1,000 Volts

[jmellc]

Because licensing and permits are really just a tax disguised as a public safety effort.

That I believe for sure. Most things work back to revenue one way or another. NC government is an expert at picking our pockets.

 

[kwired]

I work both in Seattle which is very regulated and upstate NY which has no licensing except for within the larger cities. I actually don't notice any difference in the overall average quality of work. I know some people say they see a difference, I guess our experience and mileage varies.

That tells me you mostly have seen work by individuals that know what they are doing. There has to be some owners or handymen in areas with no permits/licensing requirements that only know enough to "make it work" but not necessarily know some the potential hazards of what they have left behind. There also likely some that read books, do things correctly for the most part but still don't really understand just what they have done or what may possibly go wrong very well. And there are people with licenses that don't always understand some of it.

 

[Jraef]

Those of us who work in PV frequently deal with DC circuits that can be up to 1000V.

Yes, that’s the issue. Commercial/industrial scale solar PV systems regularly use DC that’s over 600V. Think about it; if you want 480VRMS AC from an inverter, the DC input must be 1.41x that value, so 677VDC minimum, and if you want 600VAC, the input must be 836VDC. So to allow electricians to legally work on them, they had to up the limits. Otherwise it would have required having certification for “medium voltage” work.

 

[electrofelon]

. So to allow electricians to legally work on them, they had to up the limits. Otherwise it would have required having certification for “medium voltage” work.

Just curious, I have never worked in nor been aware of a jurisdiction that had licensing or certification requirements for "medium voltage". Is this an issue with OSHA? What are some examples of where or how this distinction would matter?

 

[jmellc]

That tells me you mostly have seen work by individuals that know what they are doing. There has to be some owners or handymen in areas with no permits/licensing requirements that only know enough to "make it work" but not necessarily know some the potential hazards of what they have left behind. There also likely some that read books, do things correctly for the most part but still don't really understand just what they have done or what may possibly go wrong very well. And there are people with licenses that don't always understand some of it.

Reminds me of a job I did in Chapel Hill for a guy with a huge greenhouse. He had various pumps in different sections for water lines. Had only a couple of circuits open. But he had read the nameplates and added the loads himself, figuring he would use certain pumps in the morning, others in the afternoon. Never all at once, and had his timers set that way. He wasn't an electrician, think he was a college professor. But he figured it well.
There are those few....

 

[ptonsparky]

Reminds me of a job I did in Chapel Hill for a guy with a huge greenhouse. He had various pumps in different sections for water lines. Had only a couple of circuits open. But he had read the nameplates and added the loads himself, figuring he would use certain pumps in the morning, others in the afternoon. Never all at once, and had his timers set that way. He wasn't an electrician, think he was a college professor. But he figured it well.
There are those few....

My father in law had his own well. He knew exactly how many sprinklers to run to prevent short cycling or overload.

 

[CoolWill]

My father in law had his own well. He knew exactly how many sprinklers to run to prevent short cycling or overload.

I've seen plenty of people who understand the principle of things and could rig stuff to work, but have no idea about the standard practices tradesmen use to do good work. It doesn't necessarily make it unsafe, but often it is. I saw one place that was a spider web of lamp cord and single THHNs and it felt like it could ignite at any moment. But there was another place that was wired very well in 14 gauge extension cord. It was very neat. I would have left it alone if they were willing to pay me money to do it again.