Feeder cable

Feeder is the large flexible cable that carries a service from a company switch or generator to the distribution. It is single-conductor: each phase, the neutral and the ground is its own cable, terminated on cam connectors, so a three-phase run is a bundle of five.

Size follows current. A 400 amp service is commonly run on 4/0, which is heavy enough that a long run is a planned carry rather than something two people do between other tasks.

On site the rules that bite are about the public rather than about electricity. A feeder run cannot be spliced or tapped between enclosures — the run goes from box to box intact. Where it crosses a route people use, it is protected: matting secured down, a cable ramp, or the run taken overhead or around. Connectors are not left lying in standing water or on wet ground unless they are rated for it, which outdoors in Florida is a daily consideration rather than an occasional one.

The planning decision feeder forces is distance, because cable is the part of a power plan that is actually scarce. A distro positioned to keep feeder runs short and branch circuits long is cheaper, lighter and quicker to strike than one placed for convenience next to the source, and that trade is made on the drawing.

Corporate event production — owned inventory, our own crew, and a site survey before anything is specified.

• Cam-Lok (camlock) The single-pole connector feeder cable lands on — one conductor per connector, colour-coded by convention rather than by code, and connected ground first.
• Power distro The portable box that takes one large feed and breaks it into protected circuits — the thing between a building’s power and every piece of equipment on the show.
• Company switch The venue’s connection point for temporary power — a protected tap installed so a production can land feeder without touching the building’s panels.