addition's sub
panel. Confused, I said to him "but we have only 3 conductors, and no
ground?" To this he replied:

"It is common practice to ground the sub panel AT the subpanel, there
is no need to run a ground from the main breaker box. This also saves
copper."

So ... Is this indeed common practice/code?

G

Not grounding to the originating panel is only permitted for a separate
building (like a garage). And probably won't be allowed for separate
buildings in the 2008 NEC.

--
bud--

Thanks very much bud..
So, would we be able to use a separate ground from main to subpanel and
still use the wire? It just wouldnt be routed the same way, as the
4-4-4 is.
Thanks
g



Bud-- wrote:
AustinScoobee wrote:
Hi everyone,
Sorry to resurect an old thread, but I had to relate this.
We had an electrician out. He told us this wire was likely for a
planned addition and this would be for a feeder to the addition's sub
panel. Confused, I said to him "but we have only 3 conductors, and no
ground?" To this he replied:

"It is common practice to ground the sub panel AT the subpanel, there
is no need to run a ground from the main breaker box. This also saves
copper."

So ... Is this indeed common practice/code?

G

Not grounding to the originating panel is only permitted for a separate
building (like a garage). And probably won't be allowed for separate
buildings in the 2008 NEC.

--
bud--

Running a separate ground is ok, BUT it must follow the same path as the
cable.

--
Steve Barker



"AustinScoobee" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks very much bud..
So, would we be able to use a separate ground from main to subpanel and
still use the wire? It just wouldnt be routed the same way, as the
4-4-4 is.
Thanks
g



Bud-- wrote:
AustinScoobee wrote:
Hi everyone,
Sorry to resurect an old thread, but I had to relate this.
We had an electrician out. He told us this wire was likely for a
planned addition and this would be for a feeder to the addition's sub
panel. Confused, I said to him "but we have only 3 conductors, and no
ground?" To this he replied:

"It is common practice to ground the sub panel AT the subpanel, there
is no need to run a ground from the main breaker box. This also saves
copper."

So ... Is this indeed common practice/code?

G

Not grounding to the originating panel is only permitted for a separate
building (like a garage). And probably won't be allowed for separate
buildings in the 2008 NEC.

--
bud--

In article , "Steve Barker LT" wrote:
Running a separate ground is ok, BUT it must follow the same path as the
cable.

Close, but no cigar: Code requires all conductors to run in the same cable,
conduit, or raceway. If the cable is already in a conduit, fishing another
wire through the same conduit meets this provision of the Code. Simply running
another conductor parallel to an existing cable does not.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Hmmmm. That's contrary to what I was told locally by my electrician. He
told me I could run a 4/3 NM and staple a bare #6 right next to it . (this
is all inside of course) Of course if there was a 4/3 w/ground, that'd be
great.

--
Steve Barker



"Doug Miller" wrote in message
. net...
In article , "Steve Barker
LT" wrote:
Running a separate ground is ok, BUT it must follow the same path as the
cable.

Close, but no cigar: Code requires all conductors to run in the same
cable,
conduit, or raceway. If the cable is already in a conduit, fishing another
wire through the same conduit meets this provision of the Code. Simply
running
another conductor parallel to an existing cable does not.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Steve Barker LT wrote:

Hmmmm. That's contrary to what I was told locally by my electrician. He
told me I could run a 4/3 NM and staple a bare #6 right next to it . (this
is all inside of course) Of course if there was a 4/3 w/ground, that'd be
great.


Have your electrician look at NEC 300.3-B

(An inspector could allow it.)

--
bud--

ok, thanks for the ref.

--
Steve Barker



"Bud--" wrote in message
.. .
Steve Barker LT wrote:

Hmmmm. That's contrary to what I was told locally by my electrician. He
told me I could run a 4/3 NM and staple a bare #6 right next to it .
(this is all inside of course) Of course if there was a 4/3 w/ground,
that'd be great.


Have your electrician look at NEC 300.3-B

(An inspector could allow it.)

--
bud--