Electrician

[Mark_FTL]

I need someone to set up "temporary" service (their term, not mine). Appearantly the PSNH doesn't do this. The wires are now hanging about half way down a pole on my property and needs to be run about 200-250 feet. After I get that done PSNH will come out and put in a meter. I really need this done quickly.

[Beth221]

why wont they do it??  because its your property?  those butt holes! 

tell wifey I say HI

[Dan]

I heard you can fly a kite in the rain and try to make the connection that way.

[Mark_FTL]

You two are a hell of alot of help 

[Beth221]

hehe, were here all week!!

well how can we help, we are still in NH, DAN!!

I looked at a nice place in Weare, its Beth approved, plenty of room for jello wrestling!

[Dreepa]

hehe, were here all week!!

well how can we help, we are still in NH, DAN!!

I looked at a nice place in Weare, its Beth approved, plenty of room for jello wrestling!

Where?

[Beth221]

i forgot what town, but he is one of those keene folks! 

Mark, when can we go mountain climbing again?  before the snow?  got any time before thanksgiving?  Daisy misses you!

are your lines going to go underground?

[Mark_FTL]

above ground I guess.

I don't know. My time is wrapped up with the house right now.

[Dreepa]

i forgot what town, but he is one of those keene folks! 

Beth.. my where question was for you.. not Mark.

Weare... Where... No Where or UnderWeare... 

[Beth221]

i see that now!! 

i read too fast! 

Weare!  it was a neat place, i got really lost getting there, nice country road!

[mvpel]

Mark, I've got some experience in this respect, having done it when I added a garage to my home in Ann Arbor.  Not quite the same distance, nor the same subsurface conditions ("'ledge?' what's 'ledge?'), but the same basic concept.

We rented a Ditch Witch - a tractor with a big dirt chain saw on the back.



We got the big one to dig the footings for the foundation walls, so it was a little over-sized for the utility trench, to say the least.

Service entrance laterals, when buried without conduit, need to be at least 24" below grade, with type "USE" conductors, marked 12 inches above with a warning ribbon.  Section 230.49 of the National Electric Code applies here - when the utility installs service laterals, which is more common, they go by the National Electric Safety Code, which is apparently slightly different in some situations.

Inside rigid or intermediate metal conduit, it can be as little as 6" below ground - I suppose that's what they do here when they hit ledge.  For nonmetallic conduit, it's at least 18" deep.  All this is from Table 300.5 of the NEC.

There's a number of clearance requirements for above-ground service entrance conductors - at least 10' above sidewalks, 12 feet above driveways, 10' above any fence-top, and 18' above a road.  Also, at least 3 feet from any window unless above the top level of a window, and 10' from the service entrance mast drip loop to the finish grade.  Two hundred feet would probably be too long for a single shot without installing intermediate supporting poles, so it may well be that going under would be easier, depending on the lay of the land.

As for this line, is it going to go to the main panel of your home, or is it a "temporary" construction-site service on some sort of campsite-like pedestal that will be dismantled once everything's done?

[Roycerson]

If you think you might put in a pool or Hot Tub sometime then you should bury it around where it would go now.  Or else you'll have to move it.  Not wise to have a power line over your pool, against codes too.  Will be more expensive to bury later. 

You can rent a smaller ditch witch that you walk behind and will got 24" inches down.  Then you have to think about fence posts though.  a 6 ft fence post should have 24" below ground.  You don't want to hit that power line with an auger when you put up your privacy fence.  I recommend the large tractor type ditchwitch and 36" depth for this reason.

Oh.... and don't bury without w/o conduit no matter the depth.  Sure you CAN but the added expense is small relative to the cost of your project.  Better safe than sorry.