Service Drop

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I have a meter/2breaker panel, as shown in the 'wire snafu' post. It appears to have #2 copper cable for the weather-head, does this mean it is a 125 amp drop?I would like the well (pump) house/quonset hut service drop to feed a 15amp circuit to the well house and a 125-100amp circuit to the new sub.The well house 15amp circuit will have pump/2lights/1receptacle. Will #4 work to carry power to a 100 amp plug? If there is no such beast, I was just going to wire in a cutoff box to feed new welder.Not sure if 'cutoff-box' is what they are called but I am thinking about something along the lines of what are used with H20 heaters-only bigger ampacity. Also I think the well house is supposed to have one too, or is the circuit breaker at the service drop good enough?Thanks in advance wiring knowledgeable."after a long day of doing nothing...its gooood to kick back" Pumbaa
Reply:According to the magic sliderule, #2 copper will carry 115 amps.Before you consider upgrading the service, put an amprobe on it and determine what the house is actually drawing.The switch you're talking about is called a disconnect.  The only thing that approaches a 100 amp plug would be a mobil home plug, or a Pile National pin plug.Appreciation Gains You Recognition-
Reply:Its late and I am not really up on the curve after painting all night, but is what you are saying is that there is not one main but 2 breakers in the panel acting as mains?  Number 2 can supply a 125 A service as there is no 115A breaker so on entrance you are allowed to go to next size which would be 125.  If your entrance is to a main lug panel,, which is what I think you are saying it becomes a calculation,, its really more for the proffessional electrician in the sense that it could become overloaded as there is the possibility of installing 2 125A breakers in this panel.   It becomes a thing where there is "known possible loads". I dont much care for this setup in residential as it does leave some possibility for screwups.  I doubt this helps much,,, but maybe someone can elaborate further.  Franz has a point that the avg service doesnt draw as much as one might think.  My personal thing would be to do an upgrade where 1 200A breaker kills the whole place.  Only a couple occasions have I ever seen a residential overloaded and those were on 60 fuses with all electric appliances.  I have a bud with garage and house and still has 60A,, still works fine.Last edited by Sberry; 03-01-2004 at 01:48 AM.
Reply:Franz & Sberry, this picture shows the meter base. It is the same meter/breaker box shown in the thread about the wasps and poor wiring practices I posted "wiring sanfu's".The property has two service entrances, 1 meter base is located at the front of the Quonset hut building [feeds house only]. 2nd meter base is this one .They both have there own service drop from the transformer. Talking with previous owner "they wont let you have well (submersible pump) and house on same entrance"What I do know is they have combination meter/breaker boxes that do have a seperate 'well' breaker...But this is what I am working with for now. Sounds like they are just 100amp service drops.This one shown has two breaker slots-so yes I could overload it but that is not my intention. I am re-wiring from this point (meter) to get everything- well (pump house) and garage (quonset hut) up to snuff.When I first took over the property I changed the breaker feeding the well, from a 30 amp to 15 amp breaker- no tripping.I do not know for certain the hp of the pump, but seeing what the previous owner did- I would bet it is a minimum rated one, guessing 1/2 hp. The wiring in the quonset hut is very jerry-rigged and I am redoing it.Loads for the well house(shed), will be a couple of lights/pump. I also want to install a plug (outdoor) at the meter/box. All of these I want to run off of (1) 15amp breaker, which would be in the meter/box.The second breaker slot in the meter/box would feed the subpanel which will be located in the Quonset hut. I would like to use a 125 amp breaker, but I can live with a 100amp breaker.These same two breakers would be the 'main' shut-offs.The largest power draw in the quonset hut will be a Precision tig 275. Ideally having 125amps to draw on, again I am 99% certain that I will not be tig welding anything that would require this much power- but since I am going to the trouble of re-doing everything I was just planning on going big with the wires. I do not really want to waste $$ at this time on a new 200amp service drop- even if the transformer will support this as I have future plans on a shop with straight walls that will be getting the most power I can squeeze out've Sierra Pacific Power. It would be nice to have 3-phase, but it would be more realistic to just buy a giant diesel generator But I will be gunning to get 460 single phase at the bare minimum.This post is lengthy, but you fellas have a wealth of information on this particular topic and I do make an effort to "learn something everyday" Attached ImagesLast edited by Planet X; 03-01-2004 at 02:16 AM."after a long day of doing nothing...its gooood to kick back" Pumbaa
Reply:I don't know where you are, but if it's the same power company I know by that name, you're lucky to have ANY power!  (Northern California/Nevada border?)Check with your local buliding department and find out what the code requires before you start spending your $$.  They are usually very helpfull.  Where I am, you have to have a main disconnect that can be opened in one operation and kills all power downstream from the service.  It's usually a single handle or "ganged" breaker.Be safe and be well.hankj
Reply:Originally posted by hankj I don't know where you are, but if it's the same power company I know by that name, you're lucky to have ANY power!  (Northern California/Nevada border?)Hankj
Reply:Now I've seen some damn fool regulations from power providers, but a seperate meter for a well pump os flat insane.  Of course, my Baby Enron would love it, since they charge $22- a month for the meter, so I ain't tellin em.BTW, 460 volt rarely exists as single phase, so don't bother asking for it.  Follow the primarys going from your transformer, and see how far you have to go before there are 3 hot primarys and a neutral.  That will determine how close the 3 phase is to your location.  If it's more than 3 poles, you'll probably be better off making your own 3 phase either with a converter or a generator.The pic you posted is only of a meter socket, but with 3 conduits leaving it, it appears to serve 2 seperate panels.Also, your chances of getting a 125 amp breaker in anything other than a main are somewhat limited unless you're using industrial breakers.  Getting a 100 amp might be problematical as well, so do some checking before you comitt to a panel.Appreciation Gains You Recognition-
Reply:QO has a 125 and you can get 100's in all of them.  You an actually use a main lug panel without main as entrance provided it has no more than 6 spaces. I suspect that setup uses the unlimited tap rule for entrance.  It is tough tto explain,, but here is a site that might help some.  It has examples including detatched garages.http://www.homewiringandmore.com/hom...002/index.html