Spencer's Pole Barn Project

[Spencer]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

Inspector507, thanks for the quick response. I checked with my buddy at the power company and he is confident that it looks right but that is not his area of expertise (he is going to forward the photo on to a meter guy). I was fairly confident that I had it hooked up right but after reading your reply I thought I would get in touch with the manufacturer of the panel. So I called the manufacturer and spoke with one of their technicians. I ended up emailing him that same photo I posted here and he confirmed that I indeed had it hooked up correctly. I was contacting them to see if I could get some paperwork on the unit (like instructions or an owners manual). They do not have those available even though one of their stickers inside the box says "This equipment is to be installed.....in accordance with local regualations.....and included instructions". /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[Inspector507]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

Spencer,
In my neck of the woods, they would not connect a meter to that meter enclosure of a 1Ø service. But in other areas they use different types of meters, so it's best that you did check with both the manufacturer and the Power Co.
All depends on what the local authorities and power co's want /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[kensfarm]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

Spencer.. I recently(last fall) had my meter moved from my back porch to the side of the house.. in order to build a mudroom.. the cable is buried under ground. I wanted to suggest an addition to your setup.. similiar to what's on your house.

"I do have a 200 amp panel in my house but there is a 125 amp breaker on the outside of the house right after the meter. "

My suggestion is to add a 200 amp breaker between your new meter and your new main.. this will give you options later on.. plus.. a single point to cut off the power. Safety.. when you need to work on your main.. adding more breakers.. wiring.. etc.. you'll feel more comfortable knowing the juice is off before it hits the main. Later on.. if you want to hook up a generator to your system for power outages.. you'll have a central point to disconnect from the utility.. and not have to worry about zapping the linemen down the road.

For my job.. the electric company wouldn't put in the meter.. until the inspector gave the okay.. I had an electrian do the work because of numerous reasons.. they had to ground all the copper pipe in the house.. my main is very old and the inpector made the electrician install a neutral bar.. which required rewiring everything in the main.. plus the main happens to be in a bathroom.. which is not allowed.. but mine was allowed under the grandfather clause.

I too.. have enjoyed reading.. and seeing your project through the phases.. I don't think it would be a far throw if you turned your thread into a illustrated Pole Barn Building book. Looks great..

 

[nicklan]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

Spencer,
This looks very similar to what I had my electrican do for me to feed 2 barns and and future feed for my new house. My line from the pole around 200'. He (electrican) used 00 copper wire. If you ever get over this way, let me know and take a look.

Nick

 

[Spencer]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

Update on power.

The electrical inspector came out a few weeks ago and looked over my work. He said I did a nice job and that all I needed to do was to add two ground rods, tying them together with at least #6 copper wire. I knew I was going to need a ground rod but was unsure on exactly what to do so it was a good thing I waited because I surely wouldn't have put in two. He said I needed two because the soil around here was so sandy. He said if I could get 25 ohms with just one rod then go ahead but I want do everything better than needed. I used two 5/8" diameter 8' long galvanized rods spaced 6' apart and tied them together with #4 bare copper wire and then went right up to the load center with that same piece of copper wire.

I think I mentioned earlier that I really wanted to tie my house into this same meter so I wouldn't have two separate meters on the property. After talking to the electrical inspector (he liked the idea too) I decided to try once again to talk the power company into letting me do this. The inspector approved what I had already done and put his sticker on the meter box. He said he would hold off calling in the approval for the power company to come out and hook up the meter until I told him wether or not I was going to be able to change things around and hook the house up to this meter. I took a whole week to get another denial from the power company so I tried calling the electrical inspector to have him go ahead and call in the approval. His answering machine said that he was on vacation until 6/30 so I went down to the township offices to see if he left the paperwork there and see if maybe they could call in the approval. As soon as I mentioned the inspectors name to the two ladies in the office one of them started to cry. While the inspector was down in Florida with his whole family on vacation he passed away. Aparantly he was a well liked man and I can see why. I only met him the one time but it was a pleasant experience. I told him what my plans were and asked him a few questions and he gave me some tips, not once did he try to make me feel inferior because I was just a homeowner and not a real electrician. I've said a few prayers for him and his family.

The township did call in the approval and the power company is out there as I am typing. They needed to dig aproximately 5' from their transformer to the new meter panel and then feed it with 350mcm aluminum wire. I am fortunate that I got charged only 85 dollars for them to do this work. There is a "hand digging charge" of like 15 dollars a foot and some other misc. stuff on the bill.

I went out there and took a few photos of them working. Here is the first photo showing the trench they dug from their transformer over to the meter panel.

 

[Spencer]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

You may have noticed the shovel in the last photo. When I paid the 15 dollars per foot for a "hand digging charge" I thought a shovel is what they would use.

These guys seem to be a lot like us, even though it was only 5 feet they didn't use a shovel.

See attachment

 

[Spencer]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

Here is a picture of the inside of that transformer. Maybe Inspector507 or somebody can tell us what we are looking at.

 

[WVBill]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

Now THAT is the "Swiss Army Knife" of compact tractors! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Inspector507]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

Spencer,
The inspector was correct in saying if you got 25 ohms or less on your grounding electrode, you could forgo installing a secondary electrode. Most people find it easier to install the second one instead of trying to loacte a ground reference tester.
What you are seeing in the transformer is.....on the left hand side in the middle labeled H1A, is the "high voltage" primarycable coming in and terminating. Above that, in the top left corner is a fuse protecting the transformer. Most times depending on the load, they are a 15 Amp fuse.
On the right hand side are the secondaries where your new meter will connect to. The lowest terminals on the right hand side are the neutrals or grounded conductor terminations. Notice they are not insulated and not a shock hazard for the most part. I can see that 2 buildings or structures are already connected to that transformer.
These transformers are usually oil filled to aid in cooling of the windings inside.

 

[Spencer]

Re: Spencer\'s Pole Barn Project

As you can see in this picture, my current driveway didn't give me a straight shot into the pole barn. I wanted to correct this now before I trenched in the power lines that will feed the pole barn. I had to be careful around the cable tv pedestal that you see in the picture. This is on my property but it only feeds my neighbors house. I convinced the cable company to move it over into the joint easement area and get if off my property. They came out last week and did the directional boring to run the new cable but have yet to move the pedestal. So I had to be very careful working around the pedestal and the buried cable.