Elec service/low voltage entrance query
In the Northeast, there aren’t many one story hip roof homes. But I am going to be converting a gable to a hip soon, and that means a change in the way the elec service attaches to the house, as the new attachment point will be too low..
Now, the service has always been low, and the cable and phone lines were below code. A driveway parking extension will be going under the lines, so it needs to be addressed.
In January, a tree fell, and took the lines down but somehow all sevices remained functional. Knowing that I was going to move the sevice entrance I called the electrician on the job, and we installed an overhead service conduit that runs thru the soffit, at the corner of the house where we won’t be working, thru the roof and terminates above the roof with a rain cap. The power company finally got out and connected to the new entrance and new meter box. So far, so good!
When we installed the service conduit, we also installed a second 2″conduit for low voltage, a rain cap and insulating strain relief anchor. The idea was to run the phone and cable down this second 2″ conduit to their respective terminal blocks.
But there’s a catch…you knew there would be! The cable co will not share the conduit with the phone company, nor will they “snake” the counduit, LOL…all 15 straight feet of it! (Like they even have to!) They contend that if the phone “goes down” they don’t want to go with it.
I need to call the phone co. and see if THEY have an issue with sharing the conduit with cable. If not we just run the cable first, LOL. and thats that.
If they do, I guess I need a THIRD conduit up there! ARRRGGG!
So the questions are: Is there a smaller roof boot than 2″?? No need to run a huge counduit up for ONE wire…
What are the IRC codes that I need to be aware of? As this is work resulting from storm damage no permiting has been done but I want to be sure it is code compliant, of course. I thought I was fine, and that we were improving compliance by getting these things more than the 12 or so feet off the ground they were to start with.
I will add a pic tonight when I get home.
Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks!!!!
(I shoulda dug a trench, LOL)
Edited 2/28/2006 3:11 pm ET by Lateapex911
Edited 2/28/2006 3:17 pm ET by Lateapex911
Replies
Well, after some research it looks like a third conduit must go up.
So it's bit simpler but I am still having a tough time finding any information of clearances that I need maintained between the hi and low voltage wires.
Any ideas?
And......do the make the roof "boot" thing in anything other than 2"? I'd love to siamese a 1" right next to it.....
Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
They share the Fn house with the phone Co.
Looks like it would be a fine install, by my jack view. Only thing I was aware of was crossing or within 1' of HV line+ you could probably add a insulation to protect if that was a problem.
But I think you could get what you want. You might just have to yell a little louder, What is your name, where is this policy written, who do I talk to to see about a variance to policy, when is my Fn bill due.
Interesting....the phone co stated they will not share a conduit due to code issues, even though both are Low voltage.
Just curious, what is Fn?Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
Aha ahm ahhhh well lets just say it's ahhh sometimes I type as Fkn you get the jist. When I'm less then happy with less then reasonable performance.
How bout we just run a flex? say clear poly 3/4" into the existing 2" and call it a seperate conduit so they can be happy and pull the line.
I don't think there is a cleaner looking entry for cable phone that I've seen then what you have. Well underground but I can't see it.
Ah! Gotcha now! I was thinking there was some special "Fn" box or something I had never heard of, LOL.
I thought it was a cool method too, but the telco doesn't want to share, and the cable co won't share.
Latest development is that the cable co will have to send "survey crew" out to establish a materials list and detailed work order for this "highly unusual" situation, and they are not capable of snaking a pull line, so i need to do that.
I think I will go hi tech on this one. A screwdriver to remove the weatherhead, a string and a rock. I'll tie the string to the rock and drop! Outa take all of 5 minutes, including getting the ladder set up!
The telco was pretty snoooty about it too, and wants $300 to run the wire down the conduit, so the homeowner is consdiering telling them they run it in the conduit with the cable, or they pull their wire off the property and the biz goes to the cable co.
We'll see!Jake Gulick
[email protected]
CarriageHouse Design
Black Rock, CT
Tell the cable co that your going to dish network or some other company and you no longer will need their service and you want it removed for your home, and see if they will want to work with you then.
What about just entering the house up high for the cable and phone line? This way they are out of reach of thieves. I did this and besides having much less of a visible obstruction, there is less cable run. I installed distribution modules on the third floor, and we feed down to the boxes. Had the 1920's phone wire removed (about a mile and half, it seems - this was a boarding house once) and the phone company ran 6 pair wire through a nipple I installed in the soffit, then the cable company ran their cable in too, and connected everything to the distribution panel.
OK...I live in colo. We just buried residential power , phone and dish(coax) in the same ditch. We had arials for all. Power was trenched to 3ft deep. Then we back filled to 2 ft. and layed shcd 80 and pulled phone and cable in the same line with two extra pull lines for "just in case". The lines have 24 inches of separation for long run of 105 ft. They turn up to the house within inches of each other ( 2 to 3). I have had NO problems with interference of any kind.
My hunch is this is a "liability issue" for the companys involved. there are no interference problems with signals as close as mine are! Tell em to run the lines inthe same "holes" ie low voltage and high voltage. Or pull them yourself, and make em hook the lines up.
Remember to thank a lawyer for the cost's that get passed on!!!
HD had the roof flashing/boot in a 1 1/2 inch size. I had to go to a real plumber to find the 1 1/4 I needed.