ECN Electrical Forum - Discussion Forums for Electricians, Inspectors and Related Professionals
ECN Shout Chat
ShoutChat
Recent Posts
Increasing demand factors in residential
by gfretwell - 03/28/24 12:43 AM
Portable generator question
by Steve Miller - 03/19/24 08:50 PM
Do we need grounding?
by NORCAL - 03/19/24 05:11 PM
240V only in a home and NEC?
by dsk - 03/19/24 06:33 AM
Cordless Tools: The Obvious Question
by renosteinke - 03/14/24 08:05 PM
New in the Gallery:
This is a new one
This is a new one
by timmp, September 24
Few pics I found
Few pics I found
by timmp, August 15
Who's Online Now
1 members (gfretwell), 32 guests, and 14 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 136
C
cgw Offline OP
Member
Can a larger than 50 amp circuit be run for pole mounted HID lighting with fuses at the poles?
Is there a practical limit to the size of wire or circuit size run in a 3 phase circuit to poles? 208 volt (voltage drop needs to be taken into account also)
Actually I am looking at a car dealership which has a higher wattage in a smaller area than a typical parking lot.

Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 109
L
Member
We did this in casino parking lots, no problems. Rod

Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,391
I
Moderator
In my opinion if you are talking about putting more than 40 amps of continuous load on a site lighting circuit @ 208 volts and you want to keep voltage drop within reason the wire size will get out of control.

Of course this will largely depend on distance.

IMO, running more circuits with less load will be more efficient cost wise.

Say you end up needing 2 AWG for your circuits, now you end up with raceways that will not fit in the poles so you need hand holes in the ground beside the poles. Then the time and matrial for splicing the larger conductors.

By using more circuits if there is a fault you do not darken the entire parking lot.

I would look into kicking the voltage up to 480 for the site lighting, voltage drop and circuit loading problems are greatly reduced.

Bob


Bob Badger
Construction & Maintenance Electrician
Massachusetts
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 38
D
Member
Don't forget about ambient temperature as this affects voltage drop as much as distance. Not to be a commerical, but try Volts' Series Voltage Drop module.


Dolphins Software
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 335
S
Member
Is 277/480 available? We run at least 277 and often 480 to our school parking lots. Makes the wiring real easy to handle.


Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5