on my loft project it calls for 350mcm wire/cable and 400mcm wire/cable can someone help me out with what this is vs 3/0 2/0 1/0 ect… i’m looking at 1k ft of 400 and 600ft of 350… i’m in sticker shock $6 & $7 a ft…. the 400 feeds the whole project… aprox 4400 amp load 175 & 200amp x 19 units and my unit is 600amp 3ph the 350mcm… any insite? options?
thanks in advance
p
Replies
350mcm wire/cable and 400mcm wire/cable
This is larger than 4/0 awg. These larger sizes are rated in thousand circular mills of area, typically abreveated MCM but some companies use KCM. Typical sizes are 250 MCM, 300 MCM, 350 MCM, 400 MCM, 500 MCM etc.
Options? Doesn't sound like you have any if the job already has specs.
Frank DuVal
You can never make something foolproof because fools are so ingenious.
Surely you must have an Electrical Contractor handling this. This is not a DIY project.
To toss some numbers, 350 MCM carries 310 amps, is $4,525.30 per 1000' and weighs 1196 pounds for the same 1000 feet. Per wire. 400 KCM is 335 amps, $5,155 and no weight given since it must be rare.
Options include parallel wires, using aluminum and transformers.
Also figure in the price of conduit and ground wire. Your EC should do a load calculation. There is a certain amount of load derating available so you would not need 4400 amps since not everything is on at the same time. Read Article 220 of the NEC.
~Peter, the Comics Page Editor of the NY Times
plasma conduit?
The panelboards for 3-phse aren't cheap either, lots of copper in them too.
Cliff
thanks for the info... no i guess there aren't many options as it has already been engineered... about the only changes we could make are to cut the runs some but that might save 20ft so 80ft of wire... i was look'n at the weights.... dang.... all the panels and gutters are installed i have a whole wall of SQ D .... guess you were joking when you said it wasn't a DIY ? it's just pull'n wires right ? LOL... no this one area that about all i do is have all the holes drilled, blocking in place and mount all the unistrut ect... built shelves near the main service so all parts fittings ect and right there... a work bench and alot of light... also made it where the electrican can just about pull his van inside within a few feet of the main service... built him a form to bend the pvc out of the hot box...
19 units have electric heat & water tanks... so thats the main load every unit is 175amp or 200amp service.... then my unit which is kinda oversized and i put in 3ph for my unit i'll have a 40 x 80 shop and i wanted some fun equipment.... but mine is gas heat as is the common area...
thanks for the info...
p
In some cases it's cheaper and better from a voltage drop standpoint to step up to 440V at the start of the run and back down to 120/240V at the end. Cheaper still if 440V is already available in the building or can be supplied by the utility without a major charge.
happy?
I think i'm on the late side of thst option... I already paid the utility 15k to set poles and a transformer (that was 50% of the cost or so i was told)... then underground from the transformer to to the meter bank thats where the 1000ft of 400mcm comes in... this week i'll try to take someone to lunch because they have been known to furnish the wire from the transformer to the meter banks... it's worth a shot to save over 5k... I know i'm tight but it just doesn't seem right that to be able to purchase electric i have to pay.... I know depending on who u are you don't...
p
I know i'm tight but it just doesn't seem right that to be able to purchase electric i have to pay....
Yeah, I hear ya! Just the other day I called Exxon and told them, hey, you want to sell me gas, you gotta give me a free car. They didn't bite. So I'm scaling down. I'm gonna call Juan Valdez and say, listen amigo, I'll buy coffee from you if you give me one of them fancy cappuccino machines...
DG/Builder
Somewhere, somehow I feel a serious disconnect between what your doing and reality. In my mind a "loft" is just that, a mall room in a private residence upstairs and used for things like storage, sewing and reading etc.
When you start describing the wire your going to use it sounds like your building an entire apartment complex of two or three hundred units!
Not sure what your asking.
If you are indeed building 300 apartment units, why are you even concerned about the price since you've probably got sufficient funding to cover your investment. If your concerned about the price maybe you should rethink the size of your project.
If you are just building a small private loft then your question just doesn't make any sense. You must be reading the wrong plan set or there's a mix up here.