House Power Tie-In

[tommygdawg]

Hey, all

I'm curious if anyone here could enlighten me on how might be best to go about this from a portability standpoint. In the film world, when not renting generators due to budgetary concerns (read: smaller projects), people often will tie into house power at the circuit breaker for the location they're shooting at. My question is...what's the best way to approach this?

I recently installed in my home a 100 amp breaker in my mains panel and a 100 amp fusible disconnect switch downstream from the mains panel and directly before any loads. I did this so I can power my large lights for cinematography purposes at the house (up to 18,000 watts). I could do this whenever I go on location, but it seems highly unfeasible. I'd have to rely on the breaker for the location having a free spot for a dual pole, I'd have to somehow make a 100A disconnect portable and not a major safety hazard, etc.

So, my question is...what other way could you do a house tie-in? The only way I can think of is literally clamping wire onto the mains lugs in the panel and running them to a downstream distro box, which seems really F'ing dangerous to me...but is that really how it's done?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

P.S. I'm aware of all the usual stuff about making sure not to exceed the capabilities of the mains, not overheating wires that aren't rated for it, etc.

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

This http://iaeimagazine.org/magazine/2012/09/16/electrical-inspections-for-carnivals-fairs-and-traveling-shows/  might give you some ideas,but every job is going to be different.

So, they need to supply you power.  The problem is every location will be different.

As the article said above, a utility might be able to splice into the overhead lines easy enough.

In the building I worked, we had multiple sources of 208 3 phase 200 A available at the main distribution.  One piece of equipment took all of it.  Onepiece that I was involved in took 90 A of 208 V.   

You also have to watch out and make sure you get what you need: e.g. 208/240; L1, L2, N and G?

You also have to watch out for Y and high leg Delta.  I know you asked for single phase, but you do have 208/240 to deal with.   Think we had 208 phase to phase and 120 phase to Neutral.  Maybe you can accommodate the 208/240 or it doesn't matter.

There's a motor/generator option, but every place is going to be different.

[Falcon69]

Only advice I could give here is...

Seeing how you are in the US and you do NOT sound like a licensed electrician....If you plan on doing this on your own home..fine...But if you do it on anyone else's home or commercial property that is NOT yours....don't get caught. You will get a HUGE fine and will be required to hire a license electrician as well to remove it. The city code enforcement are serious about this and give no breaks.

My brother owned a construction company. He was caught just putting changing out a simple receptacle on the wall. He was fined $1500 for doing that.

Seriously, in the US, the city doesn't play around with this stuff, if it has anything to do with electricity, get a licensed electrician. If it's plumbing, get a licensed plumber. The city doesn't mess around with this and the chances you will get caught are pretty huge, depending on where you are.

EDIT:

I forgot to say also....If this is on your OWN property, and the property catches fire and the investigators have determined the fire was a result of faulty wiring that YOU did...but you can not prove a licensed electrician (which you don't need for your own property) or permits were not pulled and inspected....your homeowners/property insurance could/can/will deny the claim. Just FYI.

[Brumby]

I forgot to say also....If this is on your OWN property, and the property catches fire and the investigators have determined the fire was a result of faulty wiring that YOU did...but you can not prove a licensed electrician (which you don't need for your own property) or permits were not pulled and inspected....your homeowners/property insurance could/can/will deny the claim. Just FYI.

As a bit of trivia - in NSW, the only way you are allowed to legally touch any fixed wiring in your own home is if you are a licensed electrician.  If you want to work on other properties, you need to hold an Electrical Contractors licence or work for somebody who does.

[BradC]

As a bit of trivia - in NSW, the only way you are allowed to legally touch any fixed wiring in your own home is if you are a licensed electrician.  If you want to work on other properties, you need to hold an Electrical Contractors licence or work for somebody who does.

Yep, same across most of Aus. It's a winning strategy. Make *all* DIY electrical work illegal so nobody can get any training at all. It's protectionism on the part of the ETU/CEPU and results in enough annual deaths to "justify" their strategy. One of my biggest bugbears.

If people could legally get enough training and advice on how not to kill themselves when they buy their new electrical fixtures from the local green shed there would very likely be less people killed. The current legislation is not stopping anyone from doing the work, it just stops the people who don't know any better for asking for and receiving advice that might save their lives.

[Red Squirrel]

You could setup some small portable panels that plug into a stove or dryer plug.  Stove plug will give you 9,600 watts max.  Dryer 7,200 watts.  Do these venues typically have such plugs?