power strip for a university

[Roger Wheelock]

Thanks, Jim for you detailed reply.  Also, thank you to all who replied to
my question.  I value your advice.

I received a response off the list to use a junction box on the inner rim or
a support brace.  I passed this on to our contact at the university.  We do
not intend to redesign the product.

As an aside, our design process is complicated by many regulatory agencies
these days.  Because of our international markets we are currently involved
with six electrical safety certification agencies besides UL.  Incorporating
local fire and electrical code issues would either result in a very
expensive product or,at a minimum, a very costly process.

Thanks again list,

Roger
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Harvey" <harvey@greenwood.net>
To: "College and University Technicians" <caut@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, February 14, 2004 1:17 PM
Subject: Re: power strip for a university


> Hello Roger,
>
> Thursday, February 12, 2004, 11:51:36 AM, you wrote:
>
> RW> Hello list,
>
> RW> I have a music department who is "under attack" from the
> RW> school's fire department related to our product in a number of
> RW> pianos.  The bottom line is that the fire marshal has requested
> RW> that multiple dehumidifiers connect to the Humidistat via a "power
> RW> strip", rather than a series of Add-An-Outlets or a three way
> RW> adaptor.  I thought this would be easy but my search and that of
> RW> our purchasing agent have only turned up power strips with a
> RW> grounded plug.  Our Humidistat won't accept the ground pin.  Has
> RW> anyone ran into this before and found a solution?  Any help would
> RW> be greatly appreciated.
>
> RW> Thanks,
>
> RW> Roger
>
> Roger, it would no doubt help you to know the motivation behind the
> request. I'm failing to get to the bottom line, based solely on the
> information you were provided; i.e., whether it's about just the
> daisy-chain (add-an-outlet), the third-wire grounding, or something to
> do with isolation or safety.
>
> What bothers me most about this issue is that of setting precedent. I
> for one wouldn't want see a 3-wire installation become a global matter
> at the manufacturing level, based solely on the whims of one school's
> (not municipal) fire marshal. It's already enough to deal with
> routing, securing and hiding 2-wire installations.
>
> Suggestion 1: Counterpoint and reason
> If I recall correctly from your predecessors at DC, UL approval is not
> merely a political protocol that gives tacit approval to a product. I
> understand that approval is earned by stringent test procedures that
> often push reliability issues past the point of 'reasonable'.
>
> If that's true, it seems to me that what y'all pay for UL inspections,
> approval, and /or endorsement that they (Underwriters) would have some
> guidelines that would help resolve this, -including- appeasing (or
> covering) the local fire marshal's integrity and job security.
>
> If it is a matter of current draw, I'm thinking that the cumulative
> resistive load of a CC installation is not unlike that of a lamp. It's
> pretty rare that one sees a lamp fixture with a grounded outlet, even
> with 100+ watt bulbs. The notable exceptions are the old-style
> mechanics lamps, or other products that are potentially in (not
> around) water.
>
> 3-wire heavy-duty extension cords are available in both 2 and 3 wire
> configurations. One might ask... why? Hint: it's not just because of
> current draw.
>
> Everything built by D/C is UL approved. Anything not built by D/C has
> a separate UL approval by their respective manufacturer(s), including
> the various 3-way, add-a-outlets, etc.
>
> In reading your message yet another time, I'm thinking that this might
> be interpreted as the following fictitious statement:
>
> "The service connector of each device must terminate in a strong,
> individual mechanical connection..." or something to that effect.
>
> Rant and speculation over.
>
> Suggestion 2: Forget the above, and deal with isolated problem
>
> I'd suggest skipping the catalogs and purchasing agent and either:
> a. contact Leviton directly;
> b. check with Woods directly;
> c. check out Big Lots or other dollar-type stores for 2-wire power
> strips. (although they really are getting harder to find).
>
>
> --
> Regards,
>  Jim                            mailto:harvey@greenwood.net
>
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