How to Set Up Light Poles: Tips and Advice on Thinking Ahead
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- Опубликовано: 26 июн 2024
- Not all the wiring we do for buildings is confined to the INSIDE of the building. Many times, we are tasked with installing site lighting/power to the EXTERIOR of the building and site. But how do we go about installing those light poles? In the latest episode of Electrician U, Dustin goes thru the process of how to prep for the installation and how to install the pole lights themselves.
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The first thing we must do is get the conduit run from the source of power TO the pole (or poles) itself. Pole lights generally are rather tall and will require a pole base to sit on. Someone will need to either drill a round hole several feet deep or dig a hole several feet deep. A round cardboard tube will be placed into the hole and project out of the hole a specific distance out of the ground (depending on site specific specifications). Once the rebar cage is installed, the conduits must be turned up and run up out of the top of the pole so they can be accessed via a handhole located in the pole itself, toward the bottom.
Important to note that generally a separate ground wire and a rod are usually required at the pole itself. This is in ADDITION to the equipment grounding conductor pulled in with the phase conductors. This additional ground is a grounding electrode conductor, NOT the equipment grounding conductor. Always check with your local AHJ and specifications to see what is needed.
Anchor bolts are imbedded in the concrete while it is poured. These bolts are to hold the pole itself down to the base. Somewhere around 1” in diameter (depending on pole height, weight, wind factors, etc.) and are anywhere from 18” to 36” long. 2 sets of nuts/washers will need to be on each bolt, and BOTH must project ABOVE the concrete level. This is important as the bottom set will be used to level the pole base (so the pole stands up straight) while the top set is used to actually fasten the bottom of the pole to the base.
Once all that prep work is done, you can start the pole installation itself. It is MUCH EASIER to install the head (or heads) on the pole and pull the wire from the top out of the hand hole while the pole is on the ground. Working at heights always takes longer, requires separate equipment, and carries additional risks that can be avoided. There are several ways to actually stand the pole up onto the pole base, but a sky track (or site forklift) is the standard equipment used. A crane can be utilized for longer poles if needed. A nylon choker/sling is put around the pole and the forks of the lift put thru one of the eyelets and up it goes. It is helpful to have an electrician or two on the ground to guide the pole onto the bolts, just make sure to KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE WAY!!
After the pole is set and the nuts tightened down, the pole is wired into the wires coming from the panel (and perhaps to the next pole(s) in line), the base cap put on to hide the anchor bolts, and the handhole cover installed.
We hope this has been helpful in understanding the process of installing pole lighting on a project. Is there a topic you would like to see discussed? Leave a comment in the comment section and let us know. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers to be the best electricians they can be.
#electrician #electrical #electricity #light posts #setting up light posts #job site #wiring light poles #light poles
That is some of the worst concrete work I've seen. Lights looked great though! Ha
same haha
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Seemed hard to believe concrete professionals poured those.
Agreed, brand new and already cracked like crazy
Not to throw too much shade but have you seen the quality of "concrete experts" coming in daily at our southern boarder??? 🤔 Might just explain the poor quality pour.
I agree. What a sh*t show.
I highly recommend trying pre poured bases. Saves a ton of time. We have set them ourselves or have the excavator set them with the machine. Someone needs make a steel plate to pickup the bases but it’s much faster. I used them on the last 1.2 million SF warehouse I did and was sold on them after that. You have to give the precast company the anchor bolt spec and the anchor bolts and they do everything else and then they truck them to the site.
Have to agree. Using precast bases saves a huge amount of time and overall cost of installation. There are ready-made designs for many of the poles manufactuered.
Many years ago, my father and I had to set a sign pole ( almost identical to light poles ) which we leveled just as you describe. This sign pole was at the very edge of the property. About an hour later the customer/owner arrived and was raising hell as to why we installed his sign pole so crooked. We looked back at it, and indeed it appeared crooked. We checked it with our level, checks good. Then stood back and looked, looks crooked. Well, turns out there was a very leaning utility pole close to our pole, which made ours look crooked. So, we adjusted our pole to match the lean of the utility pole and the customer was happy. Always have to be aware of surroundings.
