for the ground, YES you put a rod.

for the other questions, what size temporary service are you running and what will your loads be? as to how many and what sized breakers, it depends on teh box.

ask your electrician what he normally installs.

I will be wiring a my house myself.I have no experience with temp. poles. The house will eventually be 200 amp. service. The temp. pole is for framing and rough in work before the house will have power. I thought code limited the amount of breakers you can have in a temp. pole?

Thanks

i am not a sparky, so not sure if the code limits it or not. i would do as follows, and it may be overkill.

you need to sit down and think of how many circuits you will need. if you ar egoing to have a lot of guys around working then you need to give each group at least 1 circuit. put you work lights on their own circuit. you don't want to be that a night and trip a braker and lose ALL lights. figure you need 1 circuit for for the air compressor, 1 for each table saw, and then a couple more for general skill saws and etc. so maybe 10 total, and that should give a little to spare. remember, you can always install unused circuits, but it is a pain to try and stick 10 breakers in a 6 slot box!

i would get a 100 amp main panel and wire everything to it. they don't cost that much, and this will cover you if you need additional capacity later inthe build before your main 200 is in service.

from the meter to the panel you would run #2. if you can mount the meter base on the top of the temporary panel, you only need enough wire to reach from out the top of the mast to the panel lugs, maybe 10 feet per wire and you need 3 of them. for a ground get 5 feet of #4 and a ground rod. it can be right below the panel.

you REALLY need to get a couple of wiring books if you plan on doing this yourself. if you honestly don't knwo how to figure load requirements for a temporary panel, how do you think you will know what to do when wiring the permanent structure? i would hate for you to spend thousands of dollars on wire and then the inspector make you rip it all right back out.

'Temporary' poles are the same as any other service for grounding.
Two electrodes, correctly spaced, etc.

Unless you enclose the panel completely it also must be rated for use outside.

This adds to the cost.
They typically get used over and over to try and save money.

Cost of hooking them to the POCO varies.

For a one time gig like yours, it's easier to use a generator. Most framing contractors have their own, it's common practice.

As for power for your own work, I would just buy my own generator. It'll do what you need during the contruction, but unlike the temp pole, when you are done the money is not wasted. You will have a generator to either sell or keep (future work or just an emergency generator for power outages).

Thanks for all he great information.I have read electrical books and taken a basic electrical course but they never give details on temp pole setup and breakers allowed in a temp pole. As most things, help from people who have already done it is invaluable.

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

You won't find anything in a book real detailed about temporary service because service requirements are one of the things dictated heavily by the power company. Yes you will need a grounding system.

Try calling the electric company and ask if they have a note on temporary service requirements (which will tell you what they want before they hook up as far as the pole and meter connections).

This is the Progress Energy link for the Carolinas. Go to the link "Detailed Instructions for Service & Installation".

Your POCO probably has a similar document.

http://www.progress-energy.com/custservice/carbusiness/builders/installs/index.asp

Thanks again, I called my utility and they sent me a book
on what they required for temp. hook up. It is easy to follow, and has great sketches just like the web page I was directed to go to by mile 13.
It's up to me now!!!

You need two grounding rods min 2 ft apart.
Meter box has to have a bypass inside.
The panel has to be rated for the outside use and has to have main breaker.
Use wires rated for the main breaker (ie: 100A -double0, 200A quad0)for the connection between meter and main panel and the drop.
Use as many circuit breakers as needed.
The pole has to have two braces 90° apart and has to be buried at least 4ft.
You need to install a service head and leave at least 3 ft of wire for the rain drop loop.

Hope this helps
Boggie

Could you please explain "Meter box has to have a bypass inside"? I don't know what that is?

Thanks in advance.