What Are Polaris Taps? How Do You Connect Large Gauge Wires?
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- Опубліковано 31 січ 2023
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We all know to use wire nuts to splice small loose wires in a junction box. But what about the larger ones? What to do there? In today’s episode, Dustin explores one of our shows sponsors- Polaris Connectors- and the multitude of options they provide for the larger wire terminations.
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In years past, to splice large wires, we had to use a Kearney (split bolt) connector to join the wires, then apply rubber insulating tape around the entire thing, before wrapping the entire thing with a high grade electrical tape. You may have a need to simply splice a set of wires or have a need to tap off of a larger feeder wire with smaller wires to feed different equipment. Labor intensive and time consuming for sure!! But thanks to Polaris Connectors, they have developed high grade termination blocks that are completely surrounded by a non-conductive rubberized coating. These terminations drastically cut down on installation time and much hated frustrations by the installing electricians!
The Polaris connectors are arranged by size of conductors, quantity of conductors, application needs, and installation environment. First, you choose the size of conductors you are going to be using. They are made with a wide range of cables in mind- #4-#14 on the smaller end, 3/0-#6 somewhere in the middle, up to 750kcmil-250kcmil on the larger end. Wire quantity is also to be considered when using these types of taps. You don’t want to just order the largest (which can be over 12 conductor capacity, although they do offer different options if space is an issue) as the taps are not overly small in size. Pick the quantity of conductors you are working with (add additional spaces if there is a possibility of future expansion) and order accordingly.
Another item to consider is the application itself. The connector can be ordered with the connection ports on one side if you are looking to splice conductors that enter/leave on the same side of the enclosure. They also offer a splice with the connection ports on opposite sides of the connector to be used if the wires are entering/leaving on opposite sides of the enclosure or if you are using it as a butt splice of sorts. If space is an issue in your scenario and you are needing to splice say 6 wires, they even offer a stacked connector that still provides spaces for 6 cables, but the ports are stacked on top of one another in lieu of all on the same plane. In other words, in lieu of 6 ports in one row, you can get them in 2 rows of 3. There are even models that have bolt down holes so you can bolt the splice to the back/bottom of the enclosure so your conductors can be trained out of the way and not just flopping around!
While most of our splicing needs are in a dry environment, there are instances where we would need a splice that is capable of living in a damp environment. Polaris Connectors offer a line of connector that is rated for wet/damp environments as well as a series that is capable of being used in a direct burial option.
A few tips to help when splicing wires that are larger in size. Make sure that you are not over stripping your conductors as this could leave you with exposed conductors that may lead to shorting. You also want to make sure to strip enough insulation from the wires, so the binding screw is in complete contact with the conductor and not insulation. Another tip is to plan where your taps will go within the enclosure ahead of time, and then cut/bend/shape your incoming/outgoing conductors to fit where you plan them to. It also helps to stagger your splices and not pile them all in one place in the enclosure as the splice point itself takes up more room than the conductor alone. The bolt down option of splice keeps your conductors where you place them! Lastly, make sure you are torquing your splices down to the manufacturers recommended torque values.
We hope this helped to show some of the options that are available when it comes to splicing wires. Do you have any tips you use when splicing large wires. Leave us a comment in the comments section and share them. Please continue to follow Dustin and Electrician U as we are constantly updating our content to assist our followers in becoming the best electricians that they can be.
#electrician #electrical #electricity
I've used a ton of those in my days. One thing you have to pay attention to is the AMP rating on them. I have had several melt down even when they are torqued down tightly. So, make sure that you use them for the correct application.
I love these things! I like things to be organized, and junction boxes (troughs, cabinets, etc…) are almost always chaotic when there are terminations. A little thinking ahead when using these makes a huge difference.
Thank you for all your videos. After watching you for two years Iv finally decided to take my EE98 and EE98J tests. Keep up the good work!!
Not even an electrician. I’m a plumber and still find myself watching your vids all the time. Great content man!