That's the utility company's problem. Then when they install a new pole which is perfectly plumb, your sign pole will appear crooked because it is. Lol
Yeah, I would have showed the customer a couple levels on it and said, we're done. Call someone else to un-level the sign
@@illestofdemall13 Right. And that did happen. So, we simply readjusted, since it was a matter of turning 4 nuts.
Lol leave it to a customer to want to plumb a light based off of a pole that isn’t plumb
@@ElectricShinn I've ran entire racks of pipe at a slope to match existing racks that were installed wrong years prior. I get why the customer wanted it done, but never have I seen a light pole mounted crooked to match a utility pole, or something else off the property.
Guess the customer will realize the error in their ways when the utility upgrades/repairs the pole, or removes it completely.
Justin: Mike Holt has a video or two about why an equipment ground has to be run to each pole, why you can't just depend on a ground rod for grounding. If the pole becomes energized, there has to be a way for the electricity to get back to the source, and the equipment grounding conductor does that. Same explanation you give for why we have an equipment grounding conductor on branch circuits applies to lamp posts as a string of lamp posts is just a single circuit system.
I've installed some light poles where we used prefab bases.
I always level the bottom nuts and washers before setting the poles. Some poles are tapered so you can't use levels on the sides. Plus it makes it so much easier and faster.
How much do you charge per pole.
I was going to say, I see contractors putting in prefab bases all the time, conduit, properly spaced bolts, faster to install then pouring them individually.
This is how we do it
I worked for a company that owned a 60’ bucket truck with a jib crane that could be controlled from the base.
The construction crews did all of the underground work, built the poles, and placed them at each location.
The service department had one guy with an apprentice who set all the poles on every job, they also did all of the aerial service work.
Very efficient and safe for everyone.
HaHa this is great. My dad the power engineer (deceased) grabbed a bunch of light poles. Got a metal lathe. These lights had a folding base and were 10-20 feet tall. He made joins got another 10-20 feet and used them for a Ham dipole .. (3 band so 3x dipole) I had one for my TV antenna, moved it to a new property. When I dehammed his house I grabbed 4 of his 5 and got one up with a starlink on top!. Miss ya dad! I never could get those quite right and I always buried a nut!
Always level the bottom nuts first, tweak the maybe after, and we put never seize compound on them. Cause they get knocked down all the time...Did that when i worked in traffic light business, and now as a maintenance electrician on a university campus with roadway lighting...Great job Mr..👍👊
Done these a few times at different jobs, loved it! I caught on pretty quick on how to assemble and wire them, the foreman did not, so I had to go behind him and fix half of them. It was good times. I'm not in the electrical field anymore, and I miss it everyday! Love the videos!!
I always use 2 templates. One lower on the threads, and one at the top. It keeps them all lined up correctly and NO HAMMERING THREADS, which weakens the the concrete and the bolt. Save all the extra nuts and washers for next time.
Same here.
And in New installations, i dont understand the use of junction box.
Only need to run conduits from base to base.
Be sure to exclude rubbing and finishing the pole bases. Did they vibrate the 3000psi it looks terrible?
Poles look Great. Have you tried using a long, heavy pipe to adjust the bolts? Works really well on straightening anchor bolts in concrete slabs. It protects the treads better. 😉
Quick tip
Instead of banging the anchors you can just use a pipe bender you have more leverage
I have used a 6 ft cheater pipe to bend things by eyeball... then tweak by hammer to finish off.
Banging on a thick anchor in fresh concrete doesn’t seem like a good idea
@@dorhocyn3 It is what people call a life hack
Do you mean bending the bolts by slipping some 1" EMT over them then using the bender to hit the pipe with?
Wish I would have thought of this sooner.
@@dorhocyn3 ... while concrete needs 30 days to fully cure, I suspect most jobs don't get to this point for at least a week. You should be fine.
I dig seeing different methods, in North Dakota we never let cement guys touch anything. We finish the bases, inset the bolts, and never need a skim coat to finish. Also, we are not allowed to use straight conductors in the pole as they will rub against the inside as the pole sways in the wind and eventually wear through and arc out.
