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Building distro
Sam Saponaro Jr:
Ok so awhile back I asked about building a small distro for my rig. And in short I was told now distros have to be UL listed as a unit....or at least I understood it this way.
Now I was talking with an ibew electrician recently and he basically argued that building temporary distros are fine,stating there is a whole section on temporary distros in the nec. I remember that from last time I looked at a NEC book circa 1996 lol
Anyhow what is the deal here?? I really only wanted a small little distro to eliminate the wall power headaches in clubs and bars for the small jobs I do. Allot of which have a 4pole 50a 240v outlet at stage setup for this purpose.
Edit.. And just to be clear I'm not talking a big distro with 240v outlets or anything. Just a small job with just 4x 20a 120v circuits...all gfci.
Nathan Riddle:
--- Quote from: Sam Saponaro Jr on October 06, 2021, 02:06:51 PM ---Ok so awhile back I asked about building a small distro for my rig. And in short I was told now distros have to be UL listed as a unit....or at least I understood it this way.
Now I was talking with an ibew electrician recently and he basically argued that building temporary distros are fine,stating there is a whole section on temporary distros in the nec. I remember that from last time I looked at a NEC book circa 1996 lol
Anyhow what is the deal here?? I really only wanted a small little distro to eliminate the wall power headaches in clubs and bars for the small jobs I do. Allot of which have a 4pole 50a 240v outlet at stage setup for this purpose.
Edit.. And just to be clear I'm not talking a big distro with 240v outlets or anything. Just a small job with just 4x 20a 120v circuits...all gfci.
--- End quote ---
I'd lean towards it is okay.
That said, I really like my Split Hughston box and a Motion Labs Rac Pac isn't very expensive used ~$500 check facebook. I have the 1103-3-KK-152-0005 model (4x L5-30r, 2x 5-20r).
I doubt you'd save much building your own vs finding a used distro.
(Unless you have the parts already or find them for free like I did).
Sam Saponaro Jr:
Well I have some stuff sitting around 4x4 boxes outlets etc....its the 4 wire range cable that would get expensive.
I went to Lowe's to grab 80ft of 12/3 the other day and almost choked. It's been awhile but it's about double per foot. For 2x40ft 12 gauge feeders ends and two flanges twist locks I was in 170 bucks plus.
Scott Holtzman:
--- Quote from: Sam Saponaro Jr on October 06, 2021, 02:06:51 PM ---Ok so awhile back I asked about building a small distro for my rig. And in short I was told now distros have to be UL listed as a unit....or at least I understood it this way.
Now I was talking with an ibew electrician recently and he basically argued that building temporary distros are fine,stating there is a whole section on temporary distros in the nec. I remember that from last time I looked at a NEC book circa 1996 lol
Anyhow what is the deal here?? I really only wanted a small little distro to eliminate the wall power headaches in clubs and bars for the small jobs I do. Allot of which have a 4pole 50a 240v outlet at stage setup for this purpose.
Edit.. And just to be clear I'm not talking a big distro with 240v outlets or anything. Just a small job with just 4x 20a 120v circuits...all gfci.
--- End quote ---
Here is my favorite little secret weapon. These are made by one of the best known companies in power distribution, no inspector is going to think twice about it. Change the outlets out for the combo 15/20 models and put whatever input you want on it. They are compact, the breakers are very high quality and they hold up to road duty rigors.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/113721303223
Brian Jojade:
An electrician is NOT the same as an inspector. The rules for temporary power in a construction environment is very different than temporary power where the general public may roam. In an active construction site, there are often things that may present safety hazards for the non aware.
Now, some inspectors may be ok with home built units. Others, not so much. I had one inspector that had a problem with a home-made distro once, with the rationale that it was 'too home made' looking. This was one of those breaker box on a piece of plywood with outlets attached setups. Nothing inherently wrong with it. Now, the same inspector had NO problem with the distros I provided, but my distros were built into nice 19 inch rack cases, and finished to look professional. No UL listing, obviously, but the inspector wasn't looking for that specifically. Not sure if the inspector would have known if there was an actual problem, just looking for hacky stuff, I guess.
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