Any special bonding requirements for an OR

[K2X]

We are working on two hospital Operating Rooms with 2 isolation panels in each room. The men with sawzalls came through and did about a 35% demo to the rooms to add med gas etc, etc. My assignment was to get the isolation circuits back in place and working which went pretty smoothly and get the new lighting system piped and ready to install and that is going well too. What I'm a little concerned about is verifying that the gec's to the isolation panels are in place, (or maybe they are not called gec's on isolation panels?). I'm also seeing what may be some kind of bonding going on , maybe a bonding grid?, or maybe bonding the panels together? There is 1/2 inch emt running through the walls with only a # 10 green going through it. Some of this bonding got cut and I can't get the big picture because most of the walls are intact. I got the weekend assignment to research this installation. If anyone could point to some code articles that might help me get an idea what i might be looking for it would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[wolfman56]

Be Very Sure Of What Your Into

Be Very Sure Of What Your Into

This is a little out of my league, but I'll share what I heard from a friend.
He had a job testing those "special operating room panels", so I asked him what that's about.
Those are actually "NO REFERANCE TO GROUND SYSTEMS". They also must be periodically recertified.

If I'm correct, you could mess things up real bad if you bond that system incorrectly.
Also make sure about the certification thing, I heard it's done every year. You could cause it to become uncertified.
RICK

 

[brother]

We are working on two hospital Operating Rooms with 2 isolation panels in each room. The men with sawzalls came through and did about a 35% demo to the rooms to add med gas etc, etc. My assignment was to get the isolation circuits back in place and working which went pretty smoothly and get the new lighting system piped and ready to install and that is going well too. What I'm a little concerned about is verifying that the gec's to the isolation panels are in place, (or maybe they are not called gec's on isolation panels?). I'm also seeing what may be some kind of bonding going on , maybe a bonding grid?, or maybe bonding the panels together? There is 1/2 inch emt running through the walls with only a # 10 green going through it. Some of this bonding got cut and I can't get the big picture because most of the walls are intact. I got the weekend assignment to research this installation. If anyone could point to some code articles that might help me get an idea what i might be looking for it would be appreciated. Thanks!

Read through 517 NEC 2008 real good, especially 517.13, 14 etc.. Just remember that isolation panels basically do NOT have a grounded conductor on the secondary side, you do however BOND everything to keep all the metal on the same potential. And remember any wiring method you use has to qualify as a grounding mean in itself, and you still install a minimum of #10 egc in it.

 

[K2X]

Thanks for the replies. Of course there will be several layers of inspections on this work, I'm just looking for as much info as possible.

install a minimum of #10 egc in it.

I did notice that the iso system used #12's and a #10 egc. I also noticed that the old lighting system did the same. I'll be pulling all #10's for the new lights so i should be covered.

Thanks again!!

 

[Power Tech]

I have not done but have heard of grounding mesh in the floor of operating rooms, brought up on the edges of the room and then ground off.

The gasses are very explosive.

Do not know if this is your situation.

Have done a lot of work in hospitals but never did an operating room.

 

[brother]

I have not done but have heard of grounding mesh in the floor of operating rooms, brought up on the edges of the room and then ground off.

The gasses are very explosive.

Do not know if this is your situation.

Have done a lot of work in hospitals but never did an operating room.

Its my understanding that most hospitals , especially in the USA, do not use flamable anethesia as much any more. Which changed the 'classification' of OR's. They are not considered 'hazardous locations.

I have heard that under closed sheets where they use more oxygen that sometimes there is a burning done to patients because of the electrical cutters they use. But thats another matter entirely.

 

[glene77is]

Its my understanding that most hospitals , especially in the USA, do not use flamable anethesia as much any more. Which changed the 'classification' of OR's. They are not considered 'hazardous locations.

I have heard that under closed sheets where they use more oxygen that sometimes there is a burning done to patients because of the electrical cutters they use. But thats another matter entirely.

""
Read through 517 NEC 2008 real good, especially 517.13, 14 etc.. Just remember that isolation panels basically do NOT have a grounded conductor on the secondary side, you do however BOND everything to keep all the metal on the same potential. And remember any wiring method you use has to qualify as a grounding mean in itself, and you still install a minimum of #10 egc in it.""

Brother,
You sound right on track on every point.
The Isolated Secondary is referenced ONLY to itself.

Also, along this same line of 'isolation,
There should be a Capacitance shield
between the Primary and Secondary
to inhibit electrostatic coupling across
the transformer winding.
This shield is connected to the earth ground.

The environment includes patients connected intravenously to monitoring equipment, and the patient may be sensitive to 10 microAmps passing through the blood system and through the heart.

It was my understanding, that two dissimilar materials can rub together and generate lots of static voltage. The purpose of the conductive shoe covers (and the strap that is poked into the sock) is to reduce static build-up, thus the grounded floor. We had to provide for this into the 80's, even though they no longer used ether (flammable beyond belief).

With that in mind, read well, continue to ask questions.

(My experience the 70's was in a university hospital.
We consulted with the manufacturers and reps.
I consulted directly with our Bio-Medical division.)