Preface: Installation instructions is germane to each discipline so that is why it is posted here and not a drift in another thread.
A forum member has questions about installation instructions as follows:
“What isn't clear to me, and I gather to many users of the NEC, is whether the entire installation manual for a listed piece of equipment is "included in the listing," or whether instructions "included in the listing" are limited to what appears in the listing standard itself.
For example, does a manufacturer have to submit the installation manual along with the product to the NRTL, and does the NRTL evaluate those instructions? Does a manufacturer have to get a NRTL to sign off on each revision of the installation manual?”
My knowledge comes from being a panel participant in the creation of UL2703 Standard for safety UL/ANSI 2703, Mounting Systems, Mounting devices, Clamping/Retention Devices and Ground lugs for use with PV modules.
While UL2703 dealt with the electrical aspects of the product, there were also structural issues addressed. Without naming the individual NRTLs I can tell you that the installation instructions are sometimes evaluated and sometimes not. When evaluated the instructions are sometimes accurate and sometimes not.
My tenure as a Std. panel member lasted well over a year. It seems odd that it would take that long but exposure to the process clears up any confusion. I was removed by the Superintendent Of Building Safety of LA County Public Works. The reason given was that my duties as an inspector were suffering. The truth is that I was a disruption. Here is a sample:
One test is that solar racking must withstand a jolt of 5000 amps of electricity. All of the hardware connections of the racking are a path for equipment grounding. So the nuts and bolts that hold it together are important.
Another group of tests include extreme temperature swings, saltwater spray, and elevated UV exposure. Those tests were performed to determine the effect they might have on the grounding connection from one piece of the structure to the next.
So here’s the kicker, the 5000 amp test was performed prior to the environmental tests. In other words they were doing it backwards. That is but one thing that I corrected. The industry players were not happy with me from day one and it never improved.
Now to the installation instructions. I was tasked with vetting installation instructions for racking manufacturers prior to the product being allowed for use in LA County.
I would receive a draft copy of the instructions that were destined to be evaluated by the NRTL. However it didn’t start out that way. Initially I received a copy after the Listing was a done deal. I poked so many holes that the industry decided to make me the starting point. I mention that to exemplify the lax attention to detail. When I was raising defects in the endeavor, I would remind the several dozen engineers that I was merely an inspector.
Beyond the fact that I had to create a twenty-one item list for manufactures to get through before even submitting the draft copy is that many were not evaluated as a part of the listing.
Examples of what was not right about installation instructions are rudimentary.
Every nut and screw or setscrew has a torque value and that was always omitted.
Bare copper wire shall be kept separated from aluminum and that was always omitted. In the early days, panel clamping devices lacked integrated grounding. Bare copper wire was attached to every panel. The bare wire ate into the aluminum panel frame and circuit failures occurred.
There were diagrams showing cantilevered rails but there was no permissible dimensions provided. How it never occurred to the industry that it mattered is a quandary.
Here’s, the one that caused UL and ETL to request my inclusion on the standard making panel. When a panel is clamped to the correct torque value, the metal fatigues with a given deformation. Aluminum does not relax; the metal stays bent. The interaction of the clamp and the panel is the point of integrated grounding.
Panels are removed during erection and at other times. Reapplication of the clamp at the same location will cause further reaction to the clamping force.
The question to be answered is how many times can that occur at the identical location? In several cases, that was determined to be two however, there were as many or more that stated only once was allowed.
WEEB clips was another single use item. That information was not provided.
What I am trying to impart is the idea that installation instructions can be taken as gospel or not. The individual that is interested has to decide if what he is provided has merit.
I once had a jacuzzi bathtub that lacked a wire lug on the motor housing for a bonding jumper to the metal water pipe. That is paramount to safety. The installation instructions stated that the appliance had a double insulated pump motor; in which case, the bonding jumper would not be required.
The motor was not double insulated. Everything matched between the installation instructions and the actual unit in front of me. I contacted the manufacturer and after an extended shuffle, the engineer told me that I was wrong and no jumper was required…. “In fact the installation instructions were to be followed.”
My experience with solar industry installation instructions is unique to me. By that I mean, how many people like me are busy picking apart installation instructions? If it happens at all, the picker is most likely an engineer or his assistant. The practicality may elude them.
At this point I should mention that I have been retired from LA County for several years and it’s a crap shoot if the current list of approved racking manufacturers are legit.
