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g/electrical • Posted by u/three_phase_phil •

First 400A underground service lateral — how'd I do?

Journeyman finally let me run point on a 400A underground service install this week. 240V single phase, 350kcmil aluminum in 3" rigid PVC, 65-foot run from the pad transformer to the meter base.

Used a Greenlee cable tugger for the pull — 350kcmil is no joke. Three conductors plus a 4/0 ground. The trench is 24" below grade per NEC 300.5.

Inspection is Thursday. Nervous but I think I got it right. Open to critique.

💬 4 replies

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u/sparky420 •

Good work for a first lateral. One thing to verify before inspection — NEC 230.32 requires you to identify the service entrance conductors at each end. Tag them as "Service Entrance Conductors — do not splice" at both the transformer and the meter base.

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u/admin_jake ADMIN •

Ground rod placement looks good in the pic. Make sure the inspection tag from the utility is hanging on the meter can before the inspector shows up — some utilities want that before they'll do a second look.

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u/conduit_king •

Looks solid from here. What radius are the sweeps at the transformer pad? On 350kcmil you want 36" minimum or you're fighting the cable the whole pull.

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u/panel_pete •

The work looks good. Take notes on this install — every underground service has its own lessons. 65 feet and 350kcmil is the kind of pull you'll talk about at the apprentice meeting.

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