control panel building

[elevmike]

Kittydog,

All that sounds ok, but you might want to considering investing in a hand held plasma cutter for holes any larger then what you would use a drill for. Same tool for all holes, no sazall or punches requird. Much quicker.

 

[phebejtsov]

Have you gentlemen in your vast experiences seen low voltage power cables (.ie less than 600 VAC) be routed through the side of a control panel? To me that seems different; since you'll have to provide bushings & a mean of support for the cable if it’s not routed in conduit. (.ie NEC requires 600 V or higher to be routed through conduit, raceway..etc.)

If such is the case, I would think the bushing & panel frame would provide adequate support & reduce stress on the terminals.

 

[Jeff23spl]

Hey hey still a nice thread in 2010....

I work for an old panel building company that is using almost everything that Alaric said at the begining and we are registered for
UL,cUL and CSA to build enclosed customs panels. All of them needs ensure a good products being sold....
If you wanna sell a safe products in Canada you should be CSA and if you sell in USA you need UL like CE for Europe that we actually look for....

It can be seen as a scam at some points because they all ask for the use of components showing their mark to be accepted and at some point they require the same test but each wants to get money for it instead of accepting the test the other certification got....

The needs of the approval is probably the customer choice or it's engeneer but i strongly sugest that customer ask for at least one of them to avoid buying a panel that can be made by someone that know nothing about basic safe rules of panel building....

I sometimes see others panel with the same rules and you have to read the name to find where it is from but sometimes we see some panels that i would class as "I do it myself" that you easily understand it isn't from a good panel building shop....
Yes i know some can be very nice without being approved but you take a risk to buy a panel from them if you don't know very well their job quality.
I can tell for other states or country but where i am, their is also inspection to check if panel get approved.

Even if the rules are strict, it's not so difficult to get the file and follow the rules, you follow a training mostly on panel marking if you already know the electrical code rules. Inspectors comes at the shop sometimes without annoncing (5-10 times a year) just to check if you do it right and you are set! Their is specific files for repeated products but their is also a custom file that permit engeneering of your own panel...

The basic rules is to comform to the code that ask mostly for the following:
Wires size
Spacing
Fusing
Marking
finger safe
tie down everything
and use components that read the right marking: CSA for CSA approval and UL for UL....


We also got this year, a UL xproof file approval but this one require a little bit more time and money...

 

[Johnster]

top or bottom of panel for conduit

Here at the power plant, we like all of the conduit entires to be from the bottom - why ? becuase some/half/most of our conduit runs outside, comes from outside or is exposed to the outdoors. If the conduit run in the top of the panel, and gets cracked somewhere along the run, now the water runs downhill into the electrical box (with a perfect floor) and fills the panel.

If the conduit comes in the bottom- it'll take a lot more water to fill the panel and the penetration is in the bottom of the panel, so the water can slowly leak out gaps in the the penetration or rust through the bottom and leak out before flooding the components inside the panel.

We also use rubber tray cable *everywhere*- more expensive, but it has saved us a few times (in the short time I've been here)


Due consideration (if it hasnt been said before) should be given to powered equipment in the area - try to keep conduits out of the way of forklifts, powered trucks, pallet jacks, pushcarts and anything else that can run into something.



-John

 

[Barneel]

I'm going to go ahead and revive this ancient thread - because it's a good thread! It's given me some really helpful tips for a panel I'm about to begin construction on

 

[WhinnieThePooh]

Hello Guys-
Even though this thread is almost as old as I am, I thought it might be worth asking a question. Does anybody know what happened to rsdorans webpage with all his compiled information from this thread? It appears that it no longer exists which is not surprising I guess, after all it has been 18 years.

 

[the_msp]

I believe, from reading other threads, that RsDoran is deceased.

 

[Steve Bailey]

Ron Doran passed away in 2007. Has it really been sixteen years? Tim Wilburne maintained his site for a brief period following Ron's death, but eventually gave it up.

 

[WhinnieThePooh]

Thanks for the replies. Sorry to hear about Ron... I really appreciate all the good content in this thread and the PLCTalk forum in general. My respect to all the engineers & technicians who take time to post information here. Nothing speaks like the voice of experience!