Hello everyone! This is my first time on the forums, but I decided to join as I'm in the midst of rewiring an old home I bought and have some questions.

We are relocating the main panel and service drop location from a closet in the bedroom to the exterior garage wall. In this process we are also rewiring the entire house with new wires, adding circuits, and increasing the service from 100A to 200A.

I did have a few questions about the entire process as I am not a certified electrician but have spent hours learning the codes and speaking with my local building department when clarification was needed. Our CSED is a semi flush mounted and all wires/conduit is ran inside the wall. I am uncertain if the conduit from the service weather head on the roof needs to be ran all the way to the box, or if it stops somewhere inside the wall and the wire just continues down to the panel and is secured with a NM Screw Clamp Connector. Otherwise, how do I properly run my 4/0 Aluminum wires from the weather head to the CSED securely? Can the 2" conduit be Sch. 40 PCV or does it have to be EMT?

Another question pertains to a 200A subpanel that will be fed via the feeder lugs in the CSED. How do you secure the cables entering and leaving the panels? Do you use a Screw Clamp or is there some special adapter that is meant to be used? I do not plan on running these wires in conduit as its only 12' away and there just isn't any need as it will be secured and hidden in the ceiling of the garage.

Any help and input is GREATLY appreciated. I plan on asking my contact in the building department soon for another barrage of questions, but did want to get feedback from this forum! If all goes well you may see me around more!

 

Welcome to the forums.

CSED = combination service entry device.

Are you saying it's built into the outside of the wall ?
Normally/usually/typically..... unfused service wiring is not run inside a wall from the service head. Here.... the combo unit is mounted on the outside wall and the service/mast is exposed up to the head.

Have you discussed your needs with the power company. They don't normally move a service unless it's been approved. They also usually won't connect it without an inspectors cut-in tag.

 

Cables can be sleeved. Individual conductors need a complete conduit system.

Unfused conductors or cables should not be in the wall.

is the conduit a riser or a mast?

 

Yes, it is a CSED that is semi-flush mount. Here is a link to it.

I have already spoken with both the city and the electric company and have gotten approval with the move. Was also told that I could install the semi-flush CSED as long as it was properly flashed and protected from water infiltration, something I have knowledge on how to do.

The way we plan on installing it is similar to that of any stucco home that has the CSED flush mounted with the wall.

 

So for example, can I purchase my three 4/0 wires and run them individually to the subpanel from the CSED or do I have to use the SER 4/0 triplex that has that grey sheathing that covers all the wires inside?

You say unfused cables should not be in the wall, but what is the issue? Nearly all stucco homes have flush mount panels with the service entry being fed down the wall. I used to live in a home just like that.

Also, what would the difference be? I plan on carrying the conduit from the CSED, along the stud, through the top plate, and up to the roof where I will attach the boot for the roof alongside the weather head.

 

You would need 4 conductors to the inside panel. They can be in conduit or a cable. They cannot be run free in the wall.

The limit on unfused conductors are to limit the chance of fire. Fused conductors should not overheat before the breaker trips.

The flush mount panel and conduit would not be allowed here. It is a code violation .

 

Usually the service is installed and then the stucco is done. Technically the service is not inside the wall. It's on the outside of the sheathing and the stucco is covering it. That's different. That type of service is usually pipe. Actual service cable isn't supposed to be encapsulated in stucco although I've seen it done many times.