What do you mean, “straight conductors”?
@@steveloux4709 We are not allowed to just let THHN hang in side of the poles.
@@TNFTAW ahh…is that a project specification? Did ND amend the NEC to require this?
@@steveloux4709 as opposed to twisted, like inside MC cable.
@@wim0104 gotcha. Hadn’t considered that. I know some of the wire VAR folks could re-roll a set twisted together.
Amazing content! I work out of the IBEW locomotive 213 in BC. I was fortunate enough to get into a niche sector doing traffic signal service and installations. I was hoping you could make a video covering that! Cheers Dustin
Just like when you chase the block masons, chase the concrete guy and make sure your jig is set up right on all your sonotubes. They don’t mind messing up conduits or bolt orientation.
Good job Dustin.
The gal vs PVC is based on how often the PVC snaps off when the ground and pole base settle differently. However, the gal needs to extend at least 10ft away from the base if your going to prevent breaking the transition from gal to PVC. This is not usually a code requirement but good practice.
Looks great 👍
street lighting did my share.. retired and this came across my feed... having a good laugh!! almost miss it. local 3 nyc
Greetings from Atlanta, keep up the good work bro.
I set some poles just like those. I set the bolts (I never trut the concrete guys) and we used a skidsteer with a pole grabber attachment to set them. It works really well. I wish I had photos. The one problem we had was when we put the dirt in the ground settled really bad and we had to dig it back up and fill it with 1 1/2" gravel and pack it all back down with a wacky packer.
Our HOA has direct burial tapered round fiberglass light poles set in concrete and the electrician has had replace two of them and neither is plum all that way round like the original install. A video on setting those buggers would great! Keep up the legit good work!
The Ridgid conduit makes no sense as in 20 to 30 years it will be rotted out . Pvc in the ground and in concrete will last for thousands of years and replacing conductors will be a breeze . Now you can wrap the Ridgid in tape to protect it from the concrete as it can be corrosive and get a longer lifespan out of that Ridgid . conduit .
Agreed, why would they want something that’s going to corrode
Great content
The company I work for use pre-cast concrete, just dig, and set. Bolts are already in place with room for conduit. Usually use UG Cable to a junction box at the base.
A tip for templates.
We have a metal shop plasma cut bolt templates out of steel so we can reuse them. Poles are pretty standard for us. 2 per set of bolts high and low can keep them plumb.
Other times we use a bottom plate we weld on site with a top template if we know the GC is using hacks for concrete work so it's even harder for them to screw up
I like the way you think here, although by now I figured somebody would be making cheap plastic templates and nuts that could be left in the concrete. That way the threaded assembly would be square to itself when installed as a unit.
@@rupe53 you're better off just using a steel plate for embed at the bottom if you leave it in.
@@Squat5000 ... I get it and have done it that way. I was just dreaming out loud that there's probably a market for a cheaper solution, especially if the mfgr did it in bulk and offered a kit.
Great video ! Did about 300 light poles on a job out by college station a few years ago. People always want light poles , underground type work , done in the boiling heat so yeah. But totally off topic , do a video on using portable generators to run a whole house. How to make them legal and safe and what not. Thanks for all your hard work 👍
Test amp draw for home and size gen accordingly.
Keep the neutral floating in the Gen. Bond neutral at Main.
Install either a transfer switch or an interlock for the breaker feeding the home from the generator.
Turn loads on individually so as to not overload gen at start.
@@mamaswamma1234 thanks Adam but I still would like him to do a video about it 👍
How many lights per curcuit? 277v ??
@@MrLuismedina25 depends on the type of lights being used. Are you using led or a hid of some kind ? In my case we used 400 watt LEDs. We ran #8 THHN for voltage drop and used 30 amp circuits and ran 29 lights on each circuit. Each light pulled about 1.45 amps at 277 volts.
