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Posted By: ZR600 Car Repair Garage - 09/11/05 02:03 PM
Can anyone help me with a question? I am doing a car repair garage and I have a question about some pipes I have leaving the area under the floors. The office area of the dealership is seperated from the garage area by a three hour fire wall. I have 1" pipes that leave the garage area to the office area. I put seal off's on these as soon as they come through the floor, I believe this is correct? My next question is the other pipes from data box to data box daisy chain to one another going from 48" box height to under the floor for 25' then popping up through the floor to the next dat box mounted again at 48". My question is do these pipes need seal off's on them everytime I come trough the floor, as the data boxes are all in the garage area but I do go below the concrette floor poured on grade? Thanks for the help.........
Posted By: earlydean Re: Car Repair Garage - 09/11/05 03:23 PM
511.3 Classifications of Locations.
(B) Classified Locations.
(1) Up to a Level of 450 mm (18 in.) Above the Floor. For each floor, the entire area up to a level of 450 mm (18 in.) above the floor shall be considered to be a Class I, Division 2 location.
Exception: Where the enforcing agency determines that there is mechanical ventilation providing a minimum of four air changes per hour or one cubic foot per minute of exchanged air for each square foot of floor area. Ventilation shall provide for air exchange across the entire floor area within 0.3 m (12 in.) of the floor.

511.4 Wiring and Equipment in Class I Locations.
(A) Wiring Located in Class I Locations. Within Class I locations as classified in 511.3, wiring shall conform to applicable provisions of Article 501.
(1) Raceways. Raceways embedded in a masonry wall or buried beneath a floor shall be considered to be within the Class I location above the floor if any connections or extensions lead into or through such areas.

501.5 Sealing and Drainage.
(B) Conduit Seals, Class I, Division 2. In Class I, Division 2 locations, conduit seals shall be located in accordance with 501.5(B)(1) and (B)(2).
(2) Class I, Division 2 Boundary. In each conduit run passing from a Class I, Division 2 location into an unclassified location. The sealing fitting shall be permitted on either side of the boundary of such location within 3.05 m (10 ft) of the boundary and shall be designed and installed so as to minimize the amount of gas or vapor within the Division 2 portion of the conduit from being communicated to the conduit beyond the seal. Rigid metal conduit or threaded steel intermediate metal conduit shall be used between the sealing fitting and the point at which the conduit leaves the Division 2 location, and a threaded connection shall be used at the sealing fitting. Except for listed explosionproof reducers at the conduit seal, there shall be no union, coupling, box, or fitting between the conduit seal and the point at which the conduit leaves the Division 2 location.
Exception No. 1: Metal conduit that contains no unions, couplings, boxes, or fittings and passes completely through a Class I, Division 2 location with no fittings less than 300 mm (12 in.) beyond each boundary shall not be required to be sealed if the termination points of the unbroken conduit are in unclassified locations.
Exception No. 2: Conduit systems terminating at an unclassified location where a wiring method transition is made to cable tray, cablebus, ventilated busway, Type MI cable, or open wiring shall not be required to be sealed where passing from the Class I, Division 2 location into the unclassified location. The unclassified location shall be outdoors or, if the conduit system is all in one room, it shall be permitted to be indoors. The conduits shall not terminate at an enclosure containing an ignition source in normal operation.
Exception No. 3: Conduit systems passing from an enclosure or room that is unclassified as a result of pressurization into a Class I, Division 2 location shall not require a seal at the boundary.
FPN: For further information, refer to NFPA 496-1998, Standard for Purged and Pressurized Enclosures for Electrical Equipment.
Exception No. 4: Segments of aboveground conduit systems shall not be required to be sealed where passing from a Class I, Division 2 location into an unclassified location if the following conditions are met:
(a) No part of the conduit system segment passes through a Class I, Division 1 location where the conduit contains unions, couplings, boxes, or fittings within 300 mm (12 in.) of the Class I, Division 1 location; and
(b) The conduit system segment is located entirely in outdoor locations; and
(c) The conduit system segment is not directly connected to canned pumps, process or service connections for flow, pressure, or analysis measurement, and so forth, that depend on a single compression seal, diaphragm, or tube to prevent flammable or combustible fluids from entering the conduit system; and
(d) The conduit system segment contains only threaded metal conduit, unions, couplings, conduit bodies, and fittings in the unclassified location; and
(e) The conduit system segment is sealed at its entry to each enclosure or fitting housing terminals, splices, or taps in Class I, Division 2 locations

So, unless there is adequate ventillation, yes, the data boxes do need seal-offs. Can you rearrange the pipe routing to avoid this?
Posted By: ZR600 Re: Car Repair Garage - 09/11/05 04:58 PM
No I cannot rerun this as the owner wants as little surface conduit as can be. I thought this would be the case so these data boxes are going to be costly ones to the owner. I think the air exchange exception is gone now, or at least in WI we cannot use this. Thanks again for the help.............Brian
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