×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Fire Pump supervised connection

Fire Pump supervised connection

Fire Pump supervised connection

(OP)
I have found fire pump connections to be unique when it comes to NEC requirements and NFPA guidelines.

I have become accustomed to providing a disconnect ahead of the fire pump controller in accordance with NEC 695.4. However, I'm second guessing myself, and considering using direct connections instead.

Can anyone shed light on why a disconnect ahead of the fire pump would be benefitial?

RE: Fire Pump supervised connection

In case you need to work on the controller?  

RE: Fire Pump supervised connection

(OP)
That's a good point.

I've gotten in trouble before by specifying a non-fused disconnect ahead of the fire pump controller. Verbiage in NFPA 20 does not specifically allow the installation of a disconnect switch without overcurrent protection. Therefore, I was required to install a fused disconnect, sized for LRA of the pump. Seems like a lot of cost just to service the controller.  

Thanks for the reply.

RE: Fire Pump supervised connection

There are a lot of fire pumps out there with a direct connection to the controller.  The controller will have a disconnecting means that will allow most normal maintenance to be done on the controller, but there are still live parts on the line side of the disconnect.  With new arc-flash requirements, this becomes problematic for fire pump controllers because if there is a fault on the line side of the disconnect, there is not much in the way of upstream protection, so arc-flash energy could get so high that NFPA 70E would not allow any live work to be done.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources