Runnign 100 amp service to garage

[tcreeley]

I used aluminum. Just be sure to coat it with that paste that keeps it from corroding in conact with other metal. Service from road is aluminum as well.
I did my own wiring. An electrician sold me the first panel and hooked up my temporary. I did the rest for the house- from mast to all of it. Hydro company hooked up to the mast and installed the meter. I have added a 100 amp branch to my wood shop. From there I added a 75 amp branch to my forge for my welder. I arranged every thing so that I could plug my generator in during a power outage (disconnect main breaker) and run half my house system- including water pump. (Have never had an electrician back to the house since!- Just be smart about what you do- no shortcuts!- 2 ground rods is best!)

I enjoyed it. If you like pics with your diagrams- Sears has a nice how to book for wiring.
I read a couple of vocational text books the year before on my free time.
The plumbing was easier to do on my own!

 

[Illini22]

Johnny, I've been burying aluminum wire for over 28 years for 3 different utilities. Direct bury and in conduit (no code violation in Illinois). I would put the same exact size, type wire that your utility uses (it will be aluminum!!). The reason being if you ever do have a problem and the troubleshooter ( me) has to come to your house, I will more than likely have the tools and material to make a repair ( if your nice). If you buy some bastard size wire you'll be on your own usually. If you get a rookie t-man he may even think the wire is the utilities, another bonus for you. 99.9% of residential services installed by utilities are ALUMINUM. And more than half are direct bury, rocks or no rocks.

 

[jonnysteals]

Yea I'm heading to the electrical supply house tomorrow. They are a big company so they have a material estimator on staff. I also believe I found a master union licensed electrician looking for side work. He's supposed to call me tomorrow.

My soil is glorified sand. I livevat the jersey shore my barn is 7 miles from the ocean. The trenching should be the easiest part of this job. The reason the budget is tight is I just ordered a 40-12 addition to the pole barn. I'm not trying to cut corners but my play money is depleted between my boat and the addition.


Pm me the price you want on the copper. If it's reasonable we hopefully can work something out. I hope it's direct burial in conduit stuff lol. Thanks again guys for taking the time to explain everything to me. I know I have asked a lot of stupid questions but I truly appreciate the answers.

 

[inmaestro]

Good project! You are on the right path. Don't be afraid to do the work. It ain't rocket science, and the inspectors (city and utility) will keep you from unsafe work. AL wire is fine, and put in the conduit. PVC is pretty cheap. I agree the utility should run the laterals from the pole to the meter. Here in Indiana they supply the wire ahead of time if direct burial, or will pull in conduit provided by owner. NJ is different, but do get input from the utility engineer. These guys can be hard to reach, but be persistent. They want a good, easy install, too. Your master electrician probably has contacts at the utility. By all means get his help. Do the purchasing and grunt work yourself, and pay him to keep you safe and meet codes. Let us know how it goes! Good luck!

 

[rambler]

I am runnign a wire from the telephone pole to my garage where I will put my meter and subpanel in.

This is the 2nd time you've mentioned this and it just has me chukling, it's probably addressed in another message as I'm only 1/2 way through the thred, but:

Why would you be trying to run a 100 amp power line feed from a _telephone_ pole????

I understand, but - it's funny.

Also, you've said this line is coming from or going to your quanset, garage, and/or shed.

Another time you said it is for your renters.

It does get a little confusing as to what you are powering with your 100 amp phone line.

Aluminumn got a bad name when it was used on interior wiring on cheap prefab homes. The connections like to come apart. It's fine stuff for feed wire, be sure to use the right paste and tighten properly.

Ask your inspector what is needed for ground rods. His signature is the one that matters. I've heard more than one is good or suggested, I've never acatually seen more than one inany one location and always passed inspection fine.

Edit now that I read the rest:

Unless this garage/shed/quanset/rental house is a far distance from your current meter, sure would seem easier to just branch off of the meter to this building, rather than a new service.

It is unusual for you to be putting in the main lines between their overhead and their meter, that would not be allowed in most parts of the country, so most of us are thinking of this as a feed from a meter. You are actually installing the meter wires themselves - rather different. I think even you got a bit sidetracked on the differences of before or after the meter.

--->Paul

 

[MarkV]

Given that you will have a new meter for a separate service you will also have a minimum billing for the meter each month regardless of how much power you use. That is what we have at our place and I hate paying the $30 bill to turn on the lights a few times a month.

MarkV

 

[jonnysteals]

This property is 30 acres. There is my rental house in which my tenants rent from me. My pole barn I'd around 400 feet from thir meter. I say telephone poles because that is the terminology I am accustomed to. I guess utility or electrical poles would be the proper vernacular for it.

I need a second meter because I am sure my tenants that rent the house don't want to pay the electricity for my garage. If I lived herebi would not be putting a second service in but running from the rental house.

The electric company want the meter on my garage and they want to run from the telephone/electric/utility pole. I don't want overhead service because I have several tall pieces of equipment and with the line running directly over the driveway I don't want to worry about it. The electric company said underground is fine but they won't do it it's the customers responsibility. This is where this whole project came into play.

 

[jonnysteals]

I just left the local electrical supply house. They were very nice and took the time to talk to me and fully undertaand my project before they would talk materials.

Here is what they wanted to sell me
#2 aluminum 3 sperate wires rated for direct burial in conduit for 41 cents a foot. for 100 amp. $129 for this feed.

#1 aluminum 3 seperate wire is .56 is $168

1/0 is .70 is $210

2/0 for 150 amps is 82 cents a foot. I need three individual wires for a total of $246.

He also priced out 200 amp while I was talking to him 4/0 aluminum 3 individual wires for $1.09 a foot. $327 for 300 feet

They also have all the approved meter sockets wit the stickers sitting right there. I believe I am just going to stick with 100 amps which should be suffecient for my needs.

They stated numerous times that #2 was legal for service entrance cable for 100 amps. He said thated that I should use 1/0 between the meter socket and the breaker box because I wouldn't need to use conduit between them. The 1/0 service entrance cable is allowed to be exposed between them. What wire would you run the #2 or #1 betwen the utilit/telephone pole and the meter socket?

Would you run conduit between the meter socket and breaker box with the #2 individual wires or just run 1/0 service entrance cable?

 

[grsthegreat]

I am an electrical contractor and we use aluminum feeder wires for supplying main feeds all the time. People haven't used copper main feeders for many years. just too costly.

That being said, i NEVER install direct buys aluminum wires...NEVER. I always install the wires into PVC conduit. Conduit isnt very expensive compared to having to redig and rebury direct burial wire a few years down the line. I have had to reapir many direct burial lines over the years and i truly believe only a fool would bury aluminum wires in rock filled dirt. As was stated previously. One nick and the wire will start to disintegrate.

 

[jonnysteals]

Attched is my plan. Anything wrong with my plan you can see. i figured I would draw it out since there was some confusion