Pole lights

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KevinVost

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I have a contractor who has installed SJOW cord as the branch wiring within a light pole (from the hand hole up to the fixture head). I have quoted NEC (2005) 400.8 -not as a substitute for permanent wiring and the requirements of 410.30. Contractor says the light pole is considered a raceway and the install is legal per 400.14 (we are in an industrial waste water plant).

Comments either way??????
 
KevinVost said:
I have a contractor who has installed SJOW cord as the branch wiring within a light pole (from the hand hole up to the fixture head). I have quoted NEC (2005) 400.8 -not as a substitute for permanent wiring and the requirements of 410.30. Contractor says the light pole is considered a raceway and the install is legal per 400.14 (we are in an industrial waste water plant).

Comments either way??????
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400.8 (6) states cords are not allowed in a raceway unless other sections permit.

400.14 Protection from Damage.
Flexible cords and cables shall be protected by bushings or fittings where passing through holes in covers, outlet boxes, or similar enclosures.

In industrial establishments where the conditions of maintenance and supervision ensure that only qualified persons service the installation, flexible cords and cables shall be permitted to be installed in aboveground raceways that are no longer than 15 m (50 ft) to protect the flexible cord or cable from physical damage. Where more than three current-carrying conductors are installed within the raceway, the allowable ampacity shall be reduced in accordance with Table 400.5.


I would suggest that a a lighting standard was not considered when this section was written.
 
As much as I don't like the install, I have to agree with Bob.
Any chance the 15 ft limit will work ?
 
1) For industrial applications that ensure qualified persons service the installation, just ask for the written servicing protocols and procedures.

2) The light has a handhole, ie jct box. Who is to say that the light fixture wire isn't the SJOW p 400.7 #2 that extends from the handhole to the fixture?
 
Next time you are stoped at a red light, look around at the traffic equipment. The cameras mounted on the poles or mast arms are most likley connected to the controler with SJOW with joints in the pole.
 
Cavie said:
Next time you are stoped at a red light, look around at the traffic equipment. The cameras mounted on the poles or mast arms are most likley connected to the controler with SJOW with joints in the pole.
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arent those not NEC installations? I seem to recall traffic signals using green as a hot :)
 
wireguru said:
arent those not NEC installations? I seem to recall traffic signals using green as a hot :)
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There is always a statement on the prints that says that all NEC, State, and local codes must be followed. An then there is the engineer of record specs. The only thing close to an NEC inspection is the service feeding the traffic signals or the street lights. As far the green hot for signals, that is low voltage. The SJOW camera cable is manufacture spec.
It all drives me nuts.;)
 
The reason that flexible cord can't be used in a raceway is that the cord deteriorates over time, ie the insulation dries out and cracks, so the code wants it exposed. In a WWTP, its a corrosive environment with a lot of other "gas" in the air, so cord is a very poor choice.
And I don't agree with a WWTP being an industrial facility.
 
Cavie said:
There is always a statement on the prints that says that all NEC, State, and local codes must be followed. An then there is the engineer of record specs. The only thing close to an NEC inspection is the service feeding the traffic signals or the street lights. As far the green hot for signals, that is low voltage. The SJOW camera cable is manufacture spec.
It all drives me nuts.;)
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1. I am writing an article on traffic signals. I surveyed TS agencies across the country, almost all reference the NEC
2. Green was allowed by the NEC as a hot until the 2005 NEC. There is a UL standard for TS cable that recognizes that green is used for other than the equipment ground
3. Signals heads, even LED, are 120V. Even in a battery back up installation, they are still 120V
 
Green was allowed as a hot until 2005? Say what?

Speaking of green as a hot, I have seen appliances come flexible cord with a lightblue neutral as per 400.22(C).:grin:
I have found them on 120V pumps and the electrician(?) attached the blue to the hot conductor and the brown to the neutral.
 
I've done it and can't see why it would be a violation.

2005 NEC, 410.15 allows the luminaire supports to be used as raceways...

2008 reads the same, but is 410.30

IV. Luminaire Supports

410.30 Supports.

A General. Luminaires and lampholders shall be securely supported. A luminaire that weighs more than 3 kg (6 lb) or exceeds 400 mm (16 in.) in any dimension shall not be supported by the screw shell of a lampholder.



B Metal or Nonmetallic Poles Supporting Luminaires. Metal or nonmetallic poles shall be permitted to be used to support luminaires and as a raceway to enclose supply conductors, provided the following conditions are met:

(1)A pole shall have a handhole not less than 50 mm ? 100 mm (2 in. ? 4 in.) with a cover suitable for use in wet locations to provide access to the supply terminations within the pole or pole base.

Exception No. 1: No handhole shall be required in a pole 2.5 m (8 ft) or less in height abovegrade where the supply wiring method continues without splice or pull point, and where the interior of the pole and any splices are accessible by removing the luminaire.
Exception No. 2: No handhole shall be required in a pole 6.0 m (20 ft) or less in height abovegrade that is provided with a hinged base.


(2)Where raceway risers or cable is not installed within the pole, a threaded fitting or nipple shall be brazed, welded, or attached to the pole opposite the handhole for the supply connection.

(3)A metal pole shall be provided with an equipment grounding terminal as follows:


a.A pole with a handhole shall have the equipment grounding terminal accessible from the handhole.

b.A pole with a hinged base shall have the equipment grounding terminal accessible within the base. Exception to (3): No grounding terminal shall be required in a pole 2.5 m (8 ft) or less in height abovegrade where the supply wiring method continues without splice or pull, and where the interior of the pole and any splices are accessible by removing the luminaire.




(4)A metal pole with a hinged base shall have the hinged base and pole bonded together.

(5)Metal raceways or other equipment grounding conductors shall be bonded to the metal pole with an equipment grounding conductor recognized by 250.118 and sized in accordance with 250.122.

(6)Conductors in vertical poles used as raceway shall be supported as provided in 300.19.


Kent
 
augie47 said:
As much as I don't like the install, I have to agree with Bob.
Any chance the 15 ft limit will work ?
Click to expand...

KevinVost said:
Pole is only 12 feet tall.
Click to expand...

And the Code section says 15 metres, not feet. :grin:

Kinda on topic: At our Ren Fest this weekend, the owner found out the hard way that 10/4 SOW cord run across a dirt roadway, with foot and horse traffic, WILL fail in a very spectacular fashion. It put on an impressive lightshow with flames about a foot high. Doh!!
 
tortuga said:
Green was allowed as a hot until 2005? Say what?
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Yep. The EGC had to be green but green was not restricted otherwise. The 05 NEC said green only for the EGC. So I submitted a code proposal to allow green for traffic signal green lamps, CMP said no, but realized that green is used in T-stat wire, so see that change in the 08 NEC.

Like I have heard here, the more I know, the less I know...Sometimes we read something into the code thats not there. Charlie B says, read it like you are reading if for the first time...
 
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