Mine are 277v 150w each and someone else wired them , they are 21 posts 2 heads each = 42 lights x 150w wired with 10gage wire… there is only one 20amp circuit running them together… with a clock and a contactor for 12 hours every night ..i am wondering if it can be on their max or if would be ok
Interesting to see how y'all do it. We secure our bolts in 2x4's which are screwed to the sonotube, and the concrete drops in beside the 2x4's. We also do all the finishing, the only thing the concrete company does is drop it out of the truck.
I always wondered why poles weren't set flush to the concrete. Now I know. The nuts are for leveling. Thanks for pointing that out.
You don't want to trap water in the base either. They need a little room to breathe.
The lower nuts also keeps the pole base from wallowing out the concrete over time as the pole rocks with the wind. I have had to correct this when done by others. Solution is to hoist the pole and run a set of nuts under, lower the pole back and do the top nuts. One time I had to cut the lower nuts down to half their thickness because the bolts were so short.
I literally just installed these same exact light poles a few weeks ago and installed them they same exact way.
I did electrical design for 25 years. I specified square poles on my first job, the anchor bolts were installed crooked. Since then I always specified poles with slipfitters so they can always be aligned square. Especially necessary for direct burial concrete poles.
Great work. Cracked concrete?
We use putty to cover the bottoms of the lower nuts, in order to keep them from being embedded in the concrete.
You mean electricians putty? (I've commonly heard called dope-dope). That's a great idea.
The NEC only requires an equipment ground. As he pointed out some regions do require a ground to earth. The purpose of the earth connection is to try to dissipate as much of the energy from lightning to the earth as possible before it reaches the building. It's added protection above and beyond the NEC requirements.
As a rule of thumb it's normally good to do what preassembly you can while the equipment is on the ground and easy to work on but it's not always good to do a full preassembly. Ceiling fans are an example of this. With ceiling fans you typically want to leave the fan blades off and any components that will cover your blade assembly screws so that the blades don't get in your way as well as any glass components and the lamps for their protection. Preassembly where it's easy saves time and effort in most circumstances.
Its texas it is probably for lighting protection not "grounding". ... Texas grows some big ass storms
@@NotMuchHere good summary of my statement
@@ianbelletti6241 gave you a thumbs up ...
We're installing something like these (if not the same) at the site I'm at. I'll keep you updated
You need to make a video on how to lift a light pole and set it up with the grade all and the helpers guiding it in the threads. That would be awesome
You should do a video on things to look out for doing service work on existing light poles. Iv come across a lot of light poles that are live and didn’t trip due to animals chewing wires. Or even being careful of bees nests I always hit any pole I’m gonna open up with a wrench and check to see if any come out before I get up in my bucket truck saved me a few times
Solar light poles for the win. No trenching!
I'm setting 24 footers should of showed us the rigging of the straps.
I do a triple 1/2 hitch down the pole base.
Always up to learning different ways of doing things
Wish you showed the polembeing raised with the forklift curious how the pole was balanced.
Thx
At 7:06 I noticed the base part where the light pole sits on top of it there are several cracks on the side of the base...do you guy just add a layer of concrete to cover the cracks? Thanks and keep the good work brother!
This is kind of cool. This is what my apprenticeship will mainly be focusing on. This, traffic lights, and a lot of railroad systems. (Gates, lights, etc)
I like the idea of the J box in the ground then T- tapping one conduit up each pole.
That pole base was the ugliest thing I've ever seen. I cannot recall one time where "the concrete guys" did pole bases properly when it was up to them.
We actually stopped subbing it out they would screw them up so bad. For some reason even good concrete guys struggled with doing bases up to architect's specs
-We would typically get a 24" auger and drill 4-5 feet down then set the 24" sonotube just a few inches below grade. This way your base is locked into undisturbed earth and very stable.
-Pipes would be stubbed out as needed. Site markers at ends of conduit so we could trench to tie them in later.
-start concrete pour early morning then start wrecking forms mid day just as the concrete was firm enough to hold shape but still green enough to rub with a sponge float or rubbing stone. Always ended up with a nice hand rubbed stucco type finish without grinding, pounding, and trying to slop a bunch of sand mix on the base (which is only going to fall off later anyway.)
If the anchor bolts didn't line up we couldn't blame anyone but ourselves.