10:30 Those are non-insulated ferules. Ideally you would use a ferule crimper and compress over the wire and then insert into the polaris block. Any fine stranded wire should be done this way with compression screw connectors to prevent the wires from being cut and pressed out of the way. You see this much more on smaller wires in both insulated and non-insulated ferules. As an example in the UK they use them on their RCBO breaker's neutral line, that uses finely stranded wire before being inserted into the neutral bus bar screw connection.
Thanks man, I’m going to buy some before I put stranded in the polaris!
I was on an old resturaunt upfit, and the mass of 350km with split bolts and a TON of wood planks stuffed in to hold the conductors in place...
I was quite proud of the final job with all the taps in place...
And i went back with paralleled 500kcm...
Great product . Great for temporary & emergency work. At a large hospital/ research center that had 19 large ( 2,000 KW ) generators and almost halve did not have built in load banks so we had to push around at least six 100 KW portable load banks and use these to connect wires for them.
These can be used permanently too right? Like say if you're swapping out an ATS or generator and the conductors aren't long enough, you can use these to extend them?
These taps are a must when deploying port gens , not all sites have cam boxes or Appleton plugs . I’ll just pull the wires in the meter and use these monkey knuckles! These things are clutch !
I’ve always called them Polaris lugs. And also you can use them for smaller wires. We use them in the solar industry because they usually seat a wire more securely and is more protected than a wire nut.
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Great presentation. As usual, you provide a treasure chest of information in an easy-to-understand format.
I used to HATE with a passion when I was planning a job out, knowing I was gonna have to use these.. After about the 3rd or 4th job that these were incorporated and always feeling frustrated or just flat out irritated, knowing that I am simply putting this, O.C.D. when I wire a building. I demand that my systems not only on paper look like art work, but be wired as such. My boxes look like butterfly wings, of symmetry and geometry and are balanced visually, of course with safety as my first goal. now days, it is just second nature as to how I run and plumb my wiring. BUT, I actually had to sit down and plan how this can be used, so they do not look so much like a "repair" or a "botched mistake"... I spent about 4 to 6 hours one night, messing with about $7K worth of these various units of all sizes and used bunches of scrap/used wire to do several mock-up's on the workbench, trying to find the sweet spot and angles that is enough angle or lean, that doesn't prevent removal or installation of one feed or being obstructed against the interior of the walls, yet will allow for the wiring to be clamped down flat. Please note, clamping the wiring down is not a requirement in my county, but check with your building code dept for your county's requirements. Now days, I kinda look forwards to the jobs that may has as many as 20 of these, although a rare and exceptionally specialized installations, I love the look of a flat laid feed where not one wire crosses over another.. I little planning once the job is understood, and I hit the drafting table for this part.
There was a massive job that incorporated bunches of these and every output in its own box has its own disconnect, each wired to a PLC or some other means of running CAT cabling to a central computer for weekly safety checks to shut one or all systems down. When done, it was wonderfully beautiful. about 9 weeks later, these business was set to fire things up and start honing the flow of their business, and a semi truck ran off the road and punched through the back wall of this building, and just happened to punch through, in the section where all the breakout boxes and feeds are, breakers flung all over the place.. Please note, I only seen pictures of the chaos as I was about 200 miles away on another job. Thankfully, nobody was hurt, the heavy mains were still luckily not turned on at the sub about 60 yards away. They wanted me to come back and rebuild what was busted down, which was about 30 feet of that block wall. But, I couldn't make it for about 5 to 6 days, as I was already locked into the the job I was on. They found somebody else. A year later, I was contracted to rebuild what the last guy did. which, normally I would say, in defense of that guy, "he was under extreme conditions and just got it up and running"... but, what an absolute mess. There was several things that made no sense even by standards of code, and there was a few issues that prevented a few circuits form ever working.
