Holy Cow does wire cost a lot

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maxwell_smart007

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2/0 wire is not cheap...

Bought enough to do the stack only and it was about 280 bucks...I still have to buy more to feed the panel.

The ground has to be number two as well, so that's another 50 or 60 bucks, I guess...

Geez, copper's expensive!

On the plus side I've almost got a shiny new service...
 
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ctubbs

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Yes Andrew, copper is high, but it will not work loose as aluminum does tend to do. 150 amp service, BIG dust collector!
Charles
 

tomcatchevy

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I've got 200 in my house but 120 continues on to the shop! My previous place (rental) only had 40 in the house and 15 went to the garage!:eek: Couldn't turn on the table saw on after dark or I would lose the lights!
 

Grizz

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I think it's about $4 a pound. The farmers around here must have some kind of thick copper across water systems and is constantly being stolen.

There is a house around here, family moved into it... and it blew up on them. Someone the day before the move in, stole all the copper from the house.
 

Hess

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they are stealing our central ac units here in TX

found a woman dead in her home after someone took her unit
 

BKelley

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Talk about low down theives, I live outside Atlanta and I know of three churches that have had the huge air-conditioners stolen. Times are hard and the theives out looking for easy money, even the catalytic converters are being stolen from under automobiles on carports.

Ben
 

Haynie

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problem is, once it gets to the scrap yard there is no way to tell if it was stolen. Phoenix scrap yards used to require all copper wire to NOT be stripped and contractors were putting ID on the insulation some how. Not sure if they are still doing that. Up here they don't care where you get the stuff. If it is stripped they pay more. During my scrap runs this summer I saw this guy several times with a pick up full of copper each time. All wire, all heavy gauge. A couple weeks later a contractor friend of mine was complaining that wire was being stripped from new homes. He was ****ed because they would wait and strip the house after he got done dry walling.
 

Smitty37

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yep

2/0 wire is not cheap...

Bought enough to do the stack only and it was about 280 bucks...I still have to buy more to feed the panel.

The ground has to be number two as well, so that's another 50 or 60 bucks, I guess...

Geez, copper's expensive!

On the plus side I've almost got a shiny new service...

30 years ago I rewired an old farm house and I put 200a service iin then. At that time the electric company allowed Aluminum wire from the weatherhead to the meter and from the meter to the main panel.
 

maxwell_smart007

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I find it odd that Aluminum goes from the pole to the weatherhead, but I need copper inside...

Aluminum's not allowed at all in the home anymore, unless there's no copper wiring at all, and all the devices used are rated for aluminum...

I'd rather have copper anyway.
 

Smitty37

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True

I find it odd that Aluminum goes from the pole to the weatherhead, but I need copper inside...

Aluminum's not allowed at all in the home anymore, unless there's no copper wiring at all, and all the devices used are rated for aluminum...

I'd rather have copper anyway.
It has to do with corrosion of aluminum aluminum oxide is an insulator not a conductor and connecting dissimilar metals (especially copper and aluminum) together. There are problems connecting aluminum to steel also because the connections tend to loosen over time. I think you can use aluminum wire #8 or larger inside homes but it is seldom done.
 

Crashmph

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I recently put in a 90A sub panel to my garage and I had to have 100' run of 2/3 Romex. Even at my buddy's "contractor rate" it cost me $550. Funny thing was that when the fella rang me up he put it as $.55/ft verses $5.50/ft. I thought it was a great deal until my buddy asked me to go back because the grossly undercharged me. Now that was some sticker shock when I found that out.
 

tomas

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I recently upgraded my house panel from 100a to 200a when I was building my detached shop. They made me put a 100a panel in the shop, run 6 ga solid copper ground from the 200a panel (in the back of the garage) to the front of the house where the water service comes in and i had to jump it across the shut-off valve. They also made me put in two 8' ground rods and I had to change out the meter for one that has an internal by-pass switch. The new meter cost as much as the 200a panel.
Oh, and they also required that I install Co alarms within 10' of any bedroom before they would sign-off on the permit.

I'm glad I did it but it made my shop project almost 3 times as costly.

Tomas
 

hilltopper46

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It has to do with corrosion of aluminum aluminum oxide is an insulator not a conductor and connecting dissimilar metals (especially copper and aluminum) together. There are problems connecting aluminum to steel also because the connections tend to loosen over time. I think you can use aluminum wire #8 or larger inside homes but it is seldom done.

Also, there is a problem with aluminum expanding as it warms and being soft enough to shape to the clamp, then when it cools, it isn't tight any more. So you have a high resistance connection, which causes it to warm more (or arc), expand more, and then when it shrinks it is even looser. After a few of those cycles, you have a disaster waiting to happen.
 

Smitty37

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I recently upgraded my house panel from 100a to 200a when I was building my detached shop. They made me put a 100a panel in the shop, run 6 ga solid copper ground from the 200a panel (in the back of the garage) to the front of the house where the water service comes in and i had to jump it across the shut-off valve. They also made me put in two 8' ground rods and I had to change out the meter for one that has an internal by-pass switch. The new meter cost as much as the 200a panel.
Oh, and they also required that I install Co alarms within 10' of any bedroom before they would sign-off on the permit.

I'm glad I did it but it made my shop project almost 3 times as costly.

Tomas
That looks a like its a tad overkill on the grounding. I have a pretty new house with the two 8 foot ground rods connected to both the panel and the meter with #4 stranded wire.
 

Smitty37

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Easier to move.

My grandfather did. :eek::cool:

Not so long ago, all of our ancestors probably did! It was about the only
recognized currency back in the days when many states had their own
money

True enough but that was partly because corn squeezins was easier to move and less prone to spoilage than corn. It was also the cause of the 1st rebellion against Federal Taxes in the US now refered to as the Whiskey Rebelion - George Washington sent the troops to collect the taxes.
 
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