Showing posts with label Electrical installation pictures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Electrical installation pictures. Show all posts

Monday, May 17, 2010

A simple electrical installation

Anybody looking for a layout and schematic diagram of a simple electrical installation?

Diagram 1 – Simple house electrical layout


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RELATED ARTICLES: Lighting flexible conduits | Electrical socket extension unit  | 1- Phase ELCB connection pictures  | Bare fluorescent light pictures  | Recessed down lights installation  | Bollard light pictures  | Light switch installation pictures  | Home wiring pictures  | Electric Meters  | Electrical Grounding Electrode Pictures  | Most Basic Principles of House Wiring | MATV antenna bracket pictures
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This layout is very old.

At least 30 years old or more.

You can see that by the number of electric socket outlet in the bedrooms and the kitchen.

A modern bedroom would need at least a few sockets in each room. You would need one for the table clock, table lamp, a television maybe, etc etc.

One electrical socket as shown in the electrical layout would definitely be not enough.

Whereas in the kitchen there is only one, and one at the dining space. The one at the kitchen area was provided for the refrigerator.

So this design IS VERY OLD.

However, I believe there are still great many areas in the world that still lack even the basic supply of household electricity.

So this simple house electrical design is still useful to great many people.

In fact, this design is more relevant. It is also more easily understood.

The single line diagram in Diagram 2 below comes together with the electrical layout in Diagram 2.

Diagram 2 – A simple house single line diagram



This blog is for beginners in electrical works. The style used in Diagram 1 and 2 above is suitable for learners of electrical works.

I will not go into detail description of these diagrams today. I have already sent a few posts that contain detail descriptions on how to read schematic diagrams. They are scattered throughout this blog. You have to search around to find them. Sorry about that.

However, for genuine beginners, they may need to know which symbol means what in the electrical layout of Diagram 1. The meaning of the individual symbols is given in Diagram 3 below.

Diagram 3 – Schedule of legends and symbols



You can see more on electrical installation work by visiting this post, Electrical installation pictures.

Copyright http://electricalinstallationwiringpicture.blogspot.com A simple electrical installation

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Electric conduit installation pictures

You will find a number of installation pictures of electrical conduit in this post. I will not be writing much today, so this post will only present pictures.

Picture 1 – Surface run conduit



=================  RELATED ARTICLES: Underfloor trunking below structural rebarsMATV trunking riser |  Lighting flexible conduitsConduit to trunking connections |  Cable ladder picturesElectrical conduits and trunking picturesElectrical panel under water pipes  | Electrical busduct installation pictures   | Electric trunking installation pictures  | Electric Panel Installation Pictures  | FR electric cable installation pictures  | Multi storey building electric closets  | Underfloor trunking pictures  | Site-fabricated electrical trunking  | Electrical Services Color Codes  | Light switch installation pictures | Electrical installation pictures

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What you see here are surface run conduits inside a fan room of an office building.

For some reason that I do not know, personally I like surface run conduits, trunking, etc.

I also like to see things exposed like the exposed structural elements of a covered stadium.

Being able to see the things myself make me feel comfortable.

In the case of these conduits, having them exposed on the wall like that leave no room for any contractor to play with their tricks.

There is no doubt that concealed conduit works help keep the electrical system away from interference and possible accidental damage.

This is important where the space is a public space like a public corridor of a building.

Residential buildings are also not a good place to use surface run conduits like shown in the picture, even though surface run wiring (without conduit) used to be a standard practice in house wiring.

Why do we need these conduits?

The conduits are used to protect the wiring cables that carry the electrical current.

Electricity is dangerous. Even though the electric conductors that carry the current is insulated by some PVC covering materials or whatever, the covering material is not strong enough to protect the cable from damage.

When the covering is damaged, the electrical conductor inside may be exposed to touch or it can also unintentionally come into contact with things that can carry electric current.

This scenario would present a high risk of electric shocks.

Therefore, we protect the electric cables so that they do not present the dangers of electric shocks to people (or animals).

