Suggestions for a simplified electrical code (to implement in Haiti)

[F1Engineering]

Hi all,

Obviously, I'm a little outside of the typical user in this forum, so let me start by introducing myself.
I'm an electrical engineer (though primarily trained in electronics design), but for the past 4 years, I have been a resident in Haiti as a missionary.

In my time here, I have helped with technical projects for many different organizations, and worked with more than a few licensed electricians as they were in country for a week or two. Now, I'm pretty much the "best available" electrician around here. There are many "schools" that give out certificates for electrical training, and I have been shocked (literally) by the work of these students on numerous occasions.

There is no set code, so for those of you worried about liability, you are not enabling me to circumvent an established system here. I am simply trying to take what I have learned, and start passing it on to a new generation of young Haitians so they can improve their own country.

All that said, these are my first goals of what to teach, but I would love to hear what you feel are the MOST important things to teach.

1- Wire Ampacity and choosing breakers.
- I will probably just be giving them the chart from this website titled "Commercial and Industrial Wiring and Raceway Chart"

2- 3 Wire systems and grounding.
- Most systems here are floating ground. I want to teach them to ground properly.
- I have been taught the basics are to make a neutral-ground connection in the primary panel box, tied to a ground rod with an appropriate (again, see chart above) conductor. Then, any subpanels should have separate neutral and ground bars.

3- Marking wires.
- Due to availability, wires may be all one color. I will be teaching to tag all wires on both ends (and wherever exposed) to indicate (at minimum) hot, neutral, and ground.

4- How to avoid cable damage.
- Using conduit and/or UV resistant wire in outdoor situations.
- Proper burial (again, based on a chart from the Mike Holt references about 6", 12", 18" rules....
- Using protection on metal knockouts.
- Prevent cable chaffing on concrete surfaces

5- Proper wire connections
- Wire Nuts, Split Bolts, Mechanical Lugs, etc.

Anyone have other ideas that should be in the "most important" list?
I will have more questions about details over time, but I figured I should introduce these ideas first so no one gets concerned about the unlicensed guy asking all the questions. I'd love to hire licensed electricians down here, but they don't exist.

 

[ActionDave]

Welcome to the forum.

Of the things you asked about 1,3,4,5 matter less than anything else you could think of compared to 2.

Do you know what it takes to trip a breaker or blow a fuse?

There is a lot of crap that matters to those of us that don't live in Haiti, but in your situation you have to be dead on able to answer the question, without backing down to any electrician, expert, or engineer that comes your way.

 

[F1Engineering]

Do you know what it takes to trip a breaker or blow a fuse?

Thanks for the welcome. Now, for your answer.

Obviously, an OCP will trip if an excessive current draw is present on the hot wire of the circuit.
The two most prevalent cases are:
(1) An overloaded circuit. Devices running on the circuit demand an excessive current either instantaneously (ie. welding machine on a 15A circuit), or by pulling over 80% continuously (ie. inverter/charger in charge mode on a 30A circuit typically draws upwards of 25A). These cases complete the circuit via the Neutral line, and therefore can trip despite being on a 2-wire system (no dedicated ground).
(2) A short to ground. For some reason, the circuit in this case is being completed between hot and a ground source. This could be damaged insulation in the circuit run itself, or a short internal to the device. The purpose of the grounding wire is to provide a low-resistance current path to ensure that these shorts do cause the OCP to trip. If the system is not grounded properly, a short may lie dormant, with a metal fixture acting as a hot terminal, waiting for a path to ground to arise. If that path comes person, or even any number of other high-resistance objects, the OCP may not trip, but current will travel the path, causing injury to the person, or heating up whatever element has completed the circuit.

As an addendum, I will try to encourage GFCI usage in bathrooms/kitchens, but it is difficult here as GFCI fixtures are not commonly available.
That would add additional protection for case #2, as the GFCI item is looking to ensure that the return current path is on the neutral wire, as it is meant to, rather than returning by any other means.

Did I miss anything?

 

[steve66]

2- 3 Wire systems and grounding.
- Most systems here are floating ground. I want to teach them to ground properly.
- I have been taught the basics are to make a neutral-ground connection in the primary panel box, tied to a ground rod with an appropriate (again, see chart above) conductor. Then, any subpanels should have separate neutral and ground bars.

What voltages do they have there? Are they similar to the US?

Is grounding like we do in the US a worldwide practice? I know the NEC says most systems should be grounded, but not everyone follows the NEC (as you well know).

Grounding some systems when most are ungrounded might not necessarily be the safest way to do things.

