opinions? parallel 1/0 or 300 copper

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wyreman

Senior Member
Location
SF CA USA
Occupation
electrical contractor

now that i'm retired i work mostly alone =)
but i have to wrestle
275 calculated amps about 35 feet thru three sweeps
standing in a snorkel basket

I have a feeling it is nice and easier to run 300 copper.
If I want it to go real smooth I could use a 2/5" periscope but that is alot to wrestle

300mcm or parallel 1/0?
in one pipe or two??
upsize for single pipe?
sweep or mogul
  1. Single pipe run in 2'' [fill 33%] with either 1/0 or 300 Cu
    • Or Parallel 1-1/4” pipe runs instead in one pipe [fill 33%]
      • or two keeping em grouped
  2. mogul LBs or sweeps?
  3. could even strip the neutral with the 300 to reduce the fill in the 2" RMC if needed
opinions?


snork.png

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Screen Shot 2020-08-19 at 8.31.29 AM.png Screen Shot 2020-08-19 at 8.30.09 AM.png
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
Just looking at the picture, and guessing the meter base will have single lugs, I would use one conduit with one set of wires.

Despite three elbows, it's a short run, and pulling from the weatherhead down to the meter base will allow gravity to help.
 

wyreman

Senior Member
Location
SF CA USA
Occupation
electrical contractor
yep, thats right, it came with single lugs
I'll bend the first one and you would sweep the other two?
I think the mogul LBs would look better on the house, but the 300s might be hard to push thru LBs
thanks Larry!
 

mikeames

Senior Member
Location
Germantown MD
Occupation
Teacher - Master Electrician - 2017 NEC
Will you have a bucket truck to feed conductors from top? If not and doing this as a one man job, this is where I might violate code and assemble the conduit as I install the conductors. I would do the horizontal section first, then add sweeps and last legs. Call me a hack. If I had the bucket truck, a puller and a helper I would pull it in from top and feed from bottom. If no puller then as Larry said pull from bottom and feed from top. I would do one set of conductors so I didn't have to worry about lugs.
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I was thinking use regular elbows, no LBs.

And, why three bends? I only see two. A weatherhead needs no bend.
 

wyreman

Senior Member
Location
SF CA USA
Occupation
electrical contractor
theres really no place to put the periscope that isn't too close to an openable window.

I was going to stub out so that he can attach to the stub and keep 36"
 

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
There are a couple of legal options:

1. Extend the riser above the openable window section.

2. Screw the window shut (long enough for inspection).
 

Eddie702

Licensed Electrician
Location
Western Massachusetts
Occupation
Electrician

now that i'm retired i work mostly alone =)
but i have to wrestle
275 calculated amps about 35 feet thru three sweeps
standing in a snorkel basket

I have a feeling it is nice and easier to run 300 copper.
If I want it to go real smooth I could use a 2/5" periscope but that is alot to wrestle

300mcm or parallel 1/0?
in one pipe or two??
upsize for single pipe?
sweep or mogul
  1. Single pipe run in 2'' [fill 33%] with either 1/0 or 300 Cu
    • Or Parallel 1-1/4” pipe runs instead in one pipe [fill 33%]
      • or two keeping em grouped
  2. mogul LBs or sweeps?
  3. could even strip the neutral with the 300 to reduce the fill in the 2" RMC if needed
opinions?


View attachment 2553282

View attachment 2553283
View attachment 2553284 View attachment 2553285
This doesn't sound like retired to me LOL.

Looks pretty tough. What about assembling the whole works conduit with wire in it and hoisting the whole works up there??
 

curt swartz

Electrical Contractor - San Jose, CA
Location
San Jose, CA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
I really hope you are not going to bend the rigid conduit with a rebar bender. Good luck getting anything through the bends.
 

qcroanoke

Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
Location
Roanoke, VA.
Occupation
Sorta retired........
Just looking at the picture, and guessing the meter base will have single lugs, I would use one conduit with one set of wires.

Despite three elbows, it's a short run, and pulling from the weatherhead down to the meter base will allow gravity to help.
But you've got to get the wire up to the weather head too.
Either way calls for at least 1 helper to pull and another to hold it up for you to push it down the mast.
2 helpers could do it plus you and make it easier on everyone.
 

wyreman

Senior Member
Location
SF CA USA
Occupation
electrical contractor
all good!
location: only in california =)

so the slope there is 10% and no snorkle will park and raise,
nobody rents a 30' boom,
they do rent a crane, but

so I either have to build a platform with cribbing for the snork
or...

I am thinking to create a hoist anchor point from the roof
and a small platform that gives me 7+ feet to set the 24' ladder on those porches
Then build the riser with the sweep into a threadless compression fitting

Hang the pipe from the hoist and then fit it to the compression fitting down there and the strut on the wall.

The wire can also be raised by the hoist, draping the belly over some webbing
Of course it is good to have two helpers.

I used to do alot of field engineering when i was a kid,
My boss was a civil engineer in the shipyards
we were always building cranes and levers.

So the question is: rigging
the best way to rig the pipe and
rig the wire to be able to hoist it.
My plan is to drill a 1/4 or 3/8 hole thru the rigid coupling , use some removeable threadlocker
and put a bolt in thru the coupling for a handle
Hoist it up by the bolt its only 12 feet or so
After its all secured, then the rigid coupling can be removed

As for the wire, again, hoist in with webbing from about the midpoint and slide it in there with lots of soap
 
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