Electrical wire terminology 1

[looksatstars]

I am in Civil and don't have much experience in electrical at all.
I am doing up a contract for some electrical work to site service some camping lots.
I got the plans from the electrical engineer and I want to call the electrical supplier wholesale to get some prices.
how do I say these items over the phone.
1. 3#2 AL c/w #6 GRND
is this "Three number two wire in aluminimum with number six ground"?

2. 3#2XL c/w #6 GRND

3. 3# 1/0 AL c/w #6 GRND

4. 3# 1/0XL AL c/w #6 GRND

I would appreciate any help.Thanks

 

[blutfort]

First number is the quantity of current carrying conductors.
Say: "Three two guage" or "Three one ought"

AL is aluminium. I'm not sure what XL is. Is this a typo and should it be AL?

c if for current carrying conductors.

/w #6 Grnd:
Say "With #6 ground."

The supply house is also going to need to know the "Type" of wire/cable that you are going to run. THHN, MTW, AWM, SO Cord, etc...

 

[mls1]

XL stands for cross linked. XLPE, for example, is cross linked polyethylene insulation. It's a method of catalyzing two compounds in the insulation. I believe it was originally developed by DOW Corning.

 

[EEJaime]

What the supply house is going to need is a quantity, type of wire, color of the insulation if specified and size of conductors.

These feeders are made up of multiple individual conductors, they are not pre-made feeders. So if your first feeder is 100 feet in length, you will need 300' of #2 aluminum, black, THHN and 100 feet of #6 aluminum,green.

You will need a quantity in linear feet or hundreds of linear feet, (lf or clf assuming you are in the US), for each type. For example all your grounds appear to be # 6 AWG, so you would take the total length of all the feeders, add them together, (assuming you don't need XLP for the feeders with the 'XL' insulation), and tell the supplier you will need x number of feet of each size, insulation type, color and conductor material.

BUT TO ANSWER YOUR ORIGINAL QUESTION:
1. 3#2 AL c/w #6 GRND
is this "Three number two wire in aluminimum with number six ground"?
[THIS IS THREE NUMBER TWO, ALUMINUM AND ONE #6 GROUND]
2. 3#2XL c/w #6 GRND
[THREE NUMBER 2-CROSS LINKED POLY, ALUMINUM AND ONE NUMBER 6 GROUND]
3. 3# 1/0 AL c/w #6 GRND
[THREE NUMBER 0NE-OUGHT ALUMINUM AND ONE NUMBER 6 GROUND]
4. 3# 1/0XL AL c/w #6 GRND aluminimum with number six ground"?
[THREE NUMBER ONE-OUGHT CROSS LINKED POLY ALUMINUM AND ONE NUMBER SIX GROUND]

Take care as some specifications require specific color coding of phases, grounds etc...

Best of luck,

 

[peebee]

You should get your engineer to clarify if the AL is referring to the conduit, or to the wire.

Actually, it's possible that "c" = cable, that he's asking for 3-wire plus ground aluminum cables with no conduit at all.

I'm going to reiterate what EEJaime said, just to make sure you don't miss that: "if your first feeder is 100 feet in length, you will need 300' of #2" -- not 100' of 3#2. Your distributer would just laugh at you, it'd be like asking for 100' of hot-n-cold pipe instead of 200' of copper pipe. BUT, if you need cable, then you SHOULD ask for 100 feet of 3#2 cable.

 

[waross]

100 feet of conductor or cable in a 100 foot run is very difficult to connect. Better to order 110 feet or 330 feet.
respectfully

 

[jraef]

That's where that "cable stretcher" comes in handy!