 

[F1Engineering]

What voltages do they have there? Are they similar to the US?

Is grounding like we do in the US a worldwide practice? I know the NEC says most systems should be grounded, but not everyone follows the NEC (as you well know).

Grounding some systems when most are ungrounded might not necessarily be the safest way to do things.

Valid point.

Power here is single phase, 110/220VAC nominal (or supposed to be), 60 HZ.
So, U.S. style power grid.

There is no code currently, so most houses are 2-wire 110VAC from the power grid, hopefully for a fused disconnect, but not always. Hopefully, they have circuit breakers after that, but again, not always.

 

[mgookin]

It's my understanding that rural areas of Haiti only get power for a few unpredictable hours per day on average. Is that still the case?

 

[growler]

I will try to encourage GFCI usage in bathrooms/kitchens, but it is difficult here as GFCI fixtures are not commonly available.

You can have GFCI breakers/receptacles shipped to you anywhere in the world. Even Home Depot will ship them if you pay for the shipping. The real problem is probably money to pay for them and that's a hard one to solve.

It may be easier just to GFCI protect the whole panel since I can't imagine larger than a 60 amp service for the average house. Once you have GFCI protection you will need people trained to trouble -shoot problems or they will just wire around the protection or remove it.

 

[F1Engineering]

Yes, that is correct.
In rural areas, it is a sporadic occurrence.
In cities, it is more of a fixed schedule, with nowhere that I am aware of receiving more than 18 hours of power per day.

For this reason, my training will highly integrate inverter/battery backup systems, and eventually PV systems.

 

[ActionDave]

Thanks for the welcome. Now, for your answer.

Obviously, an OCP will trip if an excessive current draw is present on the hot wire of the circuit.
The two most prevalent cases are:
(1) An overloaded circuit. Devices running on the circuit demand an excessive current either instantaneously (ie. welding machine on a 15A circuit), or by pulling over 80% continuously (ie. inverter/charger in charge mode on a 30A circuit typically draws upwards of 25A). These cases complete the circuit via the Neutral line, and therefore can trip despite being on a 2-wire system (no dedicated ground).
(2) A short to ground. For some reason, the circuit in this case is being completed between hot and a ground source. This could be damaged insulation in the circuit run itself, or a short internal to the device. The purpose of the grounding wire is to provide a low-resistance current path to ensure that these shorts do cause the OCP to trip. If the system is not grounded properly, a short may lie dormant, with a metal fixture acting as a hot terminal, waiting for a path to ground to arise. If that path comes person, or even any number of other high-resistance objects, the OCP may not trip, but current will travel the path, causing injury to the person, or heating up whatever element has completed the circuit.

As an addendum, I will try to encourage GFCI usage in bathrooms/kitchens, but it is difficult here as GFCI fixtures are not commonly available.
That would add additional protection for case #2, as the GFCI item is looking to ensure that the return current path is on the neutral wire, as it is meant to, rather than returning by any other means.

Did I miss anything?

Pretty good answer.

Are you clear on the differences between ground, meaning a connection to earth and equipment grounding, meaning a low impedance path to clear a fault?

 

[F1Engineering]

You can have GFCI breakers/receptacles shipped to you anywhere in the world. Even Home Depot will ship them if you pay for the shipping. The real problem is probably money to pay for them and that's a hard one to solve.

It may be easier just to GFCI protect the whole panel since I can't imagine larger than a 60 amp service for the average house. Once you have GFCI protection you will need people trained to trouble -shoot problems or they will just wire around the protection or remove it.

Interesting idea.
Shipping is a pain to get to Haiti. I have a shipping account with an organization, but it costs $1.60/lb + customs fees for anything we import.
But, more importantly, is the overall cost, which you refer to.

What exactly would I use if I wanted to GFI protect the whole panel? Can you give me a product reference so I'm aware.
Many times, most of a house is wired to the output of an inverter (usually 30 Amps). If we can put that on a GFI device, then 90% of the house would be covered...

 

[F1Engineering]

Pretty good answer.

Are you clear on the differences between ground, meaning a connection to earth and equipment grounding, meaning a low impedance path to clear a fault?

As you state it, I understand the difference. Don't know that I would have thought of differentiating between them.
Essentially, I would call the earth connection "setting my zero" in terms of electrical potential.
Differentiating as to "ground" for clearing faults makes sense to explain to my technicians why we need the ground path, even if neutral and ground have been tied together back in the primary panel. So, thanks for pointing that out, it will help to explain it clearly.