Project manager had us set the poles without the base covers or what we call skirts because he forgot to order them. When they came in they were one piece and suppose to go on before the light head. I had to take a grinder and split them all in half and rig straps so the could be held back together after on the pole.
Dam fellow sparky if I’ve learned something over the 16 years I’ve been in the trade is number 1- Never trust no one- 2- pride brother- if your not taking pride in your work, you’ll never be successful weather or not you work for yourself the simple fact of being able to say I Did that bad ass work means EVERYTHING to the customers, your bosses and yourself.. and I can tell you right now those concrete bollards your lights are sitting on are horrible looking!! And there’s no need for excuses oh it was the concrete guys oh it was this it was that ….. it’s your job if you gotta bring those guys back to give it a smooth finish do so even if you don’t end up making money. You want to be remembered oh that guy… ya he’s on a different level his work speaks for it self…he does beautiful work!! Trust me it will matter in the long run! Food for thought fellow sparky!!!
I like to install a fuse at each light pole in the hand hole area at the bottom. That way when one pole has an issue the entire street or lot doesn’t go dark. Then you know which pole has the issue.
Do you usually pour your concrete that dry and put quickcrete over top? Also, work might be work but change orders get old. Some people made a lot during the pandemic and are expanding like crazy! Cheers.
As a sign guy we don't use fork lifts we use our bucket arm to lift everything. And the amount of times I have forgot to put the foot cover on is almost neglectful. 😆
I need to know about landscape lighting. Not the weenie low voltage stuff or solar. I want to put flood light up in my trees and some to light the trees from below. We are talking about ten 100 year old oaks 40 foot tall beauts. What is code and do I need permits? What about outlets at the base for Xmas lights? How far can one circuit go? Love your channel!!!
Might work to keep the bolts straight after the pour to set a second template near the top of the bolts while the concrete is drying.
I learned (the hard way….) several years ago to actually energize the lights while still on the ground. It really sucks to have to troubleshoot a light pole once it’s in the air. 😢
I wanted to see your method of picking them up
Any way good video 👍
Hey Dustin, have you considered running a bare copper ground connected to the Rebar inside the pole base and stick it up and landed on your light pole instead of driving a ground rod?
Some inspectors want a ground rod installed along with the rebar being attached to the ground, and the pole as well. You really should need to ground the pole at all. Not even the rebar since it's already an ufer ground. Although some inspectors want to see it since they think it is code
@@krisssilco Yeah, ground rods are dumb. how much more grounding can you get with all the rebar in the ground...
Here in the southeast, every inspector we've ever had while doing poles only required that we ran a bare copper ground into a grounding clamp from the rebar cage to the grounding stud inside the base of the pole. Depending on the geographical location and the size of the job, checking on little things like this can save some time and money. I hate finding out they want it different than what the next county over wants.
Not sure if this question was asked. Is THHN the preferred wire type for this application?
I always tape the threads on the anchor bolts so the cement splash doesn't make running the nuts difficult
Was told at IAEI continuing education classes that installing a ground rod at light poles is a waste. Just think about it. You never get 25 ohms to ground with any 8' ground rod. Mike Holt had to screw together think it was 40' in ground rod to get a lower then 25 ohm measurement. A copper ground wire from a panel should provide less then 4 ohms to ground. Engineers should learn grounding & bonding.
Maybe I am misremembering my electrical theory, but with enough 25 ohms to ground, in parallel, the total resistance lessens.
@@jopalolive Yes you are correct . If you had say three 100 ohm resistors in parallel the resistance would be 33.33 ohms. Believe that with ground rods that probably are over a hundred ohms to ground and what at least 209' apart the resistance of wire & ground rods no where nearly as effective as a one or two ohm copper wire from a panel. Years ago after driving in a 8' ground rod attempted to illuminate a 100 watt incandescent 120 volt light bulb. Used the hot side of short 13 guage extension cord to supply power to one side of light bulb and ground rod as the neutral. Light bulb was as dim as a small flashlight with old worn out batteries. Had 118 volts to the hot wire.
@@JohnThomas-lq5qp Thanks for sharing your experiments results, 100 ohms to ground!
