Surge arrestor

[mathew stouffer]

I think this is for a low voltage lighting system, not sure. Can this be double tapped.

[John Kogel]

No it is a surge protector for all the downstream wiring, AFAIK. Those little 16 ga wires will protect your house wiring from a big bad power surge. :D

It is not correct to double tap anything with the service conductors.
It should probably have been installed inside on the breaker panel, somehow, but don't ask me how.

Now that somebody has messed with those connections, they will need to be re-torqued to the correct specs by a competent electrician.
Also, the conduit below the meter box needs a repair.

[Frank Norman]

In a knockout in a distribution panel with the wires connected to breaker-protected branch circuits, or to a dedicated pair of breakers, is where it should be installed, i.e. per instructions at http://www.intermatic.com/~/media/files/intermatic/products/instructions/surge%20suppression/ig1240rc%20-%20english.ashx

These include - route the green wire to the ground bus bar (if there isn't one connect to the neutral), connect the white wire to the neutral bus bar .. the two black wires must be connected to two separate 15A or 20A circuit breakers, ... Not more than one wire should be connected to circuit breaker... Wires should be routed with rounded bends, not sharp corners, and cut when necessary to shorten the length of the connection and avoid coiled wires.

To connect the surge protector's wires to existing circuits without double terminating on the breakers you can generally use properly rated wirenuts in the panel.

[Jerry Peck]

Yes, it CAN be multiple tapped - you even have a photo of it being done, BUT ... ;) ... NO, it is not ALLOWED to be multiple tapped.

However, of much more concern is the service lateral riser has slipped down and the service entrance conductors are EXPOSED ... :eek:

I imagine there are other problems I did not look for, have the electrician replace/correct/etc. the service lateral riser and *everything else* they see and work on while doing that work.

[Richard D. Fornataro]

It should have been installed as per Mr. Norman's post and the manufacturer's instruction. I would like to add that the two separate circuit breakers referred to should be two separate phases through a circuit breaker. It would be permissable to attach each black wire to a two-pole circuit breaker to ensure that the device is protecting both A & B phases.

No expansion joints required on the lateral riser?

I doubt that the earth settled to that degree but it wouldn't surprise me. Actually, a second look at the photo leads me to believe that the installation was originally done that way given the paint/stain on the feeder copnductors and the assembly to the immediate left of the lateral riser being separated as well.

Definitely should be installed in the service panel.

[Jerry Peck]

Actually, a second look at the photo leads me to believe that the installation was originally done that way given the paint/stain on the feeder copnductors and the assembly to the immediate left of the lateral riser being separated as well.


All that paint/stain indicates to me is that someone with a paint brush did not let anything get in their way - they painted EVERYTHING ... and I doubt that is original paint/stain, it is likely 'Flipper' paint as they paint everything when they flip a house, stand too long in one place and you'll be painted too. :)