Overhead power to 19" equipment rack

[ekmdgrf]

For those people famailar with (or at least who can imagine) 19" equipment racks, I have a little problem to solve. I am trying to work out the way to provide some power in the form of 16A sockets above a rack in a small bedroom. I've seen this done in a data centre where it they sockets were mounted on a trianglar trunking running above the racks. Is this the way to go or can anyone think of a better/other way?

Thanks.

 

[FDJ]

For those people famailar with (or at least who can imagine) 19" equipment racks, I have a little problem to solve. I am trying to work out the way to provide some power in the form of 16A sockets above a rack in a small bedroom. I've seen this done in a data centre where it they sockets were mounted on a trianglar trunking running above the racks. Is this the way to go or can anyone think of a better/other way?

Thanks.

Normally, these would be mounted on trunking which spans the whole length of the racks. You could use a 19" length of trunking with end caps but of course, you would have to buy a 3m length.
How about 16A sockets mounted on die-cast boxes fastened to the top of the rack with glands for the incoming feeds?
Frank

 

[bernardgreen]

You may find what you are looking for here

http://www.olson.co.uk/switching_range.htm

http://www.olson.co.uk/horizontal_19.htm

 

[ekmdgrf]

Normally, these would be mounted on trunking which spans the whole length of the racks. You could use a 19" length of trunking with end caps but of course, you would have to buy a 3m length.
How about 16A sockets mounted on die-cast boxes fastened to the top of the rack with glands for the incoming feeds?
Frank

Thanks. What trunking did you have in mind? The room is nearly 3m and there is talk of another rack, so it's a plausbile solution. Do you have any links to the trunking you're thinking of?

Thanks agian.

 

[RF Lighting]

Is it a wall mounted rack? How many sockets do you need per rack?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I am trying to work out the way to provide some power in the form of 16A sockets above a rack in a small bedroom.

How many?

What sort of 16A sockets? IEC 60309 or 60320-C19 or -C21?

Are you aware of what the Wiring Regulations say about unshuttered sockets in households?

What are the details of the circuits which will be supplying the sockets?

 

[Maxatoria]

What are you trying to power? probably you can run it all from a single 13A spur if its networking gear and maybe some 1U servers but it depends on the load

// not a sparkie but an it guy who has spent enough time in the infrastructure design to know the site sparkies number when needed but normally can work out most things to give the sparks a rough idea on what they'll encounter

 

[Chri5]

Why in gods name would you do or need to do that in a domestic bedroom.

If the cabinet came with 16 amp plugs and you running a cabinet with under 13 amp load cut the plug, fit a 13 amp plug and provide a socket, or cut the plug wire and terminate on a fused spur.

If you need to bridge wall to cabinet, use a no flex fspur outlet, fit a 25mm copex gland, copex and another gland to the cabinet.

http://www.repsole.com/Product/25mm-galvanised-steel-conduit-lsf-sheath-50m-coil/1355

 

[SimonH2]

I am trying to work out the way to provide some power in the form of 16A sockets above a rack in a small bedroom.

If it gets even part way to needing a 16A supply then it's not going to be in a bedroom any more - unless the occupant is completely stone deaf
It's bad enough at work where we a) aren't trying to sleep*, and b) the servers (about 7kW at the moment) are in another room.
* Well normally at least

If you really do need 16A sockets, then how about a simple surface mounted one like this :

The cable can enter via conduit (via suitable threaded adapter) or cable gland according to your wiring requirements.

But as stated, it's hard to imagine anything in a home that needs more than you can run off a 13A socket or FCU. If nothing else, thing about the running costs ... 3kW will cost you in the order of 2 1/2 to 3 grand a year in lecky

 

[ekmdgrf]

Are you aware of what the Wiring Regulations say about unshuttered sockets in households?

In short, no. The question appears slightly loaded and thus I infer that the Regs severely restrict, if not outright prohibit unshuttered sockets with households. A flick through the aforementioned Regs on the way into work failed to confirm or deny this suspicion. Some time spent with a well-known Internet search engine did turn up a number of sites stating that sockets had to have shutters however it was not entirely clear if they were only referring to BS 1363 sockets nor did they cite their sources beyond BS7671.

Perhaps you can point me in the direction of the relevent paragraph and we can go from there?

 

[FDJ]

Trunking.
Either 4x4 or 6x6..

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Trunking_Galv_Index/index.html
I am assuming that the 16A supply if for a UPS with a 16A IEC inlet.
Frank

 

[OwainDIYer]

Are you aware of what the Wiring Regulations say about unshuttered sockets in households?

In short, no. The question appears slightly loaded and thus I infer that the Regs severely restrict, if not outright prohibit unshuttered sockets with households. A flick through the aforementioned Regs on the way into work failed to confirm or deny this suspicion. Some time spent with a well-known Internet search engine did turn up a number of sites stating that sockets had to have shutters however it was not entirely clear if they were only referring to BS 1363 sockets nor did they cite their sources beyond BS7671.

Perhaps you can point me in the direction of the relevent paragraph and we can go from there?

553-01-04 In domestic installations socket-outlets SHALL BE shuttered and should preferably comply with BS1363 for an a.c. installation.
Handbook on Bs7671: The Iee Wiring Regulations - A Handbook of Compliance By Trevor E. Marks google books

possibly updated to 553.1.100 in 17th Ed.

 

[ekmdgrf]

553-01-04 In domestic installations socket-outlets SHALL BE shuttered and should preferably comply with BS1363 for an a.c. installation.
Handbook on Bs7671: The Iee Wiring Regulations - A Handbook of Compliance By Trevor E. Marks google books

possibly updated to 553.1.100 in 17th Ed.

Ahh, there it is. Rather indisputably in black and white. I'm a little disappointed that they used a comma in conjunction with the conjunctive "and" in that sentance. Nevertheless, that is an argument for another day.

How do the people who crop up on here on a fairly regular basis to talk about the 16A welder in their garage deal with this issue?

Does anyone have any bright ideas for dealing with this one?

I do note that while the definitions section of the Regs goes to great effort to define terms such as "caravan" and "caravan park", one term it neglects to specify is "shuttered". The dictionary defines shuttered, amungst other things, as "a movable cover, slide, etc., for an opening." Sounds remarkably like those spring loaded, plastic covers that one finds on IEC-60309 sockets...

 

[EFLImpudence]

I'm a little disappointed that they used a comma in conjunction with the conjunctive "and" in that sentance. Nevertheless, that is an argument for another day.

You will love the same regulation in the new green book.

553.1.100 ... shall preferably be of a type complying with BS 1363.

 

[Maxatoria]

One of the things i've noticed with some UPS's is their start up current draw when power is restored as we've had some that state a 16amp breaker is fine but the initial load will be a bit too much for a 16amp breaker as the attached kit fires up and it starts to recharge the battery at the same time so they trip out but a 20amp breaker will handle the inital bump, was a pain having to get a 48 breaker board upgraded after the first power trip, but the UPS manfacturer paid for it since it was their gear causing the problems