My thinking is that enough light pole grounds (10?) at approx. 100 ohms would make for low resistance and somewhat helping with lightning and grounding issues. I remember someone back in the 90s putting in a second ground at a subpanel, rocky ground, because the system was burning out bulbs and electronics. It definitely helped. An electrical contractor at the time questioned the reasoning to do so, now it's code. And Now that I think of it, light poles might attract lightning strikes.
Hammering on threaded bolts isn't good for the threads or green concrete, it tends to crack, kind of like what your video shows.
Good comments below to avoid mistakes. I like the double high low template so everything is squared up. Following the concrete guys is key.
Relying on other trades to complete their section correctly... can lead to problems.
Exactly what i was about to suggest.
2 templates will make sure that the bolts stay straight.
Concrete guy: looks good from my house.
Nice electrical work though...
Wish you would’ve covered direct burial poles and leveling a tapered pole
Grounding electrode - lighting protection?
why would Arizona, ask for the ground an neutral to be connected to each other as part of the wiring requirements ? I was told the inspector asked for that specifically to be connected that way
You didn't mention that the position of the anchor bolts have to be oriented/aimed in the right direction. Otherwise your fixtures may point in the wrong direction. This is especially true with square poles. It is also very important to know what pole & fixture is being installed before the roughing begins.
Man those concrete guys are hacks
We do our own electric and concrete. If our work looked like that we'd have to rip it out LMAO.
Their mix design is way off, bug holes that bad show no vibrators were used, and that's just not going to be durable. Should have just done precast on slurry if it was going to look like that.
Electric work is clean as usual though. Don't let that reflect on your crew.
How many lights per circuit you were able to hook up?
Can you use a 14 gage wire on 12 gage main line for a ground? Wire?
Yes, doesn’t necessarily have to match the size of the other conductors
4:19 and hopefully those LED lights weren't the funky new night club parking lot lights that turn purple. QC must have been off work that month. 😉
The concrete base already got cracks in them, those pole(s) gone fall in future. But I want to know how highway street lights get set up
Why are the sonotubes soaking wet prior to puring concrete? I have alsways done everything i can to keep mine dry before pouring.
Dustin --- what about getting a geo engineer to do a soil test to determine how the poles should be anchored?
Also, what about getting that same geo department to determine average wind speeds for that area and if that newds to be taken into consideration when choosing the shape of your poles and the material the poles are made from?
I've had to deal with those things on jobs out in the high desert here in SoCal once for a horse ring that I was lighting and another time for a large sports multi use playing field.
These are both very high wind areas that also get large amounts of rain in very short time, not very often but a few times a year and cause flash flooding and can cause lots of soil erosion. Hemce the soil testing for density and underground water.
The wind is a problem because of harmonics, not so much the wind speed although that is a big problem that has to be addressed. The harmonics is the vibration of the any structure caused by wind that causes the vibration to be consistent where the structure vibrates at a certain frequency which then stays at a constant momentum that increases more and more to the point where the structure will fail at its weakest points.
I'm sure you've seen the film of the Tacoma Straights Bridge swinging and twisting and waving up and down then finally self destructing and falling into the river below. That is wind harmonics that caused that. Lighting poles will do the same thing. That's why they make poles in octagon, round, oval, square, some are tapered, and they are made from steel, aluminum, some are a plastic of some sort, all for different applications.
Thats just standard poles for parks, parking lots, etc... then there are the very large, very high lights and poles for sports stadiums, race tracks, etc... that's another story completely.
Thats a very astute observation, however in the electrical contracting industry most companies are going to design and build systems to the minimum allowances that will pass code - because most builders want the cheapest price for the highest quality required to meet standards and still make money. Who would we put the responsibility on for this? When a plan is drawn up by an architect and approved by an engineer, we in the field expect the engineer to have covered all aspects of design, so really, we just install what they spec until we find issues arise. I'm sure for larger venues and buildings there's much more input from engineers on fixture selection, harmonics, etc - but for the average home and business this is not something that's required nor are there typically problems we hear about. That's not saying it's not important to consider, I'm just pointing out that if there is an issue to be considered I think most of us sparkies would defer to an engineer to point them out and spec it in the drawings otherwise we're going to assume there's no issue. Thanks for mentioning this, it's something I've never thought about.
