Hello, I am going to build a new house soon and I have a question for everyone. The way my house is situated and where the meter is going to be I am wanting to run from the meter base to the panel which means going through the foundation 2 times. 1st time to get under the garage pad and 2nd time to get into the mechanical room where my panel will be. Is there a risk of ground water seeping into the house. I was planing to go through the foundation right into the back of the panel.

Use a link-seal around the conduit penetration if you're concerned.
Those things work great...and you can repair/replace them in the future if they ever fail.

If you wish for this installation to pass code. You cannot enter directly into the back of the panel when through the basement foundation wall.

Yes you are correct. I seen that in section 6 after I posted the question. I think I should pop up through the garage floor then LB into the mechanical room through the foundation. I haven't done alot of services....in fact mabey 3 in my career. Should I ground the neutral in the meter base or at the panel? Am I required to pull a bond wire between the meter base and panel?

Ask me an industrial installation question or programming question and I'm ggod to go. Residential services....I need brushing up on!

Ground the neutral at the panel. As far as I know, only Brantford requires a bond between mb and panel. Check with your local ESA.

Popping up through the garage floor is not a good idea.

The preferred way is to run your pipe in the garage floor through the wall as you originally intended. Then where the pipe enters the basement, put an LB sideways and put your panel to the left or right of the LB, not directly below!! Be sure to drill two small weeper holes and seal the LB with duct seal.

The purpose of the LB is to catch/stop any water from entering the panel.

A meter is not a disconnect,unless a MB type. Then the house panel is a sub.

Thats what I would like to do. I am just worried about water seeping in between my 2" PVC and foundation. Then again the soil under the garage SHOULD be dry all the time. Has anyone had a seepage of water from this method of installation? Also, what is the common wire used now for services on a 200Amp underground? 250MCM TWU75 Alluminum? Am I allowed to have my ground plate buried under the garage pad?

4/0 Al for a 200 amp service? Can you give me a code reference for this one. I know of the 5% rule but 4/O doesn't fall within 5%. I am sure your correct as you have probably done 10 times more residential services than I. I just want to know how we are allowed to use 4/O on a 200 amp service.
I guess this is what happens after 6 years when you leave construction and go work in the plants. You forget things! It is all coming back to me though!

Table 4 of your code book. See the double star ** beside the 185? See the footnote. You can also use 2 ot copper!

3/0 Rw90 or T90 and #3 white or bare for Natural and 2" pvc

Would u pls tell me the details of this rules cause I searched the code by the keyword of "foundation wall" and got no rule between the service box and the foundation wall.

And I found a pic in the book "Electrical Code Simplified - Ontario Book 1 - Based on the 23rd Edition". The only diffrence in the pic is the wall behind the panel is not a foundation wall.

[img] http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...v1sRgCPX-m_itnqb-kQE&feat=directlink [/img]

So now I'm realy confused.

Thanks advance.

I believe this code was brought out in a ESA bulletin and will be showing up in the 2009 code book which takes effect on May 1, 2009


edit : Er, I see you are from Quebec. We are talking ONTARIO electrical code, which we are governed by, not CANADIAN electrical code.

I believe Ontario Code 6-300(3)(b) covers some of it.

I don't have Ontario Code. I'm just curious if there is any difference between it and Quebec's as follow:

"6-300 Underground Consumer’s Services
...
(3) Raceways entering a building and forming part of an underground service shall be sealed and shall:
(a) Enter the building above ground where practicable; or
(b) Be suitably drained; or
(c) Be installed in such a way that moisture and gas will not enter the building.
..."

It is the same rule word for word, the Ontario Code book is just the Canadian Electrical Code with some changes,additions and deletions, you should talk to your Inspector to find out what his/her requirements are. I know in this area they prefer that you come up out of the ground and enter the house above grade with an LB. Go here and try 6-300 in the search area, be aware these are Ontario rules. http://www.esasafe.com/faqs.htm

It says "where practicable". That means it could be allowed to enter below grade in certain conditions.

obviously the intent is to prevent the raceway from becoming a source of water and corrosion in the panel. By not allowing the raceway from entering the panel directly from underground it adds a fitting to permit draining any condensate away from the panel. In BC we encourage contractors to mount meters outside the wall so the underground raceway enters outside the wall. this does a lot to prevent water from entering panels as any water would drain from the meter base outside the wall. Cables like teck or AC90 should be more immune from transporting water from outside to inside but I have seen water go down a cable too. In terms of what is required to avoid water entry where a raceway goes through a wall underground. Each site has it's own solution and if you have a challenge a discussion with your inspector might save time and money.