bit of advice please

[bcuk04]

hi guys, tested a mobile milkshake trailer a few months ago. well client has now come back to me as they have been refused entry to some events, because in my test report I added that as the trailer was an import and used american cable which may not conform to british standard. in my obs I added this should be changed. can any one offer advice on the whole cable issue? have spoke with a couple of NIC standard inspectors I know and was told it shouldnt be a problem as long its identified.

 

[malcolmsanford]

Have a read of Section 511

 

[bcuk04]

ok according to 511.2 they need confromation from the supplier that the cable is equuivelant to british standard then?

 

[malcolmsanford]

Where does it say that in the reg 511.2 ??

Find out what size AWG it is, then goolgle an equivalent chart with metric cable, the chart will give you it's current rating and you can write a nice letter as the responsible person, which reg 511.2 states, that the cable is equivalent to such a such cable, it carries such and such load etc etc.

 

[bcuk04]

excuse my para-phrasing but I took "the designer" to be the supplier.

 

[malcolmsanford]

I always take designer in the BS 7671-2008 as the person designing the installation.

 

[bcuk04]

ok, I'm obviously not expressing myself correctly. I'm told the supplier is also the designer and builder of said trailer.

 

[malcolmsanford]

OK then ..........................as you have done the PIR your the next best thing as the responsible person.

I'm just trying to help you get round this, I'm sure there is a supplier/designer/manufacturer/builder name on this, contact them in the States and ask them to supply you with data concerning the cable they used and if it is BASEC approved.

 

[Engineer54]

ok, I'm obviously not expressing myself correctly. I'm told the supplier is also the designer and builder of said trailer.

Err.....That would be the ''Manufacturer'' of the trailer then!!

 

[bcuk04]

I do appreciate the advice, its not easy to convey this in writing.

I've look at AWG conversion and so far have found -
the original cable is AWG 2.59mm which is equivelant to 5.26mm2
so according to table 4D1A on pg274 this would be in the middle of
4mm2 = 26 amps and
6mm2 = 34amps

 

[malcolmsanford]

AWG cable is not any mm it will have most likely a single digit rating

[url]http://www.technick.net/public/code/cp_dpage.php?aiocp_dp=guide_awg_to_metric
[/URL]
or

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wire_gauge
[/URL]
So you will only ever get an approximate rating or comparison to metric but it is pretty close.

 

[bcuk04]

yeah those are the charts I've found with awg 10 being cable which is on these charts as 2.59mm or 5.26mm2

 

[Engineer54]

yeah those are the charts I've found with awg 10 being cable which is on these charts as 2.59mm or 5.26mm2

It's the 5.26mm that is the equivalent metric size. The yanks use a hell of a lot of 90c cable (40A), and is probable that they would have used this grade of cable in such a trailer, at the very least it would be 75c (35A)cable. This is easily confirmable by checking in the DB of the trailer, as all there cables are clearly marked...

 

[bcuk04]

the cable is 10 awg, which makes 5.26mm2 in BS spec

 

[bcuk04]

also how can I find the insulation voltage rating for this cable as I could find no marking for this. as although it appears the cable size is adequate for about 30amps the insulation may not be up to taking 230v based on the american 110v