Aluminum feeder - confused on nomenclature

[mark gunther]

Apologies if I should have asked this in my previous thread, but it is a new conundrum.

For those who haven't seen it, I'm needing to run power from my 200A panel to a 100A subpanel 75ft away, underground. I will have some 110v circuits and couple of 220v for heat and air, as well as futureproofing for a) table saw/planer, and b) selling the house - someone might want to do some welding out there for all I know. For cost reasons I'm going with Aluminum feeder, but am finding choosing my cable to be a little (lot) perplexing.

I'm finding all sorts of varieties - URD, USE, solid, stranded, triplex, quadplex, MHF. I get the terminology, but which of these are mutually exclusive? I'm finding URD that is service entry, so is it both URD and USE? But I read that URD cannot enter the house and needs to be junctioned into SER.

I need to be able to direct bury it and run it inside the house to the breaker, in conduit if I have to. I believe it needs to be quadplex and grounded outside the subpanel.

From what I understand, this (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-500-ft-2-2-2-4-AL-USE-MHF-Service-Entry-Electrical-Cable-28712801/202316409#customer_reviews)or this (http://www.wirestock.net/2-2-2-4-aluminum-quad-dyke-wire-by-the-foot.html)is what I need.

I get that 6/3cu would do everything that I need it to. Correct ampacity, direct bury, can go in the house etc etc. But I cant afford $250+ on this. I know the right aluminum cable exists out there, I just can't seem to find it.

My plan is to do the interior wiring, dig the trench, buy the cable, lay it in the ground and have an electrician come out and do the hook ups, then have it inspected. I want to leave as little as possible to the electrician for cost purposes, but still have him do the hazardous bits like connecting up the aluminum, as I know this is a dodgy area.

Thanks

Edit:
Southwire's spec sheet states "Southwire mobile home feeder consists of four quadruplexed type RHH or RHW-2 or USE-2 AlumaFlex AA-8000 series
aluminum alloy compacted conductors."
So it's suitable for direct bury and RHW-2 means it's flame retardant and as such can be run in conduit to the panel. So, my conclusion is that this (http://www.homedepot.com/p/Southwire-500-ft-2-2-2-4-AL-USE-MHF-Service-Entry-Electrical-Cable-28712801/202316409#customer_reviews)has everything I'm looking for. Can I get some reassurance on this before I go ahead and buy some?

[Tom M King]

Yes, the "mobile home" service entrance wire is what you need. That's what I have used for this very purpose all the time. You can get it from an electrical supplier for a lot less, maybe half, of what it costs at HD. If you ask at the electrical supply for "mobile home service entrance wire", they will know what you are talking about. It's pretty tough stuff too.

It's okay for direct burial, and you will only need conduit where it's out of the ground, down to where it turns.

If you use metal conduit, the ends need to be protected with plastic bushings before you pull the wire, as are required for any type of wire. The inspector will look for them.

[mark gunther]

"down to where it turns" do you mean right up to the panel? Sorry, not down on all the lingo!

[Tom M King]

Say the trench is three feet deep, the conduit goes down as far as the wire can stay straight easily, and then stops to allow the wire to turn without interference with the bottom end of the conduit, so it might stop a foot off the bottom of the trench. It's not an exact measurement, and the inspector is not going to spend a lot of time on it. He just needs to see that it's down in the ground, but not a kink spot for the wire. The conduit needs to protect the wire from weedeaters, and garden tools. I don't think in words, so I'm not the best with them.

[mark gunther]

Thank you so much for your help. I've now got to check local code to see if I need 4 wire to run the ground back to the box, or 3 wire and ground at the subpanel. Really appreciate your time on helping me out.