Anyone have American electric questions?

[1capybara]

Everyone on this forum has been great in answering all my 17th ed questions,
pls lmk if u have any NEC [American electric] questions, I will be happy to answer

 

[mayfair]

I'll bear that in mind when i'm not having a nice day tnx

 

[Engineer54]

Everyone on this forum has been great in answering all my 17th ed questions,
pls lmk if u have any NEC [American electric] questions, I will be happy to answer

What electrical testing is required, on a newly completed domestic installation according to your NEC code requirements??

 

[malcolmsanford]

What electrical testing is required, on a newly completed domestic installation according to your NEC code requirements??

Get the journeyman to switch it on, with you a safe distance away .........

 

[1capybara]

it depends on the inspector, most common is a ground rod test with a 3 pin tester, and test with a "megger" [mega-ohm meter] phase to phase,
phase to neutral, and phase to ground and neutral to ground for feeders only, not for the branch circuits. and voltage test everything. none of this is required by NEC. here our work is inspected by 3 different agencies who apply rules which are sometimes above and beyond the NEC, which is their right
as the AJD [authority having jurisdiction].

 

[Engineer54]

That's exactly as i know it, not much in the way of testing at all!!!
To say minimal i guess would be a bit of an understatement when compared with the requirements to your European counterparts accross the pond...

 

[ian.settle1]

Watched a program called Holme on Homes based in Canada and the electrician fitted a GFI(RCD) and said it should be tested every month not 3 as in this country.

 

[Engineer54]

As far as i can remember... in households, they are only required for outdoor receptacles and bathroom receptacles, i could be wrong there, but not too far out!!! They certainly don't make use of RCD devices as we do in Europe. Tripping value is 6mA, and mainly incorporated in the receptacle outlets, although some circuits will be supplied by RCBO type breakers in the enormous DB panels....

 

[davelerave]

where you from

 

[1capybara]

As far as i can remember... in households, they are only required for outdoor receptacles and bathroom receptacles, i could be wrong there, but not too far out!!! They certainly don't make use of RCD devices as we do in Europe. Tripping value is 6mA, and mainly incorporated in the receptacle outlets, although some circuits will be supplied by RCBO type breakers in the enormous DB panels....

the trip setting on our gfci outlets is 5mA designed to be below the lethal shock level. Us Yanks dont see the advantage of a trip level of 30 or 300mA which would allow a lethal shock without tripping.
The new thing here is AFCI [arc fault circuit interrupters] designed to prevent fires due to sparking.
BTW, im from California, but have been working in the Mid East for 3 years where im learning 17th ed. The difficultest part is the terminology is different for every little thing.

 

[Engineer54]

That's funny, ...every US GFI breaker or GFI receptacle i've come across, and that a considerable amount, have always been clearly marked for 6mA!!!

Haha... we have a range of RCD devices, some come in an S type version, (time delayed) 10mA, 30mA, 100mA, 300mA, 500mA
We in Europe tend to protect complete circuits with RCDs, whereas accross the pond there, you tend to protect a load/appliance via a RCD receptacle, or a GFI breaker circuit with a specific single load. Imagine the level of nuisance tripping on for argument's sake, a receptacle circuit with an RCD breaker trip level of just 6mA!! lol!!

Also we ensure that installations are limited to having a maximum touch voltage of 50 volts, so that they are not lethal. ...lol!!! The easiest way of explaining that to you, is maximum values of ground rod protected systems linked to RCD devices. (As the states use a hell of a lot of TT systems ''Ground rod grounding'') So U =RI, say R=50v/0.3A (300mA) =167 ohm Max, ....or R=50v/0.1A (100mA) =500 ohms Max. I'll let you do the calc for a 30mA RCD...lol!!

Hope that makes some sense to you, as i'm not concentrating to well, ... i'm doing other things at the same time here at the moment...lol!!!

 

[1capybara]

yes, we mostly use what you call TT systems. think about this: A= v/ohms. for 120v and maximum allowable ground of 25 ohms, 5 amps flow and the 20 amp breaker wont trip.
But the 5 or 6 mA gfci will, so lethal shock is prevented. in a British system, 30mA RCD, you would be dead.

 

[Antman]

Is an Electrician considered a decent tradesmen job in the USA, from what I heard the construction industry over there is very badly paid, or have I been told porkies?

 

[1capybara]

Yes, an electrician was a decent tradesman job in the States. But now with the global depression, our salary is only 50-60%
what it used to be, and thats if you can get work. Unemployment is sky high, especially in construction. I get an email from ppl I used to work with saying "Im not working and I dont know anyone who is." Which explains why I work in the mid-east, there is no work in the States. Hopefully, when normal economic times return, electricians will go back to getting decent wages like we always used to

 

[john25]

yes, we mostly use what you call TT systems. think about this: A= v/ohms. for 120v and maximum allowable ground of 25 ohms, 5 amps flow and the 20 amp breaker wont trip.
But the 5 or 6 mA gfci will, so lethal shock is prevented. in a British system, 30mA RCD, you would be dead.

Really ??? we were taught that 50mA is the lethal limit (granted it will vary depending on the person)