I have I stalled a 200 Amp box in my house. I upgrade all the wiring and made it all beautiful. Then I realized my house only has a 125 amp meter base. So, I must upgrade. We bought a 200 Amp base and some 4/0 aluminum SE. We are have a very hard time manipulating the wire from the meter base through the side of the house directly into the panel. Hard to get it to do the bend.

My question: so many
1) what conduit.do do I put the 4/0 and what conduit.do can I use to help it bend.
2) above my meter up to the drop... do I need to run line up to the wire that comes in from the city?
3) do I need a meter disconnect if I am keepino my 4/0 distance under 3'
4) I have pictures if someone tells me how to post them.

I installed a new air handler, condenser, panel, wiring, and am getting stuck on this damn4/0... just do not like the look of it.

 

Welcome to the forums.

You sound like a homeowner. Has the power company disconnected their line from your service ?
Is this a permitted job ? (did you get a permit.... and if you didn't will the poco reconnect ?)

You should have a 2" nipple between your meter pan and the panel. It can be PVC or steel. If steel is used you must use bushings on the end of the nipple.
Of course. You need to install 200A service cable. It will have two hot wires and a stranded neutral.
No.
http://www.doityourself.com/forum/el...-pictures.html

 

Yes, I am homeowner. Power company did line drop for us already.
No it is not a licensed job. I have an HVAC buddy helping me.
The wire I run up the house the 200A line... how is that different than the 4/0? It would be like a 4/2 copper? Does lowes have it?

We were doing so great until we got to the damn meter box and the 4/0. Having so much trouble manipulating.


I can't add photos through mobile.

I have the 20 spaces 200A square d box
The 200 Amp meter base from lowes that was 165$
I am running 4/0 aluminum from outside to inside.
Dryer on dedicated 30 amp with 10/3 wire
Furnace heat strip on 8/3 40 amp
Condenser on 6/3 60 amp
Kitchen and bathroom on gfi 12/2 20 amp
Fridge by itself 12/2 20 amp
Everything else is on 14/2
Under 1000 Sq ft house.

 

If you are having trouble with the 4/0 SE aluminum you can use 2/0 SE copper instead for 200A service. You only need three conductor cable from meter to service panel. I assume you are not using a four conductor cable.

 

2/0 copper isn't necessarily a lot easier to work with.

Without pictures it's hard to tell what the problem is. Can you post them from a home computer?

 

Are you sure the power company is on board with this? I can't imagine they will light up a brand new service without approval from an inspector.

Did you upgrade your grounding system for the 200A service?

 

4/0 Al SEU cable isn't normally installed in conduit.

All you really need is 8-2.

All you really need is 6-2, but considering you have a 1000 sq ft house, I seriously doubt you need a 60 amp circuit at all. Probably more like a 25 or 30 amp circuit with 12-2.

 

Pictures would help greatly. The 4/0 can be bent before or after installing.

 

I don't have a lot of experience with large gauge cables, but they can be bent pretty easily by feeding the cable end through the hole at the end of a crescent wrench and using that as a lever to bend. You definitely need some mechanical advantage.

It's probably too late at this point, but you could downsize your main breaker from 200A to 125A and use the existing service. Main breakers aren't cheap, but it may make your project easier.