Meter conductors crossing

scott1590

New User
Location
CT
Occupation
Electrician
Is there a specific code prohibiting line and load (protected and unprotected) conductors from crossing in a meter socket? The local utility says this is against code, but I can't find a code that says it's not allowed.
 

infinity

Moderator
Staff member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Journeyman Electrician
POCO's don't follow the NEC. If they did they will not find anything to prohibit crossing them in the meter pan.
 

rc/retired

Senior Member
Location
Bellvue, Colorado
Occupation
Master Electrician/Inspector retired
POCO's don't follow the NEC. If they did they will not find anything to prohibit crossing them in the meter pan.
Unless I'm missing something, how can you not have line and load conductors in the meter pan?
Even a meter/main combo would still have "protected and unprotected" conductors in the same can. Although in the combo there is a barrier.

Ron
 

rc/retired

Senior Member
Location
Bellvue, Colorado
Occupation
Master Electrician/Inspector retired
Is there a specific code prohibiting line and load (protected and unprotected) conductors from crossing in a meter socket? The local utility says this is against code, but I can't find a code that says it's not allowed.
The OP mentions protected and unprotected. Truth be told, I don't know what is meant by crossing.

Ron
 

jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
You can't have Service Conductors and Feeder Conductors in the same raceway if that's what he's getting at.

The old up and down pole services are now a thing of the past.

JAP>
 

jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
There's a ton of old services out there where they ran the Service Conductors down the mast to the line side of the meter with a Fused Disconnect below and run the feeder conductors from the fused disconnect back up and out the same mast.

JAP>
 

jap

Senior Member
Occupation
Electrician
Well if you're talking about "protected" and "unprotected" conductors crossing in a meter base, I would think you would have to be talking about service and feeder conductors in the same raceway.

In a meter base, nothing about line and load changes a conductor from being unprotected to protected.

If that were the case, I would have thought the OP would have left out the "protected" an "unprotected" part, and, simply asked if the conductors in a meter base could cross each other.

Oh well,,

JAP>
 
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