Electrical installation question - does this meet code?

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
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That's a pretty rough looking transformer vault. What's the primary voltage on the pig? (The lead feeding on the top)

Running UF over ground is also pretty bad unless temporary. :Q
 

Armitage

Banned
Feb 23, 2001
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Originally posted by: MS Dawn
That's a pretty rough looking transformer vault. What's the primary voltage on the pig? (The lead feeding on the top)

Running UF over ground is also pretty bad unless temporary. :Q

Yea - and what the hell is a transformer doing under what appears to be a residential patio to begin with??
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
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Originally posted by: Armitage

Yea - and what the hell is a transformer doing under what appears to be a residential patio to begin with??

It could be in a really bad neighborhood - the pig is wired in reverse stepping up 240VAC to 13.2kV or so and this power is used to charge a perimeter fence to keep the zombies out. :laugh:

 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
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Originally posted by: MS Dawn
That's a pretty rough looking transformer vault. What's the primary voltage on the pig? (The lead feeding on the top)

Running UF over ground is also pretty bad unless temporary. :Q

Primary drops into a conduit on the far side. It met code one day long ago in a land far from here, but at the very minimum needs to be secured with lock and key, and sealed/drained/roofed over to prevent a flooding event during high rain. IT would get exiting!
 

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
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Originally posted by: Armitage
Originally posted by: MS Dawn
That's a pretty rough looking transformer vault. What's the primary voltage on the pig? (The lead feeding on the top)

Running UF over ground is also pretty bad unless temporary. :Q

Yea - and what the hell is a transformer doing under what appears to be a residential patio to begin with??

It's a pump for drainage.

Aside from that part outside, I'd say it's to code, but I wouldn't walk away from a job done like that.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
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Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

It's a pump for drainage.

Aside from that part outside, I'd say it's to code, but I wouldn't walk away from a job done like that.

LOL that is definitely NOT a pump. It's a distribution transformer what lineman call a pole pig. They are typically seen bolted near the top of large poles about 35 feet above the ground and range in capacity from 5 to 100 kVA, 7.5kV~16kV primary, 120/240 secondary single ?

 

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
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Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth

It's a pump for drainage.

Aside from that part outside, I'd say it's to code, but I wouldn't walk away from a job done like that.

LOL that is definitely NOT a pump. It's a distribution transformer what lineman call a pole pig. They are typically seen bolted near the top of large poles about 35 feet above the ground and range in capacity from 5 to 100 kVA, 7.5kV~16kV primary, 120/240 secondary single ?

It was my first guess given the over exposure of the thing itself.


...if that's what it is, I have issues with it being there.

Fun fact: 5kV of isolation requires a minimum of 4mm of spacing :)
 

skyking

Lifer
Nov 21, 2001
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t's a pump for drainage.
No, it is your typical stepdown transformer that SHOULD be on a pole. The primary is probably 7200 volt, and comes into the enclosure on the far right side of the unit, out that conduit. The primary cable is coaxial.
In the lower left of the picture, you see a secondary feed outbound that was per code at the time. Note the splices on that cable. On the middle right, a bootlegged connection heads out of the box, not in conduit or anything.
 

BoomerD

No Lifer
Feb 26, 2006
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The transformer itself is possibly within code, as many sit in undrained underground vaults, but the wiring looks like it was pretty poorly done. Personally, I'd contact the local electrical utility and have them come out and look at it. I worked as a crane operator for one of the electrical utilities here for several years, and we dropped transformers into underground vaults all the time, BUT, they were made for that application, whereas this one LOOKS like it was meant to be on a pole, NOT underground.