I inspected a church that had what I think is a 120/240 Volt, 3 Phase, 200 Ampere service, but I figured I’d ask the pros for confirmation or education. The meter is an Elster smart meter. Should I be able to discern all the information from needed to determine the service rating just from looking at the entrance wires and the meters? I’ve attached photos of both. Any instruction is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Can you post a pic of the service disconnect with the dead front off?
Service amperage for 3 phase is the same as single phase. It would be determined by the lesser of the main breaker of the service entry conductor rating.
Here is the service closet. The main is the large, padlocked box on the left. The two medium sized boxes go to the HVAC units, the two smaller boxes go to the water heater and the stove. The lighting panel on the right is a GE 200 Amp panel.
As a side note; I encountered outlets all throughout the building that showed reversed polarity when tested.
That seems to be a remote distribution panel board. Are the grounded conductors separated from the panel board? I can’t make out a bonding screw, etc.
https://global.discourse-cdn.com/internachi/original/3X/a/2/a211174fbff693028f671a9937f825f46aa34568.jpegI think all wiring is run in conduit, so that would be your ground.
Hey Larry, I’m not sure regarding the grounded conductors. I normally take three or four photos of the panel without the dead front but I had clients around that wanted to get into things. Sorry about that.
Yes, I assumed the conduit was the grounding conductor, David.
I was querying about the grounded conductors and whether they were bonded to the panel board.
I can’t answer your question with the info supplied. Sorry. Maybe one of the more knowledgable electrical members will be along shortly and I will learn something, too.
Typically, the service amperage rating is the lesser of the SEC, service disconnect rating and panel board rating.
Oh, you did say “grounded”, my bad.
I don’t see any bonding in the sub panel either.
Hey Larry, I totally understand. Thanks for taking a look at it.
That looks like three phase SE with CT’s for the metering.
Federal Pacific disconnect inside.
Sounds good to me. Thanks Marcel. Based on the numerous reverse polarity plugs I’m advising an electrician look at it anyways. I’m still curious to here what others have to say though. I’m all up for some education.
I am sure some electricians will chime in.
Are there fuses in the large FPE disconnect to the left? If so the fuse size in the service disconnect would tell you the size of the service.
That’s what I was trying to get at…thanks, Robert!
I don’t know; the panel is pad locked closed and couldn’t be opened. “The main is the large, padlocked box on the left.”
I thought that may be the service disconnect…
Looks like a decent install. Missing a few straps on the conduits. Weird that they used a single phase panel board though. Loads should be distributed across all phases, unless It is a high leg delta, but that’s a whole other bag of worms
If it is the service disconnect then the fuse size would help to determine the service size.