The contract was "are you wanting just a fix?" or "Are you wanting a tear out and redo?"... They wanted it just like it once was so there was no excuse for any future issues, considering what they were doing as lives were depending upon things being 100% good. The fixes, if I had only been allowed to do that, may have taken a week to rectify, assuming, but, may have only taken a day, as in the process of being allowed to rip all the old stuff out, and run new, that offers a luxury of seeing where the actually problems were, hind sight is 20/20 I suppose. but it took a month and a week to redo everything to meet all the standards that were required and asked.. and even made that one look even better, because I got to do it a second time, and knowing what I didn't like about the first artwork, I got to learn from that and just make it even better looking.
Some say, making your routing look good takes too much time. And yes, it does take more time, but I am telling you, the more you do it, the faster you are at working like this, and if you ever have troubles in the future, you now SHINE, because not only you but any other journeyman can walk right in, gather his bearings as to the layout of the land, so to speak, and jump right in, and not be grumpy at a mess of messes of spiderwebs of wiring. Just remember to put your company name on everything, inside and outside of every box, and wiring run, even tag the one wire you run in a system that is already there, that states "This tag, attached to this wire, was installed by company XYZ" and do it at both ends of that run, clarifying that you have not messed with the other stuff or had nothing to do with it. .
OOPS... sorry, I was running down the rabbit hole in a novel.. I am sorry.. lol
You should go ahead and write that book instead of pouring out your philosophy in a comment section. What a waste.
Just a note for anyone interested, per code those taps and splices are not permitted to occupy more than 75% of the cross sectional area of the wireway.
Reworking an old trough, these are a godsend.
So much neater and faster and safer.
Dude, I've seen so many of your videos now and since I'm a Master Electrition in Sweden I do compare US electritions to Swedish Electritions on how we do things differently, Would be soo coool to see you speak to different electritions from different countries and see how things are done differently. It's just amazing to see how our trades are done differently =)
Go back to school boy!
What was your opinion on the weird "insert" as opposed to a ferrule at 10:30? It looks like they just stuck a non-insulated ferrule in the tap and called that good enough but I don't know why on earth they would just use the screw to crimp it onto the wire as opposed to a proper crimp tool.
@@AndrewMerts First of, I'm a Swedish Electrition In Sweden hence why I think all of his videos are intresting cause it's so different compared to here
For the inserts, I understand that for time and money they did a solution like that cause it's faster then needing to get a crimp tool that's that big, Sometimes you 'd have to use a hydralic crimp tool and they're not cheap, That's a nice solution to a expensive problem, Keeps everything tidy in the time of need, It's still approved so no matter how you argue against it, It's still approved by the code and if it's approved it has gone through testing before approving. So, It's fine. It's not the best but it's fine if tourqed to spec.
Openly finely stranded cables in that without the insert will make not such as a good termination like he explained in the video
Over here, FInely stranded conductors at that large/big does not exist over here, And they only exist in few strand conducters for really big cables in ALU, I have done Coppar finely stranded once that was really big but that went from a out of the country system 6 ton generator, Wouldn't recommend. And for that we use something called GARO GKLs to do connections in a fuse box or distribution panel like the Polaris Taps
We do have to worry more about 3 phase 400 volt or 600 volt systems alot more frequent when it comes to phase rotation and doing those right so we can't use the huuuuuge polaris taps blocks there, we strictly come to use GLKs or something similar and making sure we connect them properly for rotation and worry about not shorting stuff out
The rotation become extra important when it comes to electrical motors, Making sure you do a Y or D connection to a motor, If it's 400 or 600 volts and such
Other then that, that's a fine solution
I remember when we had to use these when stringing up Christmas lights around city parks. I counted almost 24,000 bulbs installed into the strings by hand in under two weeks! Great job good times. Too bad they laid me off before the tree lighting shop photo. Apprentices are sometimes nobodies hahaha.
What a great video! Well done, sir! I am running a 400 amp service 2x200, with 4/0 ALUM.
This solved my problems. Love ya, bro!
I was expecting a code time, especially for taps but still a great video thanks! Oh another great trip is to carry a silver marker so you can make your strip mark on the black jacket.
ive seen these in a new apt building build i opened the door to the box they was in and they kinda just fell out at me they was resting on the inside of the door big cabinet with about 5 meters above it. love the videos by the way man!
