# Milbank



## chenley (Feb 20, 2007)

Went to a job site this morning expecting to see the POCO trenching and laying in pipe for an underground service. I get there and one of the linemen and the shop foreman is standing there staring at the service. I walk up and the lineman asks me if I see anything wrong about the service. I pull the cardboard cutout off the meter lay-in and . Milbank had wired it in from the line side of the meter to the main breaker. Went to my distributor and we called them up. They are paying for all the material and man hours to fix this goof up, took my time with it :thumbup:. Learned to start checking the factory wiring on services today. Here's a pic:










Here's what I think happened. This is a service made for an underground feed, all I can think is they pulled the box and installed a meterbase for an overhead feed. That's just my guess though. Just hoping things go better tomorrow with everything.


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## randomkiller (Sep 28, 2007)

Wow, a manufacturer that admits mistakes, that's rare.


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

http://www.code-elec.com/userimages/WHEREKBM.WAV​


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## chenley (Feb 20, 2007)

All fixed up line inspector was there this morning and gave it his green seal of approval. Milbank is going to send materials, stuff our distributor asks for, then our distributor is going to knock it off our bill. 

The Milbank rep we talked to didn't even know there was wire in the meterbases w/ disconnects. They didn't ask for pictures or anything which kinda surprises me, I was expecting an argument. 

Love the sound byte 480 :laughing:


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## gilbequick (Oct 6, 2007)

In all honesty even with your explanation I still don't understand what's wrong. Is the small gauge white wire supposed to be on the poco side?


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## chenley (Feb 20, 2007)

gilbequick said:


> In all honesty even with your explanation I still don't understand what's wrong. Is the small gauge white wire supposed to be on the poco side?


The Wires at the top of the meter lay-in are connected to the line side of the meter and going to the main breaker next to it. The POCO would have to connect their lines to the load side of the meter. Line inspector said it would make the meter spin backwards (not sure if he was kidding or not). Told him the easiest fix would be to unmount the meter lay-in and turn it upside down. Then I realized the would make the meter upside down also. :laughing:

Here's a picture of the meterbase and main


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## gilbequick (Oct 6, 2007)

Well how about that! Since it's all already mounted, are they just going to send out the wire so you can rewire it, and compensate you for your time?


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## chenley (Feb 20, 2007)

Yeah, compensating for time and material. Just have to bill my distributor and they will take care of the rest.


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## MF Dagger (Dec 24, 2007)

They will spin backwards.


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

Why didn't the installing Electrician notice this? Also it appears thhat there are two conductors in the meter mains. Are the lugs listed for two wires?


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## chenley (Feb 20, 2007)

bobelectric said:


> Why didn't the installing Electrician notice this? Also it appears thhat there are two conductors in the meter mains. Are the lugs listed for two wires?


I didn't even think to look , since the meterbase is for underground feed it seemed to be wired correctly. The line inspector only noticed because of the lay-in for the meter. I'll definitely be checking them from now on. 

If I remember correctly the lugs are rated for 2-250's.


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## JohnJ0906 (Jan 22, 2007)

chenley said:


> I didn't even think to look , since the meterbase is for underground feed it seemed to be wired correctly. The line inspector only noticed because of the lay-in for the meter. I'll definitely be checking them from now on.
> 
> If I remember correctly the lugs are rated for 2-250's.


The bottom (unused ) lugs look like they are rated for 2 conductors.


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## kbsparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Those wires appear to be bent tighter than the bending radius allowable by the _Code_


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## chenley (Feb 20, 2007)

kbsparky said:


> Those wires appear to be bent tighter than the bending radius allowable by the _Code_


I was thinking the same thing when I first received it. The only other times I've seen wires bent 90 degrees like that was in motor control cabinets. When I re-wired it I bent them correctly. Figured with the original bends the conductors would heat up at the 90's.


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## Cow (Jan 16, 2008)

kbsparky said:


> Those wires appear to be bent tighter than the bending radius allowable by the _Code_


Does the code have any authority over listed equipment?


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