What is this?

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qcroanoke

Sometimes I don't know if I'm the boxer or the bag
Location
Roanoke, VA.
Occupation
Sorta retired........
I can't imagine what it's doing in that panel but it looks like a coax or wavegide off of a communications tower.
 

brantmacga

Señor Member
Location
Georgia
Occupation
Former Child
I can't imagine what it's doing in that panel but it looks like a coax or wavegide off of a communications tower.

looking closer at the top, it appears to be painted.

i can't say for sure that it is; but if so, its not copper and not hardline.
 

active1

Senior Member
Location
Las Vegas
Kind of looks like the copper flex stuff plumbers use to hook up water heaters.

That was my first thought when I seen it.

I did not have a reason to take the cover off.

If it's like every other one the the 1 1/4" pipes are for the branch circuits.

It might have a bit of paint on it from when the wall was painted but it was copper with a connector that looked like brass.

I think wireguru has the answer - "raychem makes a 2hr fire rated cable with a corrugated copper armor jacket on it."

If so it is an MC not an MI cable.

I would think it sould be insulated where the steel strut strap meets the copper.

It was an emergency panel. The red lable says something to that effect. It was also a 3R panel in a finished closet.
 

bkludecke

Senior Member
Location
Big Bear Lake, CA
Occupation
Retired Electrical Contractor
Hey, there is ALWAYS a reason to remove the panel cover. My curiousity has caused me to remove covers, break down doors, peek in windows, and all sorts of stuff that I might have been arrested for. But that's just me.;)
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
Here is some more of it in smaller sizes, these are leaving a smoke evacuation control panel to supply roof mounted smoke exhaust fans at a Lowe's store.

LowesWarehamFA2.jpg



The inside


LowesWarehamFA5.jpg
 

iwire

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Massachusetts
My guess would be the two hour fire rating.

That was my understanding, this control panel is supplied underground and is located in the Fire pump room which is fire resistant to the rest of the store. The cables running to the fans run inside the store and would be subject to heat from the fire the fans are their to ventilate.

I ran all the fans at once and it made quite a wind coming in through the front doors, they also are very loud.
 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
Bob,
Do you recall if the fan motors were outside of the air flow? Also were there fire department controls for these fans? How and when to ventilate a working fire is a critical part of the fire fighting tactics.
 
That was my understanding, this control panel is supplied underground and is located in the Fire pump room which is fire resistant to the rest of the store. The cables running to the fans run inside the store and would be subject to heat from the fire the fans are their to ventilate.

I ran all the fans at once and it made quite a wind coming in through the front doors, they also are very loud.

Hm...I guess it would be used AFTER the fire, as in case of fire the fans are usually shut down.

I am surprised that the cable in question does not have a printing identification on the outside.

The construction is also common to CLX cables or TECK in Canada. The same type; continously welded, corrugated bronze sheeting has also been attempting to replace lead covered cables built for underground use, mostly for MV service. (Lead being an environmental headache and that no splicers left who still know how to 'wipe' lead. Nevermind making a PILC taped stresscone and shielding.):smile:
 

mivey

Senior Member
Hm...I guess it would be used AFTER the fire, as in case of fire the fans are usually shut down.
I saw a program on fire-fighting where they actually put blowers in the door to exhaust the flammable gases to help put out a fire.
 

don_resqcapt19

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Illinois
Occupation
retired electrician
I saw a program on fire-fighting where they actually put blowers in the door to exhaust the flammable gases to help put out a fire.
It can be an effective part of the firefighting process, if used correctly, but if not it will spread the fire to unburned areas. It is called Positive Pressure Ventilation (PPV).
 
Oh this brings back memories....I performed "smoke removal system" special inspections for all Lowe?s west of the Miss. for many years. The fire protection company I worked for until recently engineered these systems for all new Lowe?s stores for nearly 10 years now.

The pics by iwire are of the Vitalink power cable which is -2-hour rated.

http://www.vitalinkcable.com/PDF/VitaLink MC Brochure.pdf

The cable is supposed to home run from the control panel to the exhaust fan without splices. However if a splice is needed, a special ceramic terminal block is required. If exposed to flame the ceramic block fuses the connection leaving it intact to retain the 2-hour rating.

The intent of the smoke exhaust fans are for manual smoke overhaul only and is not a "smoke-control system". The smoke exhaust fan design includes Early Suppression Fast Response (ESFR) sprinklers, and are an alternate design in lieu of smoke and heat vents. The end result is the responding fire department arrives within minutes of a reported fire, the fire is suppressed by the ESFR sprinklers and the smoke removal fans are manually activated by FD personnel, smoke is removed from the store within 10 minutes. This design also alleviates putting holes in the roof.

Lowe?s and other big box whse?s use these systems due to their reliability and performance.

The exhaust fans are high temp rated, dual drive belts and move a minimum 25K cfm each. That?s right, when all 5 fans running there is 125-140 thousand cfm of air exhausting the store. Some larger stores have 6 fans.

I commissioned a couple 1million sq ft + whse?s in Redlands Cal that had (if memory serves) 64 of these fans?
 
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