A second reason to protect the cables is to make sure the electrical system stays reliable.

When the cable PVC covering is damaged, the conducting metal can come into contact with other metals that are in contact with earth.

When this happens, the leakage protection of the electrical system will automatically trip the circuit breaker controlling the circuit whose cable has been damaged.

Damaged electric wiring cables can cause this tripping at time we need the electricity most.

Therefore, electric conduits are used to provide this reliability.

Picture 2 – Conduit connection to light switch concealed box



This picture shows how the electrical conduits are connected to the metal boxes.

These boxes are installed to house the rear of wall-mounted light switches. A 13A switched socket outlet mounted flushed to a wall would also have this concealed metal box.

The purpose of the box is to provide a protected space for the wiring cables from the conduit. This space gives enough room for the cables to maneuvers before terminating at the light switch or the socket outlet.

The space also provides the room for the rear portion of a switch unit to sit in.

With this method, we can change a switch unit when it is damaged without disturbing the wiring system too much.

Note the four screw holes already provided by the metal box.

Now, when the electric conduit is cut to suit height of the box, there may be sharp edges at the conduit end. These edges may damage the PVC insulation covering of our wiring cables.

A careful workmanship can easily trim the sharp edges, but controlling workmanship is not easy.

That is why a copper bushing is provided as you can see in the picture.

The bushing also helps to give good contact between the metal box and the metal conduit.

Did I forget to say that these conduits are made of metal?

They are actually galvanized steel conduit.

You can use the cheaper PVC conduit for the same purpose if you like. In that case, you may still use a suitable PVC bushing but not for the purpose of providing e good electrical contact.

The conduit in picture 2 is a concealed conduit for a dry wall partition. So the metal box is a concealed box.

Picture 2Picture 2a below show connection of sufrace conduit to a supface mounted switched socket outlet. The same method of conduit to metal box connection is required here except that the metal box is exposed so it it is a different design.

Picture 2a - Conduit connection to surface mounted 13A switched socket outlet



Picture 3 – Conduit saddle picture



When a conduit is installed exposed like those in Picture 1, it may sag if the distance between two supports exceed certain distance.

An electrical conduit must be installed rigid, permanent and without sag. It should also be able last with integrity for the design life of the building.

What if the building can last 100 years? Should the conduit installation be able to last 100 years also?

Well, if it can, then that is good. However, a wiring system will not be good enough 50 years from the time the building is constructed.

Technology change, how people use electricity change, the personal taste and preference of the people occupying a building space also change. All this will result in the need to renovate the building, and most likely the wiring system also.

The conduit system would not need to last 100 years.

However, it should be able to last 30 years. This is my opinion.

Therefore, once installed, the electric conduit should be rigid, permanent and strong.

In order to satisfy that, electrical installation specifications usually specify the maximum distance between conduit saddles. Some say 900 mm, some say 1100 mm.

The size of the conduit, the materials and the installation environment also are among the major factor in determining the maximum distance between the support saddles that is allowed.

The distance for the orange electrical conduit (the red painted conduit carried fire protection system wiring, not electrical cables) in Picture 1 is around 1.1 meters.

I am guessing only here.

I did not really check the distance. It looked reasonable when I was supervising the job. However, the specifications asked for 900 mm maximum for a one inch diameter conduit, if I remember correctly.

Do not quote me on this. If you are supervising a job, check your own specifications.

If you are doing your office wiring on your own, just keep the saddle spacing to 1000 mm.

Picture 4 – Draw in box



Some people call this a junction box; draw in box, or outlet box.

Whichever name you prefer, this component allows the electrician to draw in cable into the conduit a short length at a time.

If one tries to pull wiring cable into a conduit for too much distance in a single shot, he may find it very difficult to get the job done.

In real installations, the routes available for conduit installation are not straight all the time. There are bends and turns. These bend and turns plus the cable friction with the conduit interior make it hard to pull the wiring cables.

Forcing it too much may damage the cables permanently.