So there ya go! Could be full of shlt but chances are, that’s all you’ve got.
A forum member has questions about installation instructions as follows:
“What isn't clear to me, and I gather to many users of the NEC, is whether the entire installation manual for a listed piece of equipment is "included in the listing," or whether instructions "included in the listing" are limited to what appears in the listing standard itself.
For example, does a manufacturer have to submit the installation manual along with the product to the NRTL, and does the NRTL evaluate those instructions? Does a manufacturer have to get a NRTL to sign off on each revision of the installation manual?”
My knowledge comes from being a panel participant in the creation of UL2703 Standard for safety UL/ANSI 2703, Mounting Systems, Mounting devices, Clamping/Retention Devices and Ground lugs for use with PV modules.
While UL2703 dealt with the electrical aspects of the product, there were also structural issues addressed. Without naming the individual NRTLs I can tell you that the installation instructions are sometimes evaluated and sometimes not. When evaluated the instructions are sometimes accurate and sometimes not.
My tenure as a Std. panel member lasted well over a year. It seems odd that it would take that long but exposure to the process clears up any confusion. I was removed by the Superintendent Of Building Safety of LA County Public Works. The reason given was that my duties as an inspector were suffering. The truth is that I was a disruption. Here is a sample:
One test is that solar racking must withstand a jolt of 5000 amps of electricity. All of the hardware connections of the racking are a path for equipment grounding. So the nuts and bolts that hold it together are important.
Another group of tests include extreme temperature swings, saltwater spray, and elevated UV exposure. Those tests were performed to determine the effect they might have on the grounding connection from one piece of the structure to the next.
So here’s the kicker, the 5000 amp test was performed prior to the environmental tests. In other words they were doing it backwards. That is but one thing that I corrected. The industry players were not happy with me from day one and it never improved.
Now to the installation instructions. I was tasked with vetting installation instructions for racking manufacturers prior to the product being allowed for use in LA County.
I would receive a draft copy of the instructions that were destined to be evaluated by the NRTL. However it didn’t start out that way. Initially I received a copy after the Listing was a done deal. I poked so many holes that the industry decided to make me the starting point. I mention that to exemplify the lax attention to detail. When I was raising defects in the endeavor, I would remind the several dozen engineers that I was merely an inspector.
Beyond the fact that I had to create a twenty-one item list for manufactures to get through before even submitting the draft copy is that many were not evaluated as a part of the listing.
Examples of what was not right about installation instructions are rudimentary.
Every nut and screw or setscrew has a torque value and that was always omitted.
Bare copper wire shall be kept separated from aluminum and that was always omitted. In the early days, panel clamping devices lacked integrated grounding. Bare copper wire was attached to every panel. The bare wire ate into the aluminum panel frame and circuit failures occurred.
There were diagrams showing cantilevered rails but there was no permissible dimensions provided. How it never occurred to the industry that it mattered is a quandary.
Here’s, the one that caused UL and ETL to request my inclusion on the standard making panel. When a panel is clamped to the correct torque value, the metal fatigues with a given deformation. Aluminum does not relax; the metal stays bent. The interaction of the clamp and the panel is the point of integrated grounding.
Panels are removed during erection and at other times. Reapplication of the clamp at the same location will cause further reaction to the clamping force.
The question to be answered is how many times can that occur at the identical location? In several cases, that was determined to be two however, there were as many or more that stated only once was allowed.
WEEB clips was another single use item. That information was not provided.
What I am trying to impart is the idea that installation instructions can be taken as gospel or not. The individual that is interested has to decide if what he is provided has merit.
I once had a jacuzzi bathtub that lacked a wire lug on the motor housing for a bonding jumper to the metal water pipe. That is paramount to safety. The installation instructions stated that the appliance had a double insulated pump motor; in which case, the bonding jumper would not be required.
The motor was not double insulated. Everything matched between the installation instructions and the actual unit in front of me. I contacted the manufacturer and after an extended shuffle, the engineer told me that I was wrong and no jumper was required…. “In fact the installation instructions were to be followed.”
My experience with solar industry installation instructions is unique to me. By that I mean, how many people like me are busy picking apart installation instructions? If it happens at all, the picker is most likely an engineer or his assistant. The practicality may elude them.
At this point I should mention that I have been retired from LA County for several years and it’s a crap shoot if the current list of approved racking manufacturers are legit.
So there ya go! Could be full of shlt but chances are, that’s all you’ve got.
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