@@ElectricianU ---- Thanks for your reply.
I should have worded my comment a little different. I was not necessarily asking if you had gone through those processes as the electrical contractor because that burden does rest on the engineer/architect unless it was a design build contract and if it was have you ever dealt with that?
I also wasn't trying to bust your balls in any way, I apologize if it seemed that way.
I wanted to ask about those things to know if that is something you've dealt with before and to make other viewers who might consider installing poles, on any job or at home, that it isn't as simple as pouring a footing or buying a premade base and mounting any pole and light setup. There are very real dangers that exist and accidents that happen very often with pole lighting not installed with proper products designed for the location and environment, (average rainfall, snowfall, runoff, soil density, and especially wind) and wrong type of anchoring for the type of soil present at the jobsite.
Electricians main goal is to protect lives and property when installing or repairing any electrical work.
Hello Dustin, what voltage are you feeding those light poles with? 347V. If so what size of wires are you feeding them with because of the voltage drop? Great Video!
I don't think 347 is used in the US. More likely 277V or 480V.
@@illestofdemall13 Most lamps are 120 volt single phase in North America (at least where I live). Easy to tap off the utility as they're already supplying 120/240v for residential and light commercial is 120/208v so easily tapped off existing transformers.
@@TheDrew2022 277/480V is also used a lot in commercial areas here in the US.
@@illestofdemall13 A lot of commercial buildings in my area get 347/600v supplied to the building. They still have a step-down transformer to get 120/208. And every building I've worked on, the outside lighting loads were typically 120v.
@@TheDrew2022 Where are you located?
So the purpose of the grounding electrode conductor is to keep the rebar at the same potential as Earth and inhibit galvanic corrosion, right? Without it, the rebar would rust out more quickly. A similar concept comes into play when ships dock and tie in to the local power grid - they need a ground potential strap to keep the hull from rusting out into the seawater.
It does nothing. It is a waste of labor and materials.
@@whiggins101 Cite your sauce please.
@@petersage5157 My training as an electrical engineer. I've always suspected it came from the utility side. They put ground conductors on their poles, but for very different reasons.
Peter, most ships are wired ungrounded delta in order to isolate the potential from ground. Their theory is that they don't want a single ground fault disabling the system. It's usually safer to have power than none. They have sacrificial anodes to handle any circulating currents. Cadwelds are standard in most large scale light pole installs and the ground rod conductor must be attached to the pole base and any metal conduit. Yes, it will help in a lightning strike, but the main purpose is to make sure a metal pole does not become energized. In a utility power house or substation they even tie them all to the ground grid (plus fencing, etc).
@@tgmct.......but the main purpose is to make sure a metal pole does not become energized...... The rod will not supply a current return path to the source . The EGC prevents the light pole from becoming energized. Any light pole with a rod and no EGC is a shock hazard.
What is cad welding?
While working as maintenance; I would find the hand hole cover missing on the light pole and the wires inside the pole pulled out. I don't know why persons would such a very dangerous thing.
We pour our own bases and set our own bolts just for that reason. If you hang your bolt template from 2x4s and put rebar at bottom of bolts in x shape keeping everything in place it will make your life easier. And that concrete was so cracked wtf.
I installed this by self lol with my bucket, the truck installed more than 400 pcs
7:05 What in the world did they do to that concrete? I've done so many poles now in my career and I've never seen anything so horrendous. It's like if I did it myself cuz I don't ever pour anything. We gunna take bets to see how long those poles will stay standing?
Is it common for electricians to be the ones to dig trenches and operate heavy machinery to, in this example, lift the poles up in place?
If I moved to Austin TX. Would you hire and train me as an apprentice
for the love of all that is holy please run another 1/2-3/4 conduit for low voltage data, everyone wants cameras for the parking lot after the fact. hanging a 12x12 with a transformer, a poe switch and a wifi antenna, off a light pole aint pretty, also it sucks when a whole string are run off of one photo cell or if the photo cell isn't in the top with the light fixture.