On a grounding/bonding note, however:
In a concrete building, with metal boxes embedded in the walls, there is a current path through the concrete.

To ensure equi-potentiality, I should bond ground to rebar in the wall, correct?
Can this be any rebar, such as in a mid-wall beam?
If I am bonded to the rebar, is there still a need for a ground rod, or is the rebar in the footing considered a sufficient earth ground?

 

[growler]

Interesting idea.
Shipping is a pain to get to Haiti. I have a shipping account with an organization, but it costs $1.60/lb + customs fees for anything we import.
But, more importantly, is the overall cost, which you refer to.

What exactly would I use if I wanted to GFI protect the whole panel? Can you give me a product reference so I'm aware.
Many times, most of a house is wired to the output of an inverter (usually 30 Amps). If we can put that on a GFI device, then 90% of the house would be covered...

I was thinking of useing a GFCI protected disconnect/breaker such as we would use for a hot tub to feed your panel. Those are the cheapest that I know of( 50-60 amp). you can put a 30 amp in the same set up but 30 amp GFCI breakers are more expensive because they don't manufacture as many.

Are we talking about single or double pole 30 amp breakers?

 

[F1Engineering]

I was thinking of useing a GFCI protected disconnect/breaker such as we would use for a hot tub to feed your panel. Those are the cheapest that I know of( 50-60 amp). you can put a 30 amp in the same set up but 30 amp GFCI breakers are more expensive because they don't manufacture as many.

Are we talking about single or double pole 30 amp breakers?

Inverter output is typically 30 Amp, single pole, 110-120VAC.
I use pure sine waves almost exclusively, which is good cause modified sine wave inverters don't play well with GFCI receptacles.

Looks like a 50-60 GFCI disconnect is about $60@ Home Depot.
And 30 Amp, single pole breakers don't exist in their inventory.

For now, I'll stick with my small inventory of GFCI receptacles and carry in more in my suitcase next trip home. (Suitcases fill up quick on these trips though )

 

[growler]

On a grounding/bonding note, however:
In a concrete building, with metal boxes embedded in the walls, there is a current path through the concrete.

One of the things to look at here is the type of conduit used. Is it EMT (metal) , PVC or smurf tubing (blue non-metalic ).

If you are useing PVC or any other non-metalic type of conduit then each of these metal boxes needs to be bonded to the grounding conductor. So it's very important to pull a ground.

 

[growler]

If I am bonded to the rebar, is there still a need for a ground rod, or is the rebar in the footing considered a sufficient earth ground?

If you have a proper UFER ground then a rod is not necessary. rebar, Not less than 1/2" diameter and 20 ft in lenght or shorter lengths tied ( with steel tie wires ) or welded.

 

[ActionDave]

As you state it, I understand the difference. Don't know that I would have thought of differentiating between them.
Essentially, I would call the earth connection "setting my zero" in terms of electrical potential.
Differentiating as to "ground" for clearing faults makes sense to explain to my technicians why we need the ground path, even if neutral and ground have been tied together back in the primary panel. So, thanks for pointing that out, it will help to explain it clearly......

That's the most important thing. It's why I like the term equipment ground as a way to distinguish between connection to earth and zero potential. Get this right and you can pay as much or as little attention as you want to everything else.

I also agree that GFCI protection is a good idea if it is practical for you to pursue it.

 

[Tony S]

Surely this is something to take up with Electricité d’Haïti and the MTPTC so that local issues are dealt with.

 

[gadfly56]

Surely this is something to take up with Electricité d’Haïti and the MTPTC so that local issues are dealt with.

Yes, because a POCO and government that can't provide reliable power to its customers is going to fall all over themselves to correct the apparent educational deficiencies in the trade.

Go on, pull the other one.

 

[Tony S]

Yes, because a POCO and government that can't provide reliable power to its customers is going to fall all over themselves to correct the apparent educational deficiencies in the trade.

Go on, pull the other one.

When 35% to 45% of the available power is “going missing”, I don’t think anyone will be interested in any code.

Electricité d’Haïti has abandoned most of the town distribution systems leaving the market open to private generation “companies” to do as they like.
Grounding of a system requires the cooperation of the PoCo. Just adding a ground jumper here and there is liable to cause more problems than it solves. A grounding jumper at house “A” is liable to import a fault from house “D” somewhere up the road.

A grounded system has to start at the LV transformer which therefore requires the cooperation of the PoCo. It is down to the PoCo to decide if they do it or not.
Most likely the decision will be to not do the work as it will eat in their profit margin. The chances of the ground electrode and down wire still being there in the morning are slim so why bother?