Electrician

Status
Not open for further replies.
A

Al Pike

Member
Location
Honesdale, Pa
How Does An Underground Location Get Classified1 Divison 1?i Have A Duplex Pump Station With A Electrical Rack And Gen Set 20' Away.i Would Like To Use Pvc(with Encasement) Underground With Rigid Sweeps And Rigid Above Ground.
Also Can I Seal The Conduits At The Duplex Control Panel At The Rack From The Wet Well, Or Will I Also Need Seals At The Top Of The Wet Well For The Junction Box For My Conduits? Im Guessing That The Area Where The Rack's Located Was Not Classified C1,d1 Because The Rack Equipment Is All Nema 3r. Does This Make The Entire Area Out Side The Wet Well Unclassified? Need Help Thanks.
 
rbalex

rbalex

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Mission Viejo, CA
Occupation
Professional Electrical Engineer
Unfortunately, your narrative description is insufficient to determine proper electrical area classification. (It?s also hard to read from the capitalization style.)

As I have been urging folks recently, the electrical area classification should be documented by a qualified person. In many cases, the facility?s insurance company can help with that. Once a location is properly classified, selecting equipment, wiring methods and seal locations are pretty straight forward.
 
A

Al Pike

Member
Location
Honesdale, Pa
Im just looking for some advice,but I guess I cant meet rbalex classifications. Hopefully some other more understanding person will respond.Sorry to offend anyone, just trying to learn and do the right thing.
 
roger

roger

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Fl
Occupation
Retired Electrician
Al Pike said:
Im just looking for some advice,but I guess I cant meet rbalex classifications.
Click to expand...

Well, it's to bad you didn't understand Rbalex's reply, (BTW, Bob Alexander is extremely knowledgeable in classified areas) so with that said, loose the attitude and try to comprehend what is being said by others.

Roger
 
Last edited:
rbalex

rbalex

Moderator
Staff member
Location
Mission Viejo, CA
Occupation
Professional Electrical Engineer
First I want to thank Laszlo and Roger for their support.

Second, I’m genuinely sorry that I couldn’t give a better answer. Electrical area classification isn’t rocket science but it isn’t a trivial exercise either. That is one reason Code Making Panel 14 has made “proper documentation” a requirement since 1999. The current requirement is in Section 500.4(A).

Except for applications within the scopes of Articles 510 through 516, the NEC does not give specific instructions on how to classify locations. Anything outside the scope of those Articles requires referencing an external Standard. I am unaware of any Standard that addresses your specific application. The most general standards are NFPA 497 and API RP500. Both of them require more information than you have provided.

To properly document the electrical area classification requires more specific information, such as pressures, flow rates, full dimensions, etc. To do it properly requires someone with a sound understanding of the entire process and geometry of the installation. As I said, many insurance companies can provide assistance with this since they have a vested interest in the facility. The other option is to get a qualified person to do it.
 
Last edited:
J

jflynn

Senior Member
roger said:
Well, it's to bad you didn't understand Rbalex's reply, (BTW, Bob Alexander is extremely knowledgeable in classified areas) so with that said, loose the attitude and try to comprehend what is being said by others.

Roger
Click to expand...


I agree with you strongly,I visited the haz/classified forum for the first time last week,and was helped out by bob,he is a great asset to this forum...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top