Great tips and info. Thanks Justin.
I remember the first time I saw one of those, I fell in love. Before those all we had was split bolts and paper backed Rubber tape.
Dustin is a legend, cutting lots of 250 MCM heavy wires just to show how Polaris work 👍
My ahj allows wet location versions of these at the weatherhead to connect the service wires to the overhead utility secondary. I personally think it's cool
Great job, thanks for sharing.
Polaris will also create custom versions of their blocks. They are made in Florida and have a turnaround time of about 1-2 weeks. If you want one to be mountable, and there isn't one, you can get them to make it. Also to answer the question of what is the largest, we had a customer order a custom 24 port (barrel), 500MCM, single stacked block. Polaris now has a Service Entrance and Parallel rating on certain blocks. - TN State Rep for Polaris (Joseph Nance)
Do you know if it's possible to order a custom Polaris block made 100% of Brass or Copper for copper only applications ?
@Dicofole I'm currently checking with Polaris. May I ask what the application is that you would need these? The Standard material works well with Copper wire.
@@Dicofol1 I have confirmed that the material Polaris uses is designed for AL/CU, and they do not purchase material for Copper only due to the standard material already being usable for both Aluminum and Copper.
I'm interested in hearing where and what application you would use a copper-only Insulated Lug.
@@josephnance3843 It would be for extending a 00 power line inside a building prone to water infiltration. I do not trust the Oxide prevention compound used to enable AL/CU connections., in general. This is why I was looking for a CU only alternative. How durable and effective is the anti-oxidant for this Polaris connector?
I would love a video on splicing 14, 12 or 10 UF underground. How to and different methods.
Are there any code constraints in regards to using these? I think that'd make for a good video.
Great stuff, thank you 👍
Hey Dustin, can you please make a video explaining the different types of overhead services connectors and the way they should properly be installed according to the NEC. Thank you and I hope you see this soon
For telecommunications DC power distribution, the industry standard is crimped H-taps, lower resistance, higher mechanical strength. Even on the AC side we really prefer crimped connections over screw compression.
@ 6:40 I thought it was funny "you're not gonna have a cut off wire, but bear with me" I heard "...but bare with me"
Just started an apprenticeship on Monday down on fort myers beach and we are having to use tons of these to restore temporary power.
Awesome video like aslways Dustin, dude I've been learning so much from your videos. I am planning on going for my license in about a years time. I am currectly working for a pool company, wiring up equipments and installing subpanels. Any chance we can get a video going into Article 680 on the NEC? Thanks Dustin you're the man.
Great info. Thanks
Video is fine for commercial electricians. But for DIY to connect no.6 aluminum to no.10 copper in a wall heater for example, use an al/cu splicing lug and heat shrink tubing.
The Polaris taps work well to step up/down for voltage drop reasons. Also they are faster than wrapping a kerney
I was wondering about you not mentioning or using a torque wrench in your demonstrations and was going to comment on it but it looks like you added an addendum to your video. That digital readout on the torque wrench is pretty freaking cool too. Heard about them but haven't seen them in use in the field.
It seems like these might be a good application for DC...like for solar power runs...the conductors I use are 0000 fine copper.
@15:23 Love the powered wire stripper you use here...way easier than how I do it by hand :)
On this video, I notice that we're using the "jump" motion a lot. A few times is interesting to the eyes and attention, but many times gets distracting and makes the video harder to focus upon. ⚡
I also really hate this video "effect".
Some people just Over use it in their videos, like after each fking sentences...🤬
Anoying AF.
Just wanted to share my frustration with someone who understands it 🍻
@@martf1061 Once in a while, it's fine, but over and over again... it strongly detracts from the video message itself.
I always use mountable Power distribution blocks when I am branching off SEC in a gutter. They are a little cheaper and have tons of configurations available.
I've used one at the service drop and weather head I taped it up after torquing it down. I never check if they where good for wet locations.
