DrVlikhell
Active member
As part of installing three mini split AC units in my house I also had to install a sub panel outside, trench conduit from my power pole to the house, trench conduit for two of the units, and run conduit under the crawl space of the house for the third. Recently I had the inspector out to have a look and I passed with flying colors. In fact, the first thing he said when walking around the back of the house was "damn, this looks better than some contractors." So my attention to detail, aka ocd, paid off.
I just wanted to say thanks for the help and advice I received on here, especially the idea for the inspection pipes, which the inspector didn't even measure, just looked down one of them and said "yeah I can tell that's deeper than 18 inches." He also didn't open up the main panel on the pole, only the new sub panel. All he seemed to be concerned about was if the conduit was secure, if I had put silicone on the bottom of the sub panel or not (I didn't, as per code), and if the breaker screws were torqued to spec. He checked several LBs for movement including the one I drilled into the back of the main panel. He didn't look inside any of the AC disconnects either, just checked to make sure conduit was secure on one of them. He also didn't check any of the labels on the outside units, which I was concerned about because two of them say to use a fused disconnect, though the manufacturer told me in an email that a fused disconnect wasn't necessary. I was also worried that he wouldn't like how I mounted the SPD on a little post sticking off the bottom of the sub panel, but he didn't say anything about it, again just twisted it a bit to see if it was tight.
So thanks again for the help and advice. Here's a picture of my sub panel so you can see part of what this forum has helped out with.
(Just noticed the inspector bent the bottom two wires on the right when he was checking them for tightness. They were as straight as the wires on the left. Will I go out and straighten them? Hmm... maybe.)
I just wanted to say thanks for the help and advice I received on here, especially the idea for the inspection pipes, which the inspector didn't even measure, just looked down one of them and said "yeah I can tell that's deeper than 18 inches." He also didn't open up the main panel on the pole, only the new sub panel. All he seemed to be concerned about was if the conduit was secure, if I had put silicone on the bottom of the sub panel or not (I didn't, as per code), and if the breaker screws were torqued to spec. He checked several LBs for movement including the one I drilled into the back of the main panel. He didn't look inside any of the AC disconnects either, just checked to make sure conduit was secure on one of them. He also didn't check any of the labels on the outside units, which I was concerned about because two of them say to use a fused disconnect, though the manufacturer told me in an email that a fused disconnect wasn't necessary. I was also worried that he wouldn't like how I mounted the SPD on a little post sticking off the bottom of the sub panel, but he didn't say anything about it, again just twisted it a bit to see if it was tight.
So thanks again for the help and advice. Here's a picture of my sub panel so you can see part of what this forum has helped out with.
(Just noticed the inspector bent the bottom two wires on the right when he was checking them for tightness. They were as straight as the wires on the left. Will I go out and straighten them? Hmm... maybe.)