By practice, a maximum of 9 meter distance between draw in boxes on straight run conduit has proved to be practical enough for most wiring works.

If there are bends, then the box should be installed after every two bends.

Okay folks. That is all the time I can spare today.

See you in the next post.

P/S : You can see more pictures at this post, Electrical installation pictures.


Copyright http://electricalinstallationwiringpicture.blogspot.com Electric conduit installation pictures

Friday, March 12, 2010

Electrical panel under water pipes

The following three pictures shows example of an electrical panel installed under a water pipe.

Picture 1 – Hose reel pump starter panel



================= RELATED ARTICLES: Underfloor trunking below structural rebarsMATV trunking riser |  Cable ladder picturesElectrical conduits and trunking pictures   | Electrical busduct installation pictures | Electric conduit installation pictures  | Electric trunking installation pictures  | Electric Panel Installation Pictures  | FR electric cable installation pictures  | Multi storey building electric closets  | Underfloor trunking pictures  | Site-fabricated electrical trunking  | Electrical Services Color Codes  | Light switch installation pictures | Electrical installation pictures

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This picture shows the hose reel pump starter panel, which is an electrical panel inside a Fire Pump Room of a multi-storey building under construction.

This building construction is almost completed and the electrical and mechanical services are undergoing testing and commissioning process.

The hose reel pump starter panel was not in my scope of responsibility. It is a part of the mechanical installation works and therefore it was under the supervision of the resident mechanical engineer.

Usually electrical panels are not installed under water pipes and this practices should never be allowed.

However, sometimes compromises had to be accepted under certain installation conditions.

This case here is inside a fire pump room at the roof an annex building. Outside the pump room was already outdoor and exposed.

As it turned out, there was a weakness in the design of the pump room layout that resulted in a very congested mechanical room.

The pump starter panel in had to be located as shown in the picture.

However, the contractor underestimated the risk of installing an electrical panel under a water piping.

Even when compromises are made, they should be made sparingly and with maximum caution.

Here two water pipes are above the pump panel as shown in Picture 2 below.

Picture 2 – Water pipes above hose reel starter pump panel



The bigger pipe present very little risk of water problem to the panel. There was no mechanical joint or connection near or around the panel that might lead to leaked water traveling to drop onto the electrical panel.

There were welded joints not far from the panel, but I did not think those kind of welded joints present too much risk. When these welded joints really fail, it would not matter much the exact location of the electrical panel because the water would get to it.

However, the smaller pipe presents a real problem. It was also directly above the starter panel and there were two mechanical joints about three meters away from the panel.

As it turned out, when I inspected the panel one of the mechanical connections was already giving away occasional drips of water. See Picture 3 below.

Picture 3 – Mechanical connections, one already started leaking



Luckily, the leaked one was on the opposite side of the hose reel starter panel. So the there was no damage to the panel yet.

However, who can guarantee the other mechanical joint would not leak?

Nobody.

Therefore, the starter panel location should be adjusted.

Instruction has actually been given and I will check again on the adjusted position of the hose reel pump starter panel.

Visit this post, Electrical installation pictures, to see more pictures of electrical installations.

Copyright http://electricalinstallationwiringpicture.blogspot.com Electrical panel under water pipes

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Lightning Earth Rods Installation

The installation of a lightning earth rod is similar to an electrical grounding electrode. In fact, both are exactly the same thing. There is one small difference though. A lightning earthing need only achieve 10 ohms of maximum resistance, while an electrical grounding may need less than 1 ohms. That is ten times lower resistance, which may mean ten times the number of electrodes that need to be installed.


Diagram 1 – The overall diagram of a lightning protection system



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RELATED ARTICLES:
Exothermic welding: Cable to cable connections | Electrical grounding  | Substation main earth bar picturesElectrical Grounding Electrode Pictures  | Switchboard earthing picturesLightning roof conductor installation  | Temporary Electrical Earthing Pictures | Electrical installation pictures

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Diagram 2 – A closer view showing the grounding rod chamber and the lightning test point on the wall of the building



Diagram 3 – Cross section diagram of the earthing rod installation



Picture 4 – An existing ground rod chamber



If you have read the other post, Electrical grounding electrode pictures, you will see that this chamber looks the same as the electrical grounding electrode. They are the same materials and construction.