Another good video keep em coming
Great video,
Im trying to hook up 2/0 SER wire to my 200amp service panel, however my ground and white wires are too thick for the busbars in the panel. Is there a specific wire reducer I should use to bring the wire size down to at least 4/0 or smaller? The wires are stranded but i didnt think it was safe to split the wires for the white cable into two separate holes on the busbar. Thanks
Finley stranded wire.
Could you do a video talking about it.
Reason being, a place I worked at. We had machinery with moving equipment. Some larger stuff. There was power and communication cables in a track that resembled a tank track. Probably 20 feet long and would bend into a U shape as it moves along a track.
The communication cables had to be replaced every couple of years. I worked with the maintenance tech doing this.
There were many smaller gauge wires inside the cables. There was a powder inside the cables to help them move inside the cable bundle as it was continuously bending as the equipment moved.
These cables would short out and need to be replaced.
I wonder if a different type of cable was needed.
How do these connectors compare to shear bolt connectors? I remember a video where Big Clive demonstrated how the latter are used, and they seem to be superior in terms of establishing an electrical connection without the need to remove insulation; they have tangs that simply displace the insulation, which reseals around the tangs.
This guy knows his stuff
I am electrician in Bern an in Europe we dont know this stuff. Its pretty cool this terminals!
4:27 picture shows these taps being used in an outdoor raceway. Isn't that considered "damp" since it is outdoor? Or is this another "varies by location/jurisdiction" thing. Trying to see if I can use these in my upcoming solar install. in an outdoor meter/box combo enclosure.
I’m not a electrician but when I updated my home service to 400amp I used those whenever I can and they are spendy . Just the ones for 10 gauge wire can run 35.00 dollars apiece and that was 18 years ago. Those big ones you showed must run 500.00 dollars or more. I’ve never seen them at a home improvement store. I always had to get them at a industrial electrical supply store. They are great to use and I use them anywhere I can .
The mountable look great. Do you use any type of spacer to offset the polaris tap from the back of the box, so you can have multiple levels of taps?
Hey Dustin could you please do a video explaining corner ground on a 3 phase delta system.
@ 2min you mention using it as a "pass through" but that can only be accomplished by feeding the whole cable through from one end. This connector system doesn't allow for "in the middle" long run taps without cutting the main branch. We always used "H" taps or "C" taps and hydraulic crimpers for a true pass through connection. To bad, as the Crimp style uses a WAY to large cover and these are quite compact.
Excellent information. But when do you use one of these verses a bug and wrapped insulation?
Been using Polaris lugs in solar for a hot minute. They come in clutch if you need to add a disconnect and don't want to do a new wire pull for your neutral and ground.
I have been thinking about using polaris for wiring up electric motors. However, I had a hard time finding their horse power rating for any polaris type products. Do you know if polaris are rated for this application and if they are, where might I find that horse power rating?
What is the best one for burial of 3 parallel connectors? Thks
Two barrel are great for motor terminations #8 and up.
Can you handle that when the wires are hot? Meaning there’s enough insulation to not cause a shock? I plan on using a three wire dual entry with #6 awg to hook up a Victron ip22 charger negative terminal to negatives of two solar batteries. Thanks!
They’re called “insulated multi tap connectors”. Polaris, as you said, is the manufacturer.
Finally, someone who knows.
Hello, I am wiring a manual transfer switch #2 aluminum ( long distance) to #6 copper for a solar inverter application, can I use this? One polaris for each conductor? Thks
First mountable ones I've saw
OFF TOPIC; I am a Credentialed Industrial JOURNEYMAN Electrician in Wisconsin. i have been trying to join the IBEW for a few months. I was finally offered a position within an industrial setting which is inline with my license but the union rep wanted to pay me as a CE5...ive completed a full 5 year electrical apprenticeship and have been an industrial journeyman for a couple years now...how do you suggest i move forward with joining the union but getting my fair pay for my license?
