Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!

Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!

Register Log in
  • Congratulations cowski on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

Recent content by jbelectrical

  1. jbelectrical

    Flourescent Lighting Question

    The increased output can be attributed to the following: -The T12 ballasts are overdriving the T8 lamps. -T8 lamps, by design, possess a higher lumen output than their T12 counterparts of similar length. -The T8 lamps are new and have not suffered from lumen depreciation. Anyways, I hate to...
  2. jbelectrical

    Standard illuminance

    This may not be of too much help to you, but the Illumination Engineering Society of North America recommends an average illuminance of 30 footcandles (roughly 323 lux) for a space involving "motor and equipment observation."
  3. jbelectrical

    Generator Req'd for Low-Rise Bldg?

    For buildings classified as high-rises, we are always required to provide standby power for at least one elevator. For a low-rise building such as the one you describe, the only loads that have ever been required to be served by the generator are: emergency egress lighting (If not using...
  4. jbelectrical

    Lightning damage to fire alarm control panels

    I am involved in a project with a fire alarm system configured in a campus-style arrangement amongst several buildings. One fire alarm control panel is installed at each building, and all are networked in what I am assuming is an NFPA Class B (non-redundant) configuration. Two of the fire alarm...
  5. jbelectrical

    LEED certification

    Agreed with all the other posters. The LEED AP exam, at its core, is simply a test of rote memorization skills. The questions are non-technical, but vague and phrased in such a way that they are sometimes difficult to answer. Our company's marketing person, with absolutely no engineering or...
  6. jbelectrical

    MEP engineers - What does your workload look like?

    In light of the housing market and the overall condition of the economy, I'm actually surprised to hear other local professionals tell me that their workloads really haven't skipped a beat. At my firm, however, we've noticed a quick decline in the number of billable projects. Almost zero...
  7. jbelectrical

    when are shunt trip breakers required

    ASME A17.1 (Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators) requires their use for the shutdown of the elevator motor(s) in elevator machine rooms protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system. These spaces are normally protected by a heat detector, and the idea is that the heat detector will cause...
  8. jbelectrical

    ICC Certification

    I work at an MEP engineering firm that reimburses its employees upon taking ICC certification exams. While our company doesn't really perform any inspection services, our boss still encourages us to take them. I sometimes come across job postings that list ICC certification as a prerequisite...
  9. jbelectrical

    "Intelligent" circuit breakers?

    I have a client with some very unusual design requirements. We're going to have a 1200A service entrance panel, which we'll call panel "A." Panel A supplies a 1200A automatic transfer switch. Panel "B" is a 1200A main distribution panel supplying all the buildings at the site. The client wants...
  10. jbelectrical

    High turnover rate

    Ashereng, Exactly. A significant percentage of my coworkers are unhappy with their wages at the present time. The work environment is more laid back and relaxed than any other I have been in (Which is great - don't get me wrong), but it appears that some employees would be more than willing to...
  11. jbelectrical

    High turnover rate

    I've been working at the same MEP engineering firm for the past three years and am just completely floored at all the great talent we've lost to competing engineering firms (The exception being a non-degreed HVAC designer that completely switched careers). They all leave for the same reason: an...
  12. jbelectrical

    Calling all Electrical Engineers working in MEP consulting firms!

    I'm not an electrical engineer, but more of a junior electrical designer without an engineering degree. Anyways... If all you're doing is designing electrical contract documents for schools and offices, you may want to look into possible employment at another MEP firm. There are several in my...
  13. jbelectrical

    Fire alarm, security, and telephone systems

    SpecialSystems, I probably should have worded my original post much differently. We're not truly "designing" security and telephone systems, we merely make provisions for them. The most we do is provide conduits and enclosures for the security and telephone contractors to do whatever it is they...
  14. jbelectrical

    Fire alarm, security, and telephone systems

    Electrical designers and engineers at the MEP firm I work at are required to design fire alarm systems, telephone, and on occasion, security systems. I use the term "design" very loosely, however. For telephone systems, we provide locations for telephone and data outlets, telephone...
  15. jbelectrical

    Three Phase Utility Transformers Configurations

    To reiterate and add to what was already said...most modern appliances that I've encountered (Water heaters, electric cooktops/ranges, dryers, etc.) are dual-rated for both 208V and 240V. Heating elements are simply de-rated when operating at a lower voltage. For example, an electric dryer rated...
See more

Part and Inventory Search

Back
Top