Upgrading to current NEC??

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

tpd

Member
The industrial facility I work at had a mine at one time so was tied to MSHA and didn't follow a whole lot of the NEC. Now the mine is no longer and it now falls under OSHA which is under the NEC. My question being a licensed electrician is when I go work on a piece on equipment to repair or install, how far do I go with upgrading? For instance a 120 volt 1 hp heater motor that has a plug and cord and that is it. So if I upgrade and add a controller and overload protection then find it is on a circuit with 2 or more heaters then am I obligated to also seperate this from these other motors. It gets pretty complicated from what I see! Thanks for any input.
 
tpd said:
The industrial facility I work at had a mine at one time so was tied to MSHA and didn't follow a whole lot of the NEC. Now the mine is no longer and it now falls under OSHA which is under the NEC. My question being a licensed electrician is when I go work on a piece on equipment to repair or install, how far do I go with upgrading? For instance a 120 volt 1 hp heater motor that has a plug and cord and that is it. So if I upgrade and add a controller and overload protection then find it is on a circuit with 2 or more heaters then am I obligated to also seperate this from these other motors. It gets pretty complicated from what I see! Thanks for any input.
Click to expand...

I am not sure there is a problem here. is this a portable heater? If so, why can't it be plugged into an outlet like any other portable piece of equipment?

if they plug to many things into the same circuit, the BC OCPD will trip.
 
These are not portable heaters. They must have a controller so a cord and plug is not a controller and they require overload protection, and if over 6 amps a 120 volt motor is not to be on a branch circuit with other loads. So my main problem is that I can install the controller/overload protection easy enough but the 2 or more heater motors should be on separate circuits, so this isn't an easy task. But if I start upgrading then is it fair to tell my employer that it needs all upgraded? Is my main concern.
 
tpd said:
These are not portable heaters. They must have a controller so a cord and plug is not a controller and they require overload protection, and if over 6 amps a 120 volt motor is not to be on a branch circuit with other loads. So my main problem is that I can install the controller/overload protection easy enough but the 2 or more heater motors should be on separate circuits, so this isn't an easy task. But if I start upgrading then is it fair to tell my employer that it needs all upgraded? Is my main concern.
Click to expand...

where did you get that from? you can have as many motors on a circuit as you want as long as you do not overload the circuit.

It is possible the motors have built in OL protection.

I would be inclined to hook it up to a manual starter if you feel it needs external OL protection.
 
tpd said:
These are not portable heaters. They must have a controller so a cord and plug is not a controller and they require overload protection, and if over 6 amps a 120 volt motor is not to be on a branch circuit with other loads. So my main problem is that I can install the controller/overload protection easy enough but the 2 or more heater motors should be on separate circuits, so this isn't an easy task. But if I start upgrading then is it fair to tell my employer that it needs all upgraded? Is my main concern.
Click to expand...

tpd said:
The industrial facility I work at had a mine at one time so was tied to MSHA and didn't follow a whole lot of the NEC. Now the mine is no longer and it now falls under OSHA which is under the NEC. My question being a licensed electrician is when I go work on a piece on equipment to repair or install, how far do I go with upgrading? For instance a 120 volt 1 hp heater motor that has a plug and cord and that is it. So if I upgrade and add a controller and overload protection then find it is on a circuit with 2 or more heaters then am I obligated to also seperate this from these other motors. It gets pretty complicated from what I see! Thanks for any input.
Click to expand...

All new work should be done to the current code in effect for your location. That said, I would

use common sense (yea I know its rare). When upgrading a piece of equipment say to your

self Does this installation pose any immient danger ? If so upgrade to current codes. Just

because something is not up to current code, if it was compliant when installed leave it alone.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top