ECN Forum Forums Code Related Discussion NEC & other Code issues SEC in raceway?

hi,
i was thinking that it was legal to run SEC from the meter base to the loadcenter without a raceway? i installed a 100A service and ran SEC from the meter base to the loadcenter. the cable has less than 12 inches between the meter base and the loadcenter and will be behind a wall.

why would an inspector want it in a raceway? for protection?

i have used a lot of SEC and NEVER put it in a raceway? is this something new for 02? i saw that uninsulated grounded conductors must be in a wireway or something like that but a SEC is a cable assembly...

thanks

frodo

frodo;
you mean SEU ? , wellllll, the pipe size would need to come from the 'elliptical' or greater diameter....better to single conductor it.

BTW,
the poco here energized SEU in 150' of pvc for a UG 200A service.......

guitars&caddillacs,hillbillymuuuuusic...

As long as you mean a cable and not the triplex individual conductors of course it is legal, that is what the stuff is made for. If is subject to physical damage it must be protected. It sounds like in your case it is fine.

hi,
yes i mean SE CABLE. two insulated, one bare wrapped around the other two conductors enclosed in a sheath that is gray. i have used the stuff since the early eighties. i like it because it is flexible and really easy to install. you do have to consider though, that there is NO OPD except at the utility...thats going to be a large rating, you would not want anyone to get into that!

my inspector, indicated on my rough-in that the SEC needed to be in a raceway, so i am assuming he wants it for protection.

i will speak to him first thing to find out what he thinks.

i will probably end up with some kind of raceway...like al flex or something...it would be a job to get a raceway there now everything is installed!

thanks for the input

-regards

frodo

Frodo,

Do you think he is worried about it being too close to the inside or outside wall? I've wondered why more attention isn't given to that. Maybe he would allow you to slip in a piece of sheet metal behind/in front of it.

Bill

hi,
if it had been up to me i would have CONDEMNDED the old house. it was practically gutted by a fire..the insurance co. would not scrap it and hired a resoration co. to come back in and try to rebuild everything. the old house has wood siding that is covered by vinyl siding. the wood is so rotten that the nails are not holding the boards together, you can almost push your finger through it.

when i ran the riser for the service, i had to run bolts all the way through the wall then use fender washers on the inside to secure the thing. i knew the siding would never hold.

i am like you i was going to offer to put a metal plate on the interior side to protect the cable.

safety is my concern so i will put it in a raceway if i can get enough responses that agree that SEC cable should be protected even if not exposed...

thanks

-regards

frodo