Only the required maximum resistance values are different.

Picture 5 – A grounding rod installation in progress. The earthing chamber is not installed yet



This lightning rod has been connected as a temporary measure. Later a proper and more permanent connection would be done with the chamber installed to protect the electrode connection.

Picture 6 – The earth chamber for the earth rod in Picture 5



This chamber is bigger than the chamber in Picture 4. The sizes of grounding rod chambers vary between 10 in x 10 in to 13 in by 13 in. As far as I know there is no real technical reason for the difference other than that bigger chambers would give more room for the servicing and maintenance work during the life of the installation.

Why should you care about lightning rods?

This is my first post on the subject of lightning protection in this blog. Therefore, I am trying to make it light so that beginners have no trouble digesting the materials.

Another reason for making it easily digestible to casual readers is because every year many people die of lightning strikes whether indirectly or by direct strikes.

I know of a few cases already in my area where a few people died inside their house when the lightning hit the houses.

The worst of these types of incidents that I know was about 4 years ago where all members of a family of four died from a single strike to their house at night.

The point I am trying to make here is that the issue of lightning protection relevant to everyone, not just the lightning specialist or the electrical engineers.

Everyone should be concerned about the dangers of lightning just like the dangers or road accidents.

What Is Lightning?

The lightning strikes come from the clouds that have been charged with static electricity to a very high voltage (i.e. electrical pressure).

These clouds get charged due to the movements and frictions among themselves up in the sky. The electric currents do not flow from the clouds until the air separating them breaks down, that is when it can no longer handle the high voltage difference between a cloud and the earth surface, or between the clouds themselves.


How Is It Created?

When the air breaks down, electric current flows through the air from the cloud to earth and currents in the magnitude of tens of thousands of amperes for each strike are daily occurrences in some parts of the world.

In fact a strike can carry over 200,000 amperes of electric current.

Just consider an electrical overload or a short-circuit in our house wiring. These electrical faults would usually result in the current of only a few hundred amperes. Yet, they can already start fires and cause a lot of damage to properties.

Compare this to the 200, 000 amperes that can be carried by each of the lightning strikes, then we can imagine what kind of damage a lightning strike can do.

Even multiple human casualties are common results from a single lightning strike to an occupied house.

Is your Home Safe From Lightning Strikes?

The question now: Is your home, office or shop building adequately protected against these highly possible attacks from the sky?

Buildings of significant sizes usually have a proper lightning protection system installed. This sort of buildings normally has a knowledgeable management to look after their maintenance.

However, for houses or very small buildings, they may not have the people knowledgeable enough to ensure that adequate protection has been installed and maintained in a satisfactory condition.

How Lightning Protection Works

The conventional design of a lightning protection system is actually an electrical cage. The electrical cage is constructed of electrical conductors or cables interconnected in a network over the roof and the sides of a building.

A few vertical air finials approximately one foot high are normally visible above the roof, and these are connected to and become part of the roof conductor network.

When a lightning bolt strikes, it usually (even though not all the time) strikes these roof electrical conductors. The electrical current will be routed to the ground through a number of down conductors installed uniformly around the perimeter walls of the building or the house at approximately 20 meter spacing.

Once the electrical charge is routed into the ground, the charge must be dissipated into the mass of earth quickly enough.

If not, a high voltage will be developed at ground level and this can damage equipment cause injuries or even death to the building occupants.

The quick dissipation of the electrical charge into the earth mass is accomplished by the installation of steel rods of approximately half-inch in diameter to the depth of a few feet into the ground.

On the ground surface, the top of this steel rods are usually enclosed inside a small square concrete inspection chambers called the earth chambers.

