SER cable size and plug question

[marubadu]

I had a rough inspection on my electrical and he passed the trench part. He told me to put 15 amp tamper proof plugs on my 20 amp out let circuits, which I thought was weird for a shop. Is that okay? seems like I'm missing some capacity if I do that.

On the advice of friend who's a master electrician, I ran 1/0, 1/0, 1/0 aluminum wires through 140-ish ft. of conduit with #8 ground. (PITA to work with.) He (the inspector) told me to just put a 8"x8" junction box and splice in service wire to the panel to avoid running conduit. I only found 1/0, 1/0, 1/0 aluminum SER with a 2 or 3 ground. Is that okay or do the grounds need to be the same #8?

I'm not an electrician, so there's that.

 

[Bert_]

20 amp plugs are a waste of money most of the time. Do you own any tools with a 20 amp end? Because that is the only reason to have a 20 amp plug.

Transitioning to ser could make sense if you have a long run on the inside of the building and it's hard to run the conduit. If it's just a short ways I'd probably just do it in pipe and eliminate a splice.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I had a rough inspection on my electrical and he passed the trench part. He told me to put 15 amp tamper proof plugs on my 20 amp out let circuits, which I thought was weird for a shop. Is that okay? seems like I'm missing some capacity if I do that.

Yes, it is okay. NEC allow 15A outlets on a 20A circuit. I have only ONCE seen a device that had a NEMA 5-20 (120V@20A) plug (it was a 20+ yo computer server).

I think the whole tamper resistant outlets is a scam by the equipment manufacturers to increase their revenue ! I grew up without them. My children survived. My GRANDCHILDREN have survived !! Its a SCAM !

On the advice of friend who's a master electrician, I ran 1/0, 1/0, 1/0 aluminum wires through 140-ish ft. of conduit with #8 ground. (PITA to work with.) He (the inspector) told me to just put a 8"x8" junction box and splice in service wire to the panel to avoid running conduit. I only found 1/0, 1/0, 1/0 aluminum SER with a 2 or 3 ground. Is that okay or do the grounds need to be the same #8?

Personally, I would run the conduit inside and terminate at the load center.

 

[sberry]

Probably should have been 6 ground, but,,

 

[marubadu]

20 amp plugs are a waste of money most of the time. Do you own any tools with a 20 amp end? Because that is the only reason to have a 20 amp plug.

I don't recall ever seeing a 20 amp end ever.


Transitioning to ser could make sense if you have a long run on the inside of the building and it's hard to run the conduit. If it's just a short ways I'd probably just do it in pipe and eliminate a splice.

The reason for switching to ser is that it's super tight in the house to the panel.

 

[nh_yota]

The only thing I've ever seen with a 20A plug is a floor buffer.

 

[sberry]

Yes, they do that to prevent the janitors from using the general circuits. I saw one in a school a while back, the vac had the factory 15 end cut off and a 20 installed. It was a light vac and the main problem with it was the cord was too short to reach the dedicateds so someone twisted it back to fit 15 outlets.