Attaching power line to my house (again)

15 years ago

I lived in a wooded area and it is common for tree limbs to knock down power lines. Twice, the Point-Of-Attachment has been ripped of the wood fascia board on my house.

I have an old solid brick house. Would you recommend have the Point-Of-Attachment be made to the brick or the wood. My concern with the brick is that if the line/pole is coming down that it may rip out the brick.

Are there brick attachments that include a weak break point that will break first before ripping out the brick.

The power company is re-attaching it to the same point (on the wood). I will have to get a different Point-Of-Attachment installed myself and then have then come and re-attach the power line to it.

Thanks,

Corey

Featured Answer

ontariojer

13 years ago

Smithy123, why would he want 3 phase? So he could replace all his 240v Appliances/systems? I have noticed questionable comments from you on other posts, but this one makes the least sense.

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Comments (28)

randy427
15 years ago
I would:
Investigate running the service cable underground from the last pole to the house
or
Make sure the trees are trimmed back from the power line and continue to mount the service cable to the wood facia or something else that will break away before the side of the house.
countryboymo
15 years ago
I wouldn't just investigate it, I would install the line underground from at least the last pole. I would contact the utility and first attempt to get them to run the high voltage to a pad mount transformer near the home and run your service underground from there. If they are not interested in that is when I would have a service dip off the pole and run it underground to your home.

It will probably cost you initially.. but it will save in repairs and damage to the home in the future. It will also increase the saleability of the home in appearance and selling point that the service is upgraded and underground. I would investigate if the service amperage needs to be upgraded as well, perfect time to do so. As a whole this is an investment that will pay for itself.
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efffourthirty
Original Author
15 years ago
I never considered running it underground - any idea on what the cost will be?

I have about 30-40 tress on my 1/2 acre lot and in this populated area, it common for us to lose power 10-12 times a year. The last time my line was ripped out was when a pole went down a block away stressing the lines attached to it - my immediate pole was still standing and I still had power even though the line was 2-feet off the ground.

FYI - the power company has re-attached it to the wood fascia - actually the last rather on the side of the house.
texasredhead
15 years ago
First of all, the service entrance should never be attached to the fascia of the house. There should be a schedule 40 conduit from the meter base extending 4 or 5 feet above the roof with a weather head with 2/0 cable from the meter base up through the mast for attachment to the line service. Our service provider was in our neighbor four months trimming trees away from power lines. Also, in our area, Dallas/Ft. Worth, if old service is attached to the facia of the home and a tree limb pulls it away from the house, they are required by code to upgrade to a mast.
pharkus
15 years ago
texasredhead, what you state varies a lot from one area to the next.

In my little section of rural Maine, it is common for a piece of SE to run from the top of the meter base, up the wall, to a weatherhead, attached to the side of the building - no mast. This is not only allowed, but typical.
brickeyee
15 years ago
"...they are required by code to upgrade to a mast."

The NEC doe NOT require a mast for power entry, and in fact has little say over it besides clearances since it is on the distribution side of the meter.

In some places (Virginia is one) the POCO supplies everything from the meter base up, and for years gave away the meter bases so they would all be the same.

New feeds in Virginia have been required to be underground for many years.
dboyd
13 years ago
here is a product that will help with you problem.it will work at the house or on the pole take a look at www'safe-break.com
brickeyee
13 years ago
"here is a product that will help with you problem.it will work at the house or on the pole take a look at www'safe-break.com"

The electrical connection is not the problem.

The splices from triplex to the weather-head rarely hold.

The problem is the bare triplex strength member (ACSR, Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced messenger) that is also the neutral.

It carries the weight of the cable run and needs to be solidly attached to the house, but not so solidly as to cause excessive damage if the cable is knocked down.
lbpod
13 years ago
The 'service wedge clamp', (which holds the ACSR bare neutral), is designed to break away, if the 'house knob' holds, but then the tree
limb will peel the SE cable from the side of the house,
and if it is not damaged, can be put right back up.
Tree trim is important. Around here, the POCO will not
come and trim for your service. They say it is cheaper
for them to come out and put it back up if it comes down.
So you'll have to provide your own tree trim. Rigid
conduit provides a whole new set of problems. There is no
perfect solution to this situation.
texasredhead
13 years ago
Local codes in the Dallas area, often exceed that of NEC. As I have noted before, smoke alarm installation in Dallas is regulated by the Fire Marshall. However, in many areas the power is carried through poles in the back of the property and the power is run under ground to the homes. In other areas, the entire power grid is underground. It has always made me wonder what NEC gets excited about and what it completly omits.
brickeyee
13 years ago
"It has always made me wonder what NEC gets excited about and what it completly omits."

The NEC has no authority over POCO distribution equipment.

The border line moves around slightly, but generally if it is metered it is no longer distribution equipment.

