I never know whether to ask the question dumb or ask the question smart. What I want is the benefit of experience.
I am an electrical engineer that gets weird jobs. Maybe all of you get weird jobs - I don't know. I've been doing this for a couple of decades now and it still seems that something I've never seen before lands on my plate once or twice a month. We do a lot of renovation design - but really? Something new that often?
There is a 70,000 sq ft building with two sets of the old single phase oil filled transformers on the roof providing three phase service. The kind with the bare stabs. One set feeds a three phase delta service of 2000A. The other feeds a three phase wye service of 800A. An investor bought the property without realizing that they would own the transformers and that the transformers would not be appropriate for converting the whole building into small offices and small apartments.
The building is downtown and is surrounded by buildings and streets. It has a narrow alley that goes to its own little courtyard. The courtyard is about 30'x35' at ground level, but half of it is covered by upper stories. There is a basement. The local utility will not put transformers on the roof. The roof will not hold 7 tons of transformer (two large padmounts) and it is doubtful it could be reinforced to do so.
There is a basement. We are looking to excavate the alley to provide entrance to the basement and do a renovation to meet the vault requirements in NEC 450.
I am looking for wisdom - something clever we haven't thought about. Words of wisdom in getting rid of the existing installation, in putting in the new, in thinking of something we haven't thought of yet. I'm thinking that this is a huge amount of money for an investor who was hoping to just reuse the existing service and make no infrastructure changes.
A structural engineer said, "Those weigh hundreds of pounds, right?" Right. And electrical fairies sit behind the outlets to provide the power. The local utility supports the magical creatures union.
Thank you.
I am an electrical engineer that gets weird jobs. Maybe all of you get weird jobs - I don't know. I've been doing this for a couple of decades now and it still seems that something I've never seen before lands on my plate once or twice a month. We do a lot of renovation design - but really? Something new that often?
There is a 70,000 sq ft building with two sets of the old single phase oil filled transformers on the roof providing three phase service. The kind with the bare stabs. One set feeds a three phase delta service of 2000A. The other feeds a three phase wye service of 800A. An investor bought the property without realizing that they would own the transformers and that the transformers would not be appropriate for converting the whole building into small offices and small apartments.
The building is downtown and is surrounded by buildings and streets. It has a narrow alley that goes to its own little courtyard. The courtyard is about 30'x35' at ground level, but half of it is covered by upper stories. There is a basement. The local utility will not put transformers on the roof. The roof will not hold 7 tons of transformer (two large padmounts) and it is doubtful it could be reinforced to do so.
There is a basement. We are looking to excavate the alley to provide entrance to the basement and do a renovation to meet the vault requirements in NEC 450.
I am looking for wisdom - something clever we haven't thought about. Words of wisdom in getting rid of the existing installation, in putting in the new, in thinking of something we haven't thought of yet. I'm thinking that this is a huge amount of money for an investor who was hoping to just reuse the existing service and make no infrastructure changes.
A structural engineer said, "Those weigh hundreds of pounds, right?" Right. And electrical fairies sit behind the outlets to provide the power. The local utility supports the magical creatures union.
Thank you.