The lightning earthing rods

Seen from the perspective of a building structure, a lightning protection system generally consists of three sections: the aerial conductor network, the down conductors, and the earthing part or what is usually called the lightning rods.

By design, the function of the aerial conductor network is to present at the highest point of the structure an area that will attract lightning strikes away from other parts of the building.

The electrical current carried by the strikes will then be routed down through the down conductors to the lightning rods at the ground level or the lowest level in multiple basement structures.

The purpose of lightning rods

The purpose of the lightning rods is to help dissipate the discharge of the electrical energy carried by up to 200 kilo-ampere of electrical current into the earth mass as quickly as possible.

This is very critical to the performance of the whole system, because a lower rate of energy dissipation will expose a higher risk of injuries or fatalities to human lives (or livestock) due to the presence of a higher voltage gradient on the ground.

Besides, with a slower rate of dissipation there is a higher risk of damage to properties due to flashovers from the lightning down conductors to any ungrounded metal parts nearby.

It is also essential that the down conductors be routed along the most direct path to the ground. Therefore the location of the rods should be beneath the building or as near as possible to the building structure.

Location of the grounding rods

Quite often designers locate the rods at some distance away from the building. This is unnecessary and it may in fact increase the risk of electrocution due to the presence of the voltage gradient across a wider area of the ground.

The Materials

The lightning rods are usually steel reinforced copper rods approximately half an inch in diameter, and driven deep into the ground. In an area free of rocks, they can easily be driven 18 feet or more into the ground.

The Installation Methods

This method of lightning rod installation can give a good reading because the rod surface easily makes an effective contact to the earth mass. Deep driving like this also gives good reading because as the rod is driven into the lower level of soil, it comes into the water level that is not affected by seasonal conditions.

Other Installation Methods

Other methods are also used instead of the deep driven steel rods to provide the best possible contact with the earth mass. The choice depends on the prevailing ground conditions: the soils resistivity and the soil moisture content.

Urban Areas

In urban areas, a few earth rods are usually installed first and looped below ground using copper conductors. Their combined resistance with all rods in parallel is measured and it must not exceed 10 ohms as required by the international standard.

If the combined resistance is above 10 ohms, more rods are driven and connected until the 10-ohm requirement is met.

Isolated Areas

However, in locations away from recent developments, the soil conditions may not be known without actual measurements. Therefore, the soil resistivity tests must be carried out to determine the earthing method most suitable and the extent of the work required.

At times when the soil is sitting on rocky subsoil below ground, a hole may have to be drilled deep down. A depth 100 m or more is not uncommon in more serious cases.

In these situations, a long copper rod is inserted deep into the hole to get the 10-ohm requirement.

In more extreme cases, even this is not enough and soil conditioning agents like Bentonite or conductive cement need to be used.

These compounds are prepared as a slurry or mix, and poured down the vertically drilled hole, creating a lower resistance between the embedded copper earth electrode and the surrounding soil.

The cases that require this method of lightning rods installation may not be very common. However, it does happen.

An example may be a district gas pressure reduction stations, or other similar type of plants.

Combine all the grounds

Finally, it should be remembered that a combined earth with other services can much reduce the overall cost of the grounding for these separate systems.

This is also necessary to prevent side flashovers from the lightning conductors.

In the end it may well be that the lightning rod network is the shared earthing system for all services.

Check out the following posts for more pictures on grounding rods and other issues:

Electrical installation pictures;
Temporary electrical earthing pictures.


Copyright http://electricalinstallationwiringpicture.blogspot.com Lightning Earth Rods Installation

Monday, March 1, 2010

Pictures of electrical wiring

I have uploaded many pictures of electrical wiring to this blog. Now it has started to become difficult to find the pictures related to specific titles such as the wiring, etc. It will become worse as I send more post and pictures.

Picture 1 – Electrical DB wiring



Because of that, I will periodically send a post that will become an “anchor” for a specific title.

This title on wiring is one such example. Instead of being a normal post, it will generally function as the index page for posts and pictures of electrical wiring that I have sent to this blog.