My son works solely with light poles for a large city.
A lot of 5G transmitters are going on light standards(poles).
They're putting in lots of vehicle chargers onto the street standards.
Now there's something I've never worked on before. I'd have been ticked off if aI couldn't use PVC for the lights. Ridgid conduit adds a lot of cost to the job including labor. For the record, I am in favor of the ground rods in this situation because of the chance of a lightning strike.
A small little grounding electrode conductor isn’t going to do much in the event of a lightning strike.
I dont understand why you used junction boxes next to poles, rather than running conduit from pole to pole..
Why does mike holt say it’s dangerous to put the grounding electrodes at light poles
Electrical inspectors they can require whatever they want as long as they fall within the code of the state or the area in which electrician is installing is that basically how that works cuz I'm only a first-year electrician and I'm scared to ask my journeyman any question like that he might slap me. LOL he's kind of really old school there's no talking on the job site they're just work work work and and then he talks after work but and it is like really fun to hang out with but during work we don't we're not allowed to really ask questions unless we're like completely lost on something that we're doing new
When my class did concrete work, it turned out way better than the concrete you have for that lamp post. That is honestly some of the worst concrete work Ive ever seen. Did they not vibrate the concrete or like think that imbedding the nuts in was dumb?
Why is the concrete cracked already??
Got to pour watch bro, it would have solved everything....
Would you recommend becoming an electrician at 36 years old?
Those grounds are for lighten...
This is a great video of what not to do. Worst one I've seen on pole bases. Not trying to be an ass but just being honest.
You used THHN and not THWN?
Ridgid conduit??? I wouldn't did the job... wow
Why do you need a set of nuts to level these?shouldn’t the concrete be flat and level?
Never want to have the metal pole base resting directly on concrete, it will cause it to rot out. The threaded rod or bolt used in concrete is galvanized to prevent rot far more than the pole base is. And they will never get it perfectly level when they pour, so the nuts give you the adjustment you need to level it.
dang im early here lol
How do inspectors get away with setting their own standards? I don't see how it can vary person to person when the rules are right there in black and white? Also, is there any type of appeal process in place if an inspector wants something redone that is really going to cost you or just be a big pain the ass to redo? Thanks.
I’ve always wondered the same thing
It is never a good idea to piss off an inspector by questioning his wisdom or authority, but we recently had an issue on our home where an inspector said that a basement egress window was required. After discussions between our contractor and the inspector failed, we had to, in a nice way, demand that the inspector show us, in black and white, exactly what code he was enforcing. Since he was making it all up and couldn't back up his ruling, we got by without the added expense.
National Electrical Code is the minimum standard.
Throughout the code book you will see AHJ.
Authority Having Jurisdiction, your local code.
The local code may require a more stringent requirement to any section of NEC.
Because the wording of the code often has some ambiguity in it. A good example of that is : NEC 334.15(B) "Cable shall be protected from physical damage where necessary ... " in reference to exposed Non Metallic Cable. There is a hell of a lot of room for interpretation in "protected from damage where necessary" and reasonable people can, in good faith, read very different meaning from those 5 words. So you may have very different application of those same 5 words in different jurisdictions.
@@andrewalexander9492 good point!
Same here early lol
Yep always square not always level
No rigid in concrete in the north. Too many issues because of salt. Along with most engineers now flag issues with galvy and concrete
grounding rules are funny. Since you already have rebar/conduit in the ground, you figure that's enough. Kinda like they want water pipes grounded, but they are already metal pipes, underground. How can you be any more "grounded"?
Some jurisdictions allow non-metallic pipe for underground lines, and sometimes there are non conducting segments of piping between the interior piping and the underground connection . A metal water pipe in a house does not necessarily have a good conductive path to the ground.
@@andrewalexander9492 does a metal water pipe in the earth provide a good ground? while outside the house?
They want them bonded, not grounded. Bonded means all metal parts, conductive pipes, etc are bonded together to avoid a difference in potential between different parts.
Code violation 344.10(B)(1)