Oil water Separator with emersion Heaters

[Sjones112]

I recental sold a customer a oil water separator with a water heater in it. the electrical inspector will not pass off on the unit because it does not have a ul lable. all the parts of the heaters are ul approved, and never have we have to have the oil water separator ul aproved before. But this inspector is requesting that the whole unit needs to be ul listed.
both mechanical and plumbing have passed off on it.

The oil water separators are custom built to the customers needs, and can not really be ul tested.

we called for a ul feild test and the want to do a destuctive test on the oil water. the maker of the heater states that the inspector is going over board, and the maker of the oil water separator states that it will not help with the ul lable process.

please help! open to any ideas

 

[roger]

I agree it is bogus but, NC statute 66-25 will provide back up for the inspector.

Try calling MEP labs, I believe they are somewhere around the Triangle.

? 66‑25. Acceptable listings as to safety of goods.
All electrical materials, devices, appliances, and equipment shall be evaluated for safety and suitability for intended use. This evaluation shall be conducted in accordance with nationally recognized standards and shall be conducted by a qualified testing laboratory. The Commissioner of Insurance, through the Engineering Division of the Department of Insurance, shall implement the procedures necessary to approve suitable national standards and to approve suitable qualified testing laboratories. The Commissioner may assign his authority to implement the procedures for specific materials, devices, appliances, or equipment to other agencies or bodies when they would be uniquely qualified to implement those procedures.
In the event that the Commissioner determines that electrical materials, devices, appliances, or equipment in question cannot be adequately evaluated through the use of approved national standards or by approved qualified testing laboratories, the Engineering Division of the Department of Insurance shall specify any alternative evaluations which safety requires.
The Engineering Division of the Department of Insurance shall keep in file, where practical, copies of all approved national standards and resumes of approved qualified testing laboratories. [FONT=Times New (W1)](1933, c. 555, s. 3; 1989, c. 681, s. 1.)[/FONT]

Roger

 

[renosteinke]

I do not know the specifics of your product, but it sounds like everyone is making a discovery: that there are plenty of manufacturers -even entire indusfties- that will have nothing to do with UL.

UL has had a very successful marketing campaign over the years, to the point where folks assume that 'everything' needs to be UL listed. Even before the advent of ISO 9000 and competing testing firms, such was not the case.

Still .... the manufacturers' protests aside, MAYBE the request for a listing is reasonable. There's a lot that can go into making a safe product, a lot more than just cobbling up a few bits & pieces to make a machine. This is suggested by the stated desire of UL to perform destructive testing; there's something going on here!

My advice is to first look at the competition. Are they also not UL listed? What differences are there between the machine you have and a listed one?