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Service Connection at House

Hi -

The mechanical connection point for the power company's lines to my home is not good.

What is currently being used as a point of attachment is actually the metal strap that formerly braced the "house knobs" before the siding was replaced by a previous owner. I visited my local electrical supply house and they offered up a porcelain insulated "house knob" which, IIRC, had a 3/8" lag bolt thread about 2" in length. This does not seem to be adequate for supporting the 100 feet of utility line that exists from the street pole to the house. Can anybody offer up some links or suggestions as to where I can find a more substantial attachment device for the power lines? For sure this is not a job I will be tackling but replacing the siding is and the current attachment point and method is almost impossible to work around.

Much Thanks,

Eric S. Silver Spring, MD

Reply to
Eric Svendson
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You really should spend the extra $$ to upgrade your connection. You need a weatherhead. This is a metal pipe extending vertically from the meter base with a special connection at the top. The pipe is straped to the house at several points. Your local utility likely has a handout describing the preferred installations techniques and materials. Here is a handout with a picture of a weatherhead.

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Charles Perry P.E.

Reply to
Charles Perry

Hi and thanks for your response.

I have made multiple calls to the local utility (PEPCO) and not once have they offered up the kind of "technical specification" you are referring to. You would like to think that they would be concerned as to how their cables are secured to a typical home and actually write some guidelines and/or specs for same. A google search brings up several utilities that describe the connection desired and the specs for it.

One typical spec requires that the connection point withstand a 1000 lb pull and some small research thus far and my ME knowledge tells me that a 2" long, 3/8" lag can maybe take 500 lbs.

Yes, as you suggested, steel conduit with a "built-in" weatherhead would be my best choice but this makes re-siding the house even more difficult. I have the required weatherhead now where the SE cable extends out the requisite 36" for attachment to the utility lines.

Eric S.

Charles Perry wrote:

Reply to
erics

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