PREVENTING DAMAGE TO SWITCHGEAR IN BASEMENT

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dannyrzk

Member
Location
tulsa, OK
I had seem it many time, water flooding down the wall and right into the switchgear in the basement. Does anybody knows of any way to prevent this to happen? let me know if this sound acceptable.

1. using a deep wire-way at the entrance of the conductor that will catch the water that would be inside the conduits, and placing a pvc pipe at the bottom of the wire-way that would take the excess water into a floor drain.

2. of course moving the gear away from the wall help with water coming down the wall

please let me know your thoughts about that first option, or any other method you had use to prevent this. I have search all over to find any idea, but has come empty so far.

Thank you much
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
Get the architects, GC's, etc. to design the place with better drainage?

Old existing buildings with signs that they have had this issue before, don't mount equipment directly to the wall.
 

petersonra

Senior Member
Location
Northern illinois
Occupation
engineer
If the water is coming down the wall and the equipment is located against the wall, I don't see how your wire way idea solves anything. mount it away from the wall to give the water somewhere to go other than onto and into the equipment.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
A facility manager at ATT Whippany once recounted an incident of water intrusion into some switch gear. It was coming in through the conduits, filling the switch gear and fountaining out, like a cartoon.
 

kwired

Electron manager
Location
NE Nebraska
A few years ago a hospital in the region had a flooded emergency room, bad enough they had to temporarily move ER while refurbishing. This was after a thunderstorm with a fair amount of large hail. They had reasonable drainage systems, but the large hail significantly plugged the storm drain grates until it melted and it backed up the incoming runoff.
 

Jraef

Moderator, OTD
Staff member
Location
San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer
I once took a job to refurbish switchgear and MCCs at a grain silo operation that was in a flood plain. The owner wanted me to order custom SWGR and MCCs that had no bus bars in the lower 2ft, because the water came up that high at least once per year (in the spring). I opted instead to order short MCCs (71" high instead of 90") and switchboards, then build a catwalk like structure to mount the gear on and provide a platform in front of it, all elevated 2ft off the floor. The crazy thing was, i went there to check on it during his flood time, everything was fine, but it was just a tad bid scary to be standing on that catwalk in front of the gear with essentially a lake below me.
 

gadfly56

Senior Member
Location
New Jersey
Occupation
Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
I once took a job to refurbish switchgear and MCCs at a grain silo operation that was in a flood plain. The owner wanted me to order custom SWGR and MCCs that had no bus bars in the lower 2ft, because the water came up that high at least once per year (in the spring). I opted instead to order short MCCs (71" high instead of 90") and switchboards, then build a catwalk like structure to mount the gear on and provide a platform in front of it, all elevated 2ft off the floor. The crazy thing was, i went there to check on it during his flood time, everything was fine, but it was just a tad bid scary to be standing on that catwalk in front of the gear with essentially a lake below me.

Yeesh, I'm getting vertigo thinking about it.
 

north star

Senior Member
Location
inside Area 51
@ @ ~

dannyrzk,

This probably sounds overly simplistic, but to prevent
the water from running down the wall, it seems obvious
to prevent the water from entering the space(s) in the
first place........Why is there water running down the wall ?

One of Murphy's Golden Rules: Water & electricity do not
play well with each other ! :happyno:


~ @ @
 
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