putting transformers above ceiling

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mshields

mshields

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Boston, MA
As a last resort, I'm doing something I've never done; namely putting a 45kVA transformer above a suspended ceiling. Project is in MA and I'm wondering if I need a heat detector up there or if there is anything else special that I need to do.
 
mshields said:
As a last resort, I'm doing something I've never done; namely putting a 45kVA transformer above a suspended ceiling. Project is in MA and I'm wondering if I need a heat detector up there or if there is anything else special that I need to do.
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As a plans examiner I used to enjoy people calling with these questions. It tells me I'm working with someone who is diligent about compliance. That being said, you may want to call whoever is going to do plan review on the project. They'll want more information than you gave us; how many stories is it, what's the occupancy classification, what's below that ceiling, etc... And whose tranny is this? POCO or building owner?
 
mgookin said:
As a plans examiner I used to enjoy people calling with these questions. It tells me I'm working with someone who is diligent about compliance. That being said, you may want to call whoever is going to do plan review on the project. They'll want more information than you gave us; how many stories is it, what's the occupancy classification, what's below that ceiling, etc... And whose tranny is this? POCO or building owner?
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I assume its a dry type, otherwise oil containment and fire protection will be an issue.
 
more info

more info

it's a dry type, well down stream of the service on the 2nd floor of a 4 story commercial building. Typical steel frame building. The occupancy type is Business
 
mshields said:
As a last resort, I'm doing something I've never done; namely putting a 45kVA transformer above a suspended ceiling. Project is in MA and I'm wondering if I need a heat detector up there or if there is anything else special that I need to do.
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The NEC permits up to a 50 kva above a hung ceiling so you're good. {450.13(B)}
 
What type of environment and what's happening below it? Even if you met safety requirements, it's not advisable to put a transformer above noise or magnetic field sensitive environment. If it's an office space, occupant will complain about the humming. AV equipment are quite sensitive to magnetic field. Computers are not nearly as sensitive now, but if you so much as had a clock radio too close, you'd see rippling waves on the screen back when we used CRTs.
 
mgookin said:
how many stories is it, what's the occupancy classification, what's below that ceiling, etc... And whose tranny is this? POCO or building owner?
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I am at a loss to understand why any of that info would be needed. :?

The addition of a transformer will not trigger a need for a heat detector.
 
infinity said:
That question was with regard to Massachusetts, I'll let one of those guys answer that. ;)
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We install many transformers above ceilings and I don't see heat detectors added.

On the other hand in RI they typically require smoke detectors above and below suspended ceilings regardless of electrical equipment.
 
iwire said:
I am at a loss to understand why any of that info would be needed. :?

The addition of a transformer will not trigger a need for a heat detector.
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In my experience down here in south Florida we get many inquiries from people from "up north" or even out of the country (lots of Germans own property here and now other Europeans are coming en masse). Their mailing address says "...Fort Myers, FL 339xx" so they call the "city building dept" but it's not our jurisdiction. We properly route about 1/3 of the calls by asking where the project is.

Then we figure out whose project it is. Federal? Not mine. School? Might be. Hospital? Me and AHCA. Pole barn? Don't care. Drawbridge? Whose bridge is it?

If that tranny is above a suspended ceiling in a trauma center's operating room, it gets much more attention than if it were in a manufacturing facility.

And as we like to say "The answer is only as good as the question."

Can I build a 6' high fence in your city? Sure!
Oh, you wanted to run it across the interstate and put in a toll booth? You didn't tell me that.

So I was just asking OP a little bit about his project to help understand what regulations apply, or don't apply. The more information we have, the better informed decision we make.
 
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