ron2
Posted : 11/15/2008 8:05:25 PM
oranges81
Ron, I know nothing about what you do,
You're right, I should probably preface that a little better. As an electrician with a license given by the state of Texas, we have to complete so many hours of continuing ed per year to keep renewing our licenses. The sponsors are manufacturers of equipment and supplies that we use in our jobs. For example, my company is currently working on a huge, monstrous school. The main building has two main switchgear assemblies. One is 5 sections and the other is three sections, each section about 3 feet wide by 7.5 feet tall and bolted together, sitting on a concrete pad above the floor about four inches. Each gear assembly carries 4,000 amps of current. The incoming voltage from the power company transformers is 480 volt 3-phase. It serves all the electrical needs of the building, which is about 500,000 square feet, plus the site lighting, including parking lot pole lights, signage, outside building lighting. Anything that needs electricity. Also, at this school, there is a separate multi-use building which includes an indoor 50-yard practice football field. Talk about snazzy. Outside football stadium with pressbox. Running track, baseball field, olympic size swimming pool, 8 tennis courts. The occupancy capacity of just the main building is greater than the town's current population. But the town is expanding like crazy. People around here will know what I mean when I say it's the next Frisco.
Anyway, so I get to meet with the people that provide us with the things we use to do our jobs and we get the skinny on the NEC (national electrical code) changes. I like going to this shindig because it is a bunch of electrical inspectors, who's judgement affects my work, directly. I like to know what they're thinking so that I can be prepared. I have a near spotless record of green tags because I work with inspectors, rather than against them.
I could go into more detail but I would bore many people to tears.