Help with determining Class I location

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PetrosA

Senior Member
Customer would like to install a gas tank with 120V pump (16GPM) in his 5 car garage. Pump and handle would end up approx. 2' away from existing 1900 box with 2 switches. Do these switches now fall in the Class I location and need to be made explosion proof?
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
Customer would like to install a gas tank with 120V pump (16GPM) in his 5 car garage. Pump and handle would end up approx. 2' away from existing 1900 box with 2 switches. Do these switches now fall in the Class I location and need to be made explosion proof?

Is this a residence?
 
If this is a dwelling unit, I would contact the building department, they are the ones who are responsible to make this determination.
Off hand, I would say no. Yesterday I had the same question posed to me and I asked the EC to call the building official. He will let me know tomorrow what the building official tells him.
 

rbalex

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Staff member
Location
Mission Viejo, CA
Occupation
Professional Electrical Engineer
This appears to be an installation within the Scope and Definitions of Article 514 and NFPA 30A-2008
ARTICLE 514
Motor Fuel Dispensing Facilities
FPN: Rules that are followed by a reference in brackets contain text that has been extracted from NFPA 30A-2008, Code for Motor Fuel Dispensing Facilities and Repair Garages.
514.1 Scope. This article shall apply to motor fuel dispensing facilities, marine/motor fuel dispensing facilities, motor fuel dispensing facilities located inside buildings, and fleet vehicle motor fuel dispensing facilities.
FPN: For further information regarding safeguards for motor fuel dispensing facilities, see NFPA 30A-2008, Code for Motor Fuel Dispensing Facilities and Repair Garages.
514.2 Definition.
Motor Fuel Dispensing Facility. That portion of a property where motor fuels are stored and dispensed from fixed equipment into the fuel tanks of motor vehicles or marine craft or into approved containers, including all equipment used in connection therewith.[30A:3.3.11]
Residential, commercial or industrial is more-or-less irrelevant and electrical area classification is only a fraction of the building issues that need consideration if he is storing any significant amount of Class I fuel. NFPA 30A has over 20 pages of relevant text and tables dealing with such issues as fuel storage, piping, delivery systems (both receiving and dispensing), additional building construction requirements such as firewalls and HVAC, vapor recovery and processing, operational requirements, etc.

While I agree with Pierre that the building official may make the call; the building official isn?t the only AHJ in this case. I suspect his homeowner?s insurance provider is also going to want to know about this.
 

PetrosA

Senior Member
Thanks for the replies. It's part of a building that houses a number of garages and workshops separate from the main dwelling. This particular part of the building contains three parking bays for cars and two for tractors/lawn equipment. I'm guessing it's about a 200-300 gallon tank with a 120V pump. BTW - also to be located in this section (same room) is the switchgear for a 10kW solar system.
 
All areas are different, there may be a zoning issue here. I do not know how your jurisdiction handles the multiple building/multiuse propertie down in Lancaster. As I mentioned, the best route is to speak with the building official.
 

rbalex

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Location
Mission Viejo, CA
Occupation
Professional Electrical Engineer
I agree with Pierre; you definitely want the building official actively involved. A "200-300 gallon tank" is a "significant amount of Class I fuel."

Now I want to know, if there is a tractor involved, is it Class I fuel; i.e., is the fuel deisel? That may change some of the area classification issues, but most of the other building issues will remain - just with a different emphasis.
 
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sparky=t

Senior Member
Location
Colorado
what if the customer put in a exterior (outside) tank either ground mount with a 12O v transfer pump, open air enviornment, areas around the pump/tank would still be classified!, what if it was a transfer tank mounted on a vechicle with a 12vdc transfer pump? area should still be classified although it would not be covered by the nec. :roll:
 

rbalex

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Mission Viejo, CA
Occupation
Professional Electrical Engineer
what if the customer put in a exterior (outside) tank either ground mount with a 12O v transfer pump, open air enviornment, areas around the pump/tank would still be classified!, what if it was a transfer tank mounted on a vechicle with a 12vdc transfer pump? area should still be classified although it would not be covered by the nec. :roll:
Yes, what if the customer did? An outdoor installation would still be within the scope of Article 514 and NFPA 30A. A mobile installation would be within their scopes for dispensing and within the scopes of Art 515 and NFPA 30 for storage and distribution.
 
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