ECN Forum
Posted By: cinkerf Medical Trailor - 06/15/01 02:46 PM
A medical trailor is going to be transported to our Firefighters Training Academy. It will be used for testing for 4 days and then taken away. It will come equipped with a 60 amp. 120/240V. 60A. 4W. power cable and attachment cap. A 4W. receptacle will be installed near a subpanel to provide power. Is a ground rod required?

Frank (cinkerf)
Posted By: Mike Re: Medical Trailor - 06/15/01 04:43 PM
Does the medical trailer have a panelboard?
If it does have a panelboard then I would consider it a structure. Which would lead to Article 250-32, etc., requiring a ground rod. If it doesn't, then I would consider the trailer as portable equipment. Which wouldn't require a ground rod.

[This message has been edited by Mike (edited 06-15-2001).]
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Medical Trailor - 06/15/01 05:37 PM
The metal shell of the trailer must throughly and solidly bonded to the EGC. You should test the resistance and find it to be low (<2 ohms). If it isn't bonded properly, then I see the need to get it correctly bonded. I don't see the need for a ground rod. A ground rod doesn't make a dangerous trailer safer.

I'm also assuming that the trailer will have a steel jack that would provide a path to earth if lightning strikes the trailer.
The trailer really should have metallic contact with the earth for lightning.

I'm assuming that the trailer has a panelboard - but I still consider it portable as evidenced by the fact that it will be rolled away after only 4 days.
Posted By: sparky Re: Medical Trailor - 06/15/01 09:24 PM
hmmmm;
we need to become definitional here,

is this a structure ??

is this a mobile home???

is this a camper??

[Linked Image]
Posted By: cinkerf Re: Medical Trailor - 06/15/01 11:07 PM
The Medical Trailor does have a panelboard.

Frank (cinkerf)
Posted By: Anonymous Re: Medical Trailor - 06/15/01 11:54 PM
It's not a structure mainly because it is not erected on site. Yes, a camper could be a good comparison. But I suspect that no one cooks or sleeps in this trailer.
Posted By: sparky Re: Medical Trailor - 06/16/01 02:18 AM
to G-rod or not to G-rod , that is the Q.
hmmm;

550-23(a), last sentence refers to 250-32, so does this mean only the disco gets the rod?

while we are on it, what about art 553 , floating buildings ???
Posted By: WARREN1 Re: Medical Trailor - 06/18/01 12:41 PM
I would consider the trailer as portable equipment since it has a cord and attachment plug. Even though the trailer was probably manufactured to the stringent standards of MHMA and other required standards (which by the way are now a lot stricter than they were twenty and thirty years ago when I bought my first mobile home).
The cord and plug have two phase conductors, a neutral and a ground. The receptacle supplying power to the unit is deemed as grounded and providing a ground return path. Having said all of that, I think I would insure the shell and frame are electrically connected to the ground in the cable. An ohmmeter check should suffice. If your meter is in the truck a couple of hundred feet away then a scrap piece of #10 connected to the frame and to the receptacle conduit should provide a suitable ground path for fault currents. A separate ground rod may set up a situation with circulating ground currents, and may cause additional problems.
Posted By: Mike Re: Medical Trailor - 06/18/01 02:19 PM
Read the thread "Carnival Tent" in IAEI BB. It doesn't matter what NEC article we "think" the medical trailer falls under. It's the AHJ's interpretation that counts [Linked Image]
© ECN Electrical Forums