I almost haven't used a split bolt since I found these. Yes, it is really important to torque them. Especially at final position. I believe the largest size cable you can wire nut is #6. I don't wire nut after #8 anymore since I found the Polaris type connectors.
They make larger Polaris lugs.
yes, the smaller ones are handy for all sorts of things. I just retired from 25 years doing generators and my old pet peeve was connecting say #6 stranded to #6 solid for a temporary job. Having a hand full of the smaller ones made life easy and didn't need a half roll of tape to make them safe.
That's really cool, I have connectors like that but they are about the size of a dime,
Very informative. Are they All straight in and straight out or do you use them as 90deg bends?
How do you torque this down or gooden tight is good
Taps sure beat split bolts and tape, except for price.
Have a gutter at the electric distribution house at our church campus, that is 10 foot long. And when it was wired, back in the 70's they used split bolts on everything. Wrapped with rubber tape then over wrap of cloth tape.
And YEIKS the mess of trying to sort out 6 different service disconnects. Oh and yeah fun fact when I opened it, the skeletal remains of a 4 ft long black snake was inside of it.
Can you do a video on how to properly load up a truck. And maybe a walkthrough of a typical shop so apprentices aren’t so lost when they start their apprenticeship and need to find stuff please?
That would be a cool video. I worked in the field for the last 35 years and one of my specialties was outfitting new service vans with shelves / racks. I found that fast moving items and hand tools were best if near the doors. The slower moving parts were closer to the center of the van. Heavy items were close to the floor, but always leaving empty floor space for those larger items on today's job, which will be off-loaded as soon as you got on site.
can i use it to connect 1x awg 3 wire to 8 awg 6 wires? For a project i need to connect 8 individual meters to a main line.
They are definitely quicker and easier than split bolts. I’ve installed dozens of split bolts using 4/0 wire to feed machinery and a few of these definitely easier and faster
I'm running aluminum strand 350 MCM URD into my barndo. 500ft distance utility meter. I'm sweating bending that into place and getting it into my box.... Would anyone recommend running into the house with the MCM and into a polaris tap and then running short runs of copper to in the main panel box?
This reminds me of the Henley Block in the UK. I would say those are much better!
I am currently working with polaris and I had to change several due to cracking(insulation area) why may cause this? Thanks in advance
Interesting. Canada EE student working for an indistrial/power distribution and have never seen these. Typically just see busbars, or straight into switchgear
So would Polaris taps be good for hooking an array of batteries to multiple solar inverters simultaneously using something like 00 gauge wire?
As a Canadian Electrician, I have only used this for only joining in pairs. Is it not common to have a splitter with lugs? Just curious.
Question: I have seen one or two UA-cam videos where Polaris connectors were used to attach service entrance wires to the service drop wires. Would this application be code-compliant? Just curious.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
I need to join a 6/3 wire to another 6/3 wire feeing my hot tub that an inspection discovered currently only has large wire nuts on it. Is a polaris tap the way to do this?
They are great for wiring motors instead of wrapping bugs
Never seen/used those in Canada 🇨🇦, a splitter box is more common or independent run from source would be my preferred way.
We have to use those now instead of the Ilsco piercing supply side taps in the solar industry. Some inspectors are telling us that the piercing taps are going to lose their UL listing.
In the meter enclosure?
No, in the main panel. We can't add anything to the meter can in my area.
Do you mount with a tap kit and machine screw or self tap? Wouldn’t this violate 110.3b for the gutter as it won’t leave a 1/4 in bubble behind the surface mount. This would then trap moisture in and create a damp location. Just wondering your thoughts on this
Was wondering the same. He said use a metal mount of some type behind it but i was thinking how to mount them. Wouldnt be good to penetrate the gutter housing if its around moisture
I want to connect 8/3 in a junction box "no Blue Wire nuts" what would be the best to use that's not an individual block much like a terminal block
What happen if you don't have enough polaris slots for the service conductors? Let's say you want to add another meter. Can you put 2 wires in the same slot?
