2-2-2-4 Mobile Home Feeder wire for Garage?

ebasista · Sep 26, 2009

I decided to go with Mobile home feeder wire for my subpanel in the garage. Its going to be 2-2-2-4 AL wire, breakered in the main panel at 90A connected to a 100A main disconnect subpanel in the garage.

http://www.southwire.com/ProductCatalog/XTEInterfaceServlet?contentKey=prodcatsheet15

I understand that I can direct bury this wire, and will use sch80 to go from the ground to the house and garage.

What do I have to do inside the house with this wire to protect it....is conduit required in the house for this, or can i run it thru the crawlspace to the panel without any additional shielding?

mrb · Sep 26, 2009

make sure the cable you get has the RHH / RHW listing or it cant enter the structure. It would need to be in conduit inside the house since its individual wires and not a jacketed cable.

I wouldnt use the stuff. I would go conduit all the way and individual AL conductors.

Charles (in GA) · Sep 26, 2009

mrb said:
make sure the cable you get has the RHH / RHW listing or it cant enter the structure. It would need to be in conduit inside the house since its individual wires and not a jacketed cable.

I wouldnt use the stuff. I would go conduit all the way and individual AL conductors.

I have 150 ft of this same cable. I think the brochure he linked to says it all.

Southwire mobile home feeder consists of four quadruplexed type RHH or RHW-2 or USE-2 AlumaFlex TM AA-8000 series
aluminum alloy compacted conductors. The cable contains a triple extruded white striped neutral conductor and a green
grounding conductor to eliminate the need for field marking per the National Electrical Code. Insulation is sunlight resistant .

Indeed, the cable, consisting of four individual wires twisted together are marked with all the specs indicated in the brochure.

Charles

bward76 · Sep 26, 2009

I agree to using conduit as well but If you insist on direct burial be very very certain that it is in a path that will never be near any trees or bushes. I had a service account a few years back that fed hundreds of mobile homes (built about 20 years ago) all in direct burial cable. Over the coarse of a couple years, I replaced probably 30 sets of their feeders that had been destroyed by roots over time. This involved trenching from the transformer to the unit on every one(very expensive). In this case a lot of t.v.'s and appliances were damaged when the problems occurred.

ebasista · Sep 26, 2009

There will never be tree roots or shrubs to worry about in this location (too close to my house and never plan on putting stuff there).

Inside the house I take it I'm required to use conduit in the crawlspace up to the box (whats the minimum size for that)? I would like to avoid using conduit in the house because of the hassle, can I connect this to shielded cable inside the house?

Iseman · Nov 19, 2009

I used the same wire and direct buried it like the manufacture approves. BIG BIG BIG mistake. Even with no trees or bushs nearby it can still come in contact with moisture or water. When I put in the new line 2 years later, the electrician said it happens all the time. There is a nick or crack in the insulation and now you have burn thru. Bury it in a conduit, be safe and not sorry. Cost me an additional $3000 to fix. Conduit less than $200. Just my oppinion. Maybe to late.

bimmer1980 · Nov 19, 2009

2" PVC really isn't all that hard to run..... I just finished running some 2" PVC from my garage to the house (including under a driveway) and pulling 2# copper... not bad at all....

2-2-2-4 Mobile Home Feeder wire for Garage?

ebasista

Well-known member

mrb

Well-known member

Charles (in GA)

Well-known member

bward76

Active member

ebasista

Well-known member

Iseman

Well-known member

bimmer1980

Well-known member