Placement of Arc Flash Labels

[mshields]

What does NFPA 70E have to say about exact placement of labels on panelboards, switchboards, etc?

Only thing I can find is in Article 205.10 where it states "Warning Signs, where required shall be visible, securely attached, and maintained in legible condition"

Is this the only requirement in which case I gather any place on the front of the equipment will suffice.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[nollij]

Only thing I can find is in Article 205.10 where it states "Warning Signs, where required shall be visible, securely attached, and maintained in legible condition"

Is this the only requirement in which case I gather any place on the front of the equipment will suffice.

Pretty much. Article 130.4(C) just states "Equipment shall be field marked with a label containing the available incident energy or required level of PPE."

I would recommend putting the labels at around eye level and either on the end of the switchgear or near the main breaker. Somewhere uniform for all the gear so that maintenance doesn't have to look too hard to find it.

 

[mshields]

Good advice

Good advice

thank you very much

 

[KentAT]

I put my warning stickers right next to each bucket's cover lockscrews. Pretty hard to miss seeing the warning (and be reminded of the danger) when you use your screwdriver to open the cover.

 

[ghostbuster]

On main 2000-3000 amp boards,we put the labels on every cell on the front side as well as each cell access panel on the back of the board.Note:If the main breaker cell is not totally "sealed off" from the other cells(ie. a fish wire from a sub cell can enter the main breaker cell) then we perform the calcs on the sub cells as if they can be in direct contact with the line side of the main breaker(worst case scenario)

 

[Hugh_Hoagland_e-Hazard]

Arc Flash Warning labels

Arc Flash Warning labels

All the advice above is very good.
1. Put on each bucket (basically every servicable device under NEC).
2. Put at eye level to make it easy to see and hard to miss.


I'd add a third.

3. Make the labels with a long lasting, colorfast, UV resistant ink and label so it will be legible in the setting it is exposed to.

PVC labels can work well for most settings. Just need to look at the label. Ten years ago we did some arc flash calculaitons before there was software and one of the clients made their own labels and you couldn't read some of them within a week.
Lots of good labels and label printers available today. Don't use stuff you can put through a normal laser printer unless it meets UV and chemical requirements.

Hope this helps,

 

[ron]

Hugh,
We are currently trying to pick a good label printer and material for this application. Can you suggest a good one?

 

[Hugh_Hoagland_e-Hazard]

Label Printers

Label Printers

I have used a Zebra Printer and a Brady Printer.

I think there are a few other printers but both of these are good ones.

The Zebra's are more generic but I think they are less last time i checked.

 

[hurk27]

Stay away from any thermo type printers, using heat sensitive paper will not last in environments around panels, I have not had a problem with laser type printers as long as you use a good laminator, I found a very low cost laminator at a craft shop which will do anysize label, and the lamination is thin, but holds up pretty well, for harsh environments use a laminator that uses a heavier lamination medium.

Ink jets are out also as moisture will degrade the printing is a high humidity environment

 

[Hugh_Hoagland_e-Hazard]

Lamination vs. Other Printers

Lamination vs. Other Printers

Is this true of the PVC labels?

I agree on heat transfer and inkjet.

If you laminate a laser, that is fine.

Can you give label types you have used. We are always looking to improve.

The Zebra's have worked well in our locations.

 

[hurk27]

Is this true of the PVC labels?

I agree on heat transfer and inkjet.

If you laminate a laser, that is fine.

Can you give label types you have used. We are always looking to improve.

The Zebra's have worked well in our locations.

Most of the labels I have done were etched or embossed, for controls, and I would think would look more professional, but costly, but if made to last, unless its a plant that has allot of changes in the electrical, then I would think this would be a good thing, many of the embossers and etchers have come down in price, but there still not cheep, Nore is the medium, we shopped out for most of our labels like this, and there are many places that do it for not to bad of a price. especially if you have many of them to do and before sending the work out to be done proof read more then once.

 

[jdsmith]

Brady is the standard for high quality industrial vinyl tape printers. The two units large enough to print arc flash labels are the Globalmark series and the Powermark printer. Brady guarantees their labels for 5 years in direct sunlight, and they offer a number of chemical resistant label materials depending on your environment. They are higher priced than many other competitors but the labels are longer lasting and the money is worth it.

These Brady printers are heat transfer, but the thermal ink ribbon is contained in the printer rather than being part of the tape, as it is in low-end thermal printers like the Dymo Rhino series and similar. Once the label comes out of the printer heat and pressure will not affect it.

The firm that did our arc flash labels 4 years ago used a Brady Powermark printer, and I have a Globalmark 2 Color & Cut model that I have printed over 3000 labels for lockout/tagout identification of motors.

I do agree that engraved Phenolic tags look more professional, but they too will degrade after 20 years exposure to traces of chemicals and to sunlight. For me the flexibility of having a printer on my desk connected to my computer is better than having to send out for phenolic tags, The other aspect to consider is that 70E currently requires an arc flash study every 5 years, which in many cases will require a lot of new labels every 5 years. Since Brady guarantees their labels for 5 years and we've seen them last 10 years in our plant and still look new, it seems like a pretty clear choice to me if you're going to do enough volume to justify the cost of the printer.