
Originally Posted by
petersonra
I think it is unfair to blame this on the equipment manufacturers. We have a form to be filled out and one of the things on the form is SCCR required. Very few customers bother to provide a number. A fair number write in "N/A".
It is not as big a deal these days, at least for us, but a few years ago there was a huge difference in cost between a UL508a panel rated at 10 kA SCCR and one rated 65 kA. The cost difference is somewhat less these days as long as end users are flexible on parts, especially if they are willing to accept fuses.
I mention 10 and 65 kA because I find that most of the time going above 10 kA gets you to 65 kA anyway. There are only a few cases where I have run into something in between. It happens but is not real common.
Bob,
From my experience, the responsibility you show in asking for the AFC/SCCR is not the norm outside of the custom panel builder business. By equipment mfrs, I meant people selling compressors, blowers, pump skids, machine tools etc, who either build their own panels or farm them out to the lowest bidders. Would that they go to someone like you who does understand it and at least ask for the info. Sorry for having cast such a wide net...
But yes, I totally agree that it has to start at the specifier end first. Putting "N/A" in the field of your forms is indicative of the lack of understanding that exists out there. Hopefully it's getting better though. I just came from a meeting at a Google facility on some equipment upgrade projects, that was actually the first topic of discussion, because they were recently burned by it at another facility and a corporate edict went out to all of their facilities engineers. So hope springs eternal that one by one, people who get burned once will learn their lessons.
__________________________________________________ ____________________________
Many people are shocked when they discover I am not a good electrician...
Bookmarks