So when you are looking for pictures of electrical wiring works, you can either look at the post list (i.e. BLOG ARCHIVE) at the right column of this blog page, or you can come to this post directly and scroll down to see if there is anything that interest you.

Of course, there is another way, which is by clicking the relevant “label” titles at the bottom of each page.

However, using the “label” will open all posts that have been tagged with that label in a single page. Readers with slow connections may not like the waiting when the pages are heavily loaded with graphics such is this blog.

Moreover, if multiple “labels” are opened simultaneously, readers with small RAMs may cause their computers to crawl, or even hang.

The best way is to come to an anchor post like this, which provides a short summary to posts related to a specific broad title. The graphic loading is also much less heavy because only one or two pics are added for each related post.

I have already send anchor post for other titles:

Temporary electrical installation pictures
Temporary electrical earthing pictures
Temporary lighting installation pictures
Electrical installation pictures


I will add more if there are more that three or four posts related to a specific title.

Now let’s get back to the DB wiring pictures.

Picture 1 show a house electrical DB with the cover removed.

Taken from this slightly lower angle, you can see the LIVE busbar of the DB.

Picture 2 below shows the wiring from the higher position. Here the outgoing wiring of the MCB’s (miniature circuit breakers) can be seen more clearly.

Picture 2 – Distribution Board Picture



I will not talk in detail about this wiring here. You can read a more detail description of the wiring at another post, 1-Phase ELCB Connection Pictures.

There are more pictures of this electrical DB there also.

Diagram 3 – Lighting layout and wiring details



Prior to installation of the electrical wiring conduit and trunking, the position of all fittings including the light switches, the socket outlets and lighting points must be determined.

Diagram 3 above shows examples where the light switches should be located.

I have sent a post with some pictures on the installation of lighting switches for office buildings here, Light switch installation pictures.

If you are looking for house electrical pictures, I have a post here, Home wiring pictures.

This article is not very good. It was actually a draft that I did at the time I started this blog. Suddenly something else demanded my urgent attention. That was why I did not have now post sent to this blog for a few months.

I posted the draft article anyway. I will come back to it some time soon with the final version and some pictures that may be useful for the readers.

Picture 4 – Internal wiring of an office DB showing the installation and wiring work in progress



Picture 4 shows the internal wiring of a DB for lighting and small power.

This DB was installed at a multi-storey office building. The internal wiring that has been done as shown was actually done at the factory.

That is why you cannot see any outgoing wiring from the MCB’s at the upper part of the panel.

You can see more pictures of this DB and other switchboards at this post, Switchboard earthing pictures.

Copyright http://electricalinstallationwiringpicture.blogspot.com Pictures of electrical wiring

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Electrical installation pictures

If you are looking for pictures of temporary electrical installations, they can be found at another post, Temporary electrical installation pictures and Temporary lighting installation pictures.What you will find below are mostly on permanent installations.

Picture 1 – Conduit and trunking



The above picture shows how the electrical conduit and trunking installation should be coordinated with water pipes.

Trade subcontractors (water piping sub-contractors, electrical sub-contractors, telephone cabling contractor, computer network contractor, etc) must not be allowed to proceed with the installation of their individual services and equipment on the “first come, first served basis”.

=== RELATED POSTS: Pictures of electrical wiring |

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Prior to the commencement of the installation works by trade sub-contractors, a set of proper coordinated drawings, endorsed by all relevant parties, should be made available to all the sub-contractors involved in a particular area.

Feedbacks from them should be heard because they are the ones who will be doing the works. Many times, what are nicely shown on approved drawings cannot be practically constructed at site.

You will find more pictures on this matter in Electrical conduit and trunking pictures.

Picture 2 – Electrical grounding electrode and chamber



An electric shock protection system depends on heavily on the availability of good and reliable connection to the earth mass.

Without the low resistance to earth, the users of electricity face a very high risk of electrical injuries and electrocution.