That is why there are NEC sections on larger transformers and high voltage, ovewrhead lines, etc. but they are NOT applicable for POCO distribution equipment & installations.

The POCOs have their own rules and standards.
bus_driver
13 years ago
Service drops as described can create problems in the house if they are knocked down by trees or portions thereof. As the tree comes down, the neutral/messenger breaks first and then the insulated conductors break next. The insulated conductors are not tensioned as installed and have slack in them. In the interval between the neutral/messenger breaking and the other conductors breaking, the residence has an open neutral. I know one case where significant damage occurred to electronic gear.
dboyd
13 years ago
the break away ring that it on the web page will stop the damage of the house. just get a 200# ring, the mast should hold 200# by the NEC standers. than all you have to do is put a new ring on and plug back in the connectors
brickeyee
13 years ago
"the mast should hold 200# by the NEC standers"

MANY installations do not use a mast.

The weather head is bolted directly to the structure and a separate attachment is used for the messenger.
texasredhead
13 years ago
There are a few service providers in Texas, however, Texas Utilities is the largest. But Oncor actually manages the electric grid. Many homes are grandfathered with lines attached to the house. IF a limb should fall and pull the lines away from the house, Oncor will not reattach the lines to the house. At that point you must hire your own electrician to install a new meter box and a mast extending at least 4ft. above the roof complete with three 2/0 leads extending from the weatherhead. At that point, Oncor will reatatch the lines from the pole to the weatherhead. They will not remount the meter as that is not their equipment.

I understand that standards vary in different parts of the country. A substantial part of our business is doing service upgrades which often involves removing service from the side of a house.
brickeyee
13 years ago
What an incredible rip off.

The only place you see a mast in Virginia (since the POCO has to maintain them after initial installation as distribution equipment) is when it is required for under the POCO distribution rules.
kalining
13 years ago
This forum is very specific to it's area. EVERY code is
differant. I've seen 15 answers to one question and are all differant. In my province EVERY service enterance HAS to be in a mast 4 feet above roof level. In the new housing developments all service is under ground and the panel cannot exceed 100 amps. Our codes.
brickeyee
13 years ago
"In the new housing developments all service is under ground and the panel cannot exceed 100 amps. "

You WILL save energy.

We are going to restrict your supply to make sure.
kalining
13 years ago
Is that anything like " You WILL win this olympic event or you will be shot " ? :) Actually i know canada is just like that. If you don't hear from me in the future you will
know i'm in jail for that comment. Probably not that bad yet but it's getting very close.
brickeyee
13 years ago
"Is that anything like " You WILL win this olympic event or you will be shot " ? :) Actually i know canada is just like that. If you don't hear from me in the future you will "

Sure starts to approach it.

The 100 amp limit will also save the POCO money in distribution equipment.

Is the POCO government owned / controlled?

You will be green.
If you like it or not.

We have decided you only need 100 amps.
kalining
13 years ago
Well kind of both. Privately owned but government managed and controled. The POCO has also bought out the gas comp.
and now are combined. That was a laugh riot. They used hydro inspectors for gas and used the gas inspectors for hydro. None of them had a clue. All installers and inspectors had to take a " Get together and get your stories straight course ". Some installers had to teach the
inspectors. It is so bad now that if the install whether
gas or hydro doesn't pass first inspection the installer
gets a $200.00 fine. If it fails the second time it's $500.00. If it fails again the installer looses their
licence and has to go back to school to get it back.
The 100 amp. panel they allow you to use has 64 circuits.
ontariojer
13 years ago
Umm, what province are you in?
kalining
13 years ago
Manitoba
ontariojer
13 years ago
Those are crazy rules! So do you get your license(masters I'm assuming you are talking about in the post) from your hydro, your city, or the province?
kalining
13 years ago
Comes from the province after 4 years of apprenticeship.
( 6400 hours )plus one year in trade school. you must pass the school's exam then the provincial exam. If you flunk the school exam you are out. You are allowed to rewite the provincial exam. You can then go back for interprovincial licence. there are 3 classes. Residential. That is all you are allowed to work on. Commercial and industrial. A commercial licence will allow you to work residential but
why would you want to ? Our H.V.A.C. residential is now
a licenced trade. You have to pull a permit to install the
unit and another permit to connect power. My B or F licence allows me to do both. You need to be a 3rd year
A.C. apprentice or a journyman residential installer. Two
differant licences for a residential A.C. install. There have been too many mistakes and screw ups. Even the commercial H.V.A.C. has now gone to a 5 year program. Again
too many mistakes and damage. The province labour board
stepped in. They were saying that of the 100 percent of
installers only 50 percent know what they are doing and 30
percent of those are no good. We have the strongest labour
and code laws and the strongest food inspection laws in canada.
smithy123
13 years ago
100a service? demand 3 phase.
smithy123
13 years ago
I was joking, ontariojer

Attaching power line to my house (again)

ontariojer

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