At 06:07 AM 7/6/2005, Tom Rauch wrote:
>Good grief. This is just a ham station.
>
>Do a safe wiring job, and bring the line into a place where
>there is an electrical outlet with GFI.
>
>Plug the line up the tower into the GFI outlet. The only
>thing that needs inspected is the point up to the GFI
>outlet. The rest is your equipment.
>
>We do that (and have done that) many years with work
>benches. All they need to do is plug in, and the fire or
>electrical inspector has no say over what occurs after the
>plug.
Tom's technique might work, depending on the jurisdiction. Around here,
depending on who's doing the walkthrough, plug strips that appear to be
"permanent" get tagged for replacement with conduit, boxes, and so
forth. They're approved for "temporary use", and if you attach it to the
wall, it's a fixture. (you'll note that many fewer plug strips have
mounting tabs or screw holes on them anymore.) Nothwithstanding that
millions of people use extension cords to run lamps in their houses and
never unplug them in 20 years.
There's also the distinction between "commercial use" (i.e. in offices and
such) and "residential use" (and even, "farm use"). They tend to be
pickier and more "by the book" with commercial use. For commercial,
industrial, and construction use, there's a whole set of OSHA rules having
to do with GFCIs, grounding, and ordinary extension cords. You have to
either have cords that are fail safe (grounding wise) or have a program in
place to test them (with recordkeeping of the testing), etc.
It really boils down to what the local inspector thinks.
>By the way, my tower lights are simple outdoor rated 10-2 G
>wire attached to a tower leg. The only thing special I do is
>I run it from an isolation transformer with heavy insulation
>and a grounded shield for lightning mitigation. When I work
>on the tower lights I just unplug them from the outlet in my
>barn.
>
>73, Tom W8JI
_______________________________________________
See: http://www.mscomputer.com for "Self Supporting Towers", "Wireless Weather
Stations", and lot's more. Call Toll Free, 1-800-333-9041 with any questions
and ask for Sherman, W2FLA.
_______________________________________________
TowerTalk mailing list
TowerTalk@contesting.com
http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/towertalk
|