While in Mexico I had to replace my mother in laws outlets and switch combo and they were all connected like this with pass through’s. All the wire was bare with no insulation haha… Mexico is absolutely wild when it comes to electrical.
Jamaica is the same way, although the new generation has improved things. 25 years ago there was never a cover on any box, panel, or tray.
We definitely live and learn every day, your information and demonstration are priceless.
What happened to what we call Burndy connectors/ spit bolt connectors??
So this is a question rather then a comment, i have a building that is being built on my property and rather then run a second supply drop is it possible to use a tap to split the 1 supply with a tap then run a new line from the tap to the new building meter rather then running another drop. Thinking about cost the electric company is wanting a crazy amount of money to run a new drop to the new building and if a tap can be used that would save somewhere around 750 to 1000
I've heard knuckle taps as well
So... if where my service comes from the meter into the main panel of the house, I could put a trough and then send off wires from the meter off to three panels? Curious if any residential use?
well, you could... but at that point the wires would be long enough that you'd need service disconnects up front. You could use outdoor rated taps installed in a LARGE meter pan, such as those found on a multi-family home.... or just use an outdoor rated panel with several mains installed there. The last is probably easier and cheaper... and will allow for future expansion, service outlet, RV connection, pool panel, hot tub, etc.
I wonder if they are legal in Ontario .We are allowed to use a splitter with multi taps .
So Polaris style taps, Ty-raps, elcro should have won Nobel Prizes. I as an 48 year career electrician, remember T-splicing conductors or split bolt connectors. Insulalated with rubber tape and vinyl tape.
at 48 years in the business, you probably remember old style friction tape and what a pain that was to remove.
@@rupe53 Amen to that!
Morris makes them also and what I have used more than Polaris.
The insert is called a ferrule
Up in Canada we call em insulated lugs
As a European, this is quite interesting to watch.
I have a question. We bought a house (1940's vintage) that has a basement surrounded by a crawlspace. The original electrical service came thru the crawlspace to a Wadsworth 100 amp panel in the basement. Sometime in the late 90's the previous owner decided to put in a heat pump. To accomplish that, they put in a 200 amp Square D panel in the crawlspace backing up to the LB and floated everything (including the existing service) off that. I want to move the 200 amp panel into the basement and do away with the Wadsworth. Would it be worth the money to use Polaris taps to join the new conductors running to the basement to the existing feeds for the panel that will be moved?
Check with your local building inspector. Some AHJ's require a continuous run from the meter base to the first means of disconnect. I. E. the main panel. I failed an inspection over this once. Not a happy customer.
I work in New Jersey. I've only ever heard them be called "bugs".
Cool, wired back in the 80's, the only thing we had were split bolt connectors.
Pain in the @$$, make the connection, wrap on rubber tape, electrical tape.
Recommended to, run for 24 hours, shut off, cut away the rubber & tape, retighten.
More often than not, the connection would be loose from the heating and cooling of current flow variations.
Are polaris taps rated to splice unfused service conductors? See 230.46 Spliced and Tapped Conductors. Power distribution blocks installed on service conductors shall be marked “suitable for use on the line side of the service equipment” or equivalent
This is a chicken-and-egg rule. This requirement is a new one, and the manufacturers are still trying to catch up with this rule, and have commercially available connectors that carry this rating.
The last time I checked, there is currently nothing available that carries this product rating, so you are depending on a 90.4 exception to allow you to continue with the status quo. Polaris and similar manufacturers are working to get their product listed for use on the line side of service equipment, so in the future, their connectors carry this rating.
I like the Polaris bugs (is what I call them) but the one thing I found is once you tighten all the set screws up, if you move them around after tightening them and then recheck them you will find they loosen up. So before I get done i try and check all the set screws to make sure they are tight
That’s common with stranded wires as the individual strands start to flatten out. I always tighten, wiggle and retighten.
@@FishFind3000 if I due aluminum into regular bugs (split bolts) I will hit the back of the bug with a Channel locks a number of times. it’s amazing how much they loosen.
I think that’s where that jacket would be useful