Electrical wiring concern with my PB

[huskyrider]

Tell the pool builder that you will take care of it youself.

I disagree with this completely. You'll have no warranty for your first year from the electrician.

it should not cost 300.00.

I'm curious, please tell me what you think it should cost.


I do agree that it should be a 2awg in a 1 1/2" conduit.

I also agree that energizing the 100 amp power center is really no big deal.
If, by chance, you were amp'd out on your load you'd trip the 200 main disconnect breaker and lose all power everywhere until it was reset. 200 amps is a bunch and unless you had a heat pump on the pool running at the same time as an electric home heater, electric oven, and an electric clothes dryer, plus your usual lights and televisions etc.. I seriously doubt that you'd trip it.

I really think the best bet is to ask the builder if you can purchase the materials and have his sub install them.

See ya,
Kelly

[Poolidiot]

I disagree with this completely. You'll have no warranty for your first year from the electrician.


I'm curious, please tell me what you think it should cost.


I do agree that it should be a 2awg in a 1 1/2" conduit.

I also agree that energizing the 100 amp power center is really no big deal.
If, by chance, you were amp'd out on your load you'd trip the 200 main disconnect breaker and lose all power everywhere until it was reset. 200 amps is a bunch and unless you had a heat pump on the pool running at the same time as an electric home heater, electric oven, and an electric clothes dryer, plus your usual lights and televisions etc..

See ya,
Kelly

Kelly what you say may be true 99% of the time BUT that 1% of the time do you want to take the risk of the breaker NOT tripping and your wire over heating and possibly starting a fire? I wouldnt take that risk.My thinking is always do the job right, not the cheapest or easier way.

And if someone tells him to do it his self then that is not a smart thing to tell him. Around here we have city codes, where you have to get permits and you have to be a licensed electrician , true a home owner can take a test and then do their own electrical work but being on a pool i would highly discourage a home owner from doing this.

I would also be interested in hearing what the original poster and others think a fair price would be.

[huskyrider]

quote" And if someone tells him to do it his self then that is not a smart thing to tell him "quote

Yes sir, with this I agree 100percent.

Not because he's not capable, rather because any little nit pick item that may come up electrically oriented within the first year will not be covered.
It's obvious to me that if the buyer changed out his existing meter can and power center for the home that he's more than capable of energizing the new power center for the digital controller off of a new double throw breaker.
I know the owner of his pool company is a good man, and as long as he doesn't add any incurred costs to his spread he'll oblige the homeowners requests. The question is will the subcontractor that the work is assigned to oblige him too.

One of the biggest reasons, aside from the additional profitability and scheduling on my timeline, that I keep the bulk of our work inhouse is situations just like this. Subs are accustomed to getting their way because 99 out of 100 pool builders are only capable of the most important job descriptions of all, the selling of the work and the cutting of the checks. I can assure you of this, the builder needs the sub more than the sub needs the builder.

See ya,
Kelly

[skamp]

Here is my take on it. The electrical sub already has to do the following to bring electric to the panel.

1. Cut a hole in the brick to bring service from main panel to the outside.
2. Run conduit through the brick and out to the EasyTouch panel 5 feet away
3. Run two 30 AMP and a 15 AMP run through conduit. I also forgot to mention they are running a 15 AMP circuit to my outdoor kitchen and I have another sub for my patio cover that needs to run a 15 AMP circuit. I assume this would require 2 x 10/3 cables (220 service for pumps, etc, 1 x 14/2 (pool lights), 1 x 14/3 (dedicated run for outdoor kitchen) and a #6 ground (must run seperate ground as you cannot bond ground to the neutral in a sub panel).

If they install it as a sub panel he still has to do all the steps above the only difference is the hole in the brick will need to be slightly larger to accomodate the larger conduit, the wires which would now be 3 x #2 and a #6 ground (the retail cost of these wires for a 5 foot run is less then $20.00. There would also be an additional 100 AMP breaker that costs $33.00 at Home Depot. I would be more then happy to buy the wire, breaker and conduit.

For the above change, the charge I would consider fair is $100-150. That would be about $50-60 in parts and $50-100 in extra labor which to be honest is no more work. Maybe 10 minutes more for a pro.

I have thought about adding a 100 AMP sub panel to the outside of my house for the electrical sub to use but that is an extra $30.00 out of my pocket for the panel.

As far as overloading the service, a sub panel or multiple sub panels are not a problem. You can basically have an unlimited number of breakers regardless of the service. The key thing is you cannot draw more power then you have. In my case I would not run the pool equiptment if I was welding but having an additional 50 or 100 AMP breaker in the panel that not being used is no risk. My original server was 125 AMP's I doubt I was every using more then 90. I have a gas range so that is 40 AMP's right there that is connected in the panel but not used. I upgraded to 200 AMP's to have a ton of headroom so the wire would not heat up from being close to max load.

I will have a conversation with my PB today. I will let you know how it goes.

Thanks!

Steve