Therefore, the connection to the grounding electrodes must be properly installed, protected from accidental damage and easily available for inspection and maintenance.

The component used to house the earthing connection to the grounding rod is called earthing chamber.

Picture 2 above shows an example of such a chamber. It is usually made of concrete materials and provided with removable cover.

Inside the chamber, what you see is the earthing copper tape that has been connected to the earthing electrode. However, in this picture the connection is not so visible.

Picture 3 below gives you a better view of a connection to the earthing rod. This earthing point was still under construction when the picture was taken. So the earthing chamber was not put into place yet.

Because of that, you can have a good view of the connection between the earthing conductor and the grounding electrode.

Picture 3 – Connection between an earthing conductor and the grounding rod



See more of the earthing chambers and the electrode connections in this post, Electrical grounding electrode pictures.

Picture 4 - Down light pictures



Down light are one of the most popular types of lighting fixtures inside buildings.

It is not a new type of light fittings. but with the popularity of compact fluorescent lamps, the surge in the use of downlights has increase dramatically.

I will be talking about these types of light fittings soon, but i have already sent a few pictures of down lights and other types of fluorescent light fixtures at this post, Recessed down lights installation.

Diagram 5 – Sectional diagram of a simple lightning protection system



I have sent a post on Lightning earth rods installation. It is the first of a few posts on the subject of lightning protection system for buildings.

There are a few pictures there, but I have not yet uploaded really good pictures on lightning protection.

However, the content of the article is suitable for beginners who wish to get some overall knowledge on the issues of lightning strikes and lightning protection.

Check it out.

Picture 6 - Installation of lightning air termination network



This is part of a lightning air termination network. The installation work at the roof of this building is actually in progress now and is not yet completed.

However, I have taken a few pictures of what has already been installed. You can see the rest of the pictures at this post, Lightning roof conductor installation.

Picture 7 - Leaking hose reel pipe



Why do I show you a picture of leaking hose reel water pipe?

Because water and electricity do not mix, yet there are many water piping of all types running around inside a building near our electrical cables, equipment and appliances.

Many of serious electrical accidents and injuries have been a direct result od water that come into contact with electricity.

Even when no accident occurs, electrical equipment would get damaged when it is involved with water unless is has been designed to be so.

Visit this post, Electrical panel under water pipes, to read a few pictures of one case that I recently documented.

Picture 8 – Typical busduct rising main at individual building floors



The above picture shows a typical installation of busduct rising mains in the riser room at individual floor of a high rise building.

This picture was taken in the riser room at one of the upper floors of a high rise building.

From the picture you can see most of the major components of a busduct riser system.

(NOTE: for readers who are not from electrical disciplines, a “riser” is a feeding cable or pipe giving supply to upper floors of a multi-storey building.

In electrical works, a riser is a set of cables the supply the upper floors. The electrical distribution diagram in Diagram 3 may make you understand this better.

The feeding cables “rise” up straight to the top floor. Then at each floor a tap-off unit is connected so electricity can be supplied to that floor.

An alternative is to run one individual set of cables to each floor. Then there would be many cables that need to be installed the number of which is directly proportional to the number of upper floors.

One single set of bigger cables is always cheaper to install and much easier to handle.)

Observe that there are three tap off units there: two units of 60A three phase, and one unit of 100A three phase. The one at the highest position of the three is the 100A tap off.

Why three units?

Visit this post, Electrical busduct installation pictures, to read more and see more pictures and diagrams of busduct risers in multi-storey buildings.

Picture 9 - Surface conduit installation



Why do we need these conduits?

The conduits are used to protect the wiring cables that carry the electrical current.

Electricity is dangerous. Even though the electric conductors that carry the current is insulated by some PVC covering materials or whatever, the covering material is not strong enough to protect the cable from damage.

When the covering is damaged, the electrical conductor inside may be exposed to touch or it can also unintentionally come into contact with things that can carry electric current.

This scenario would present a high risk of electric shocks.

Therefore, we protect the electric cables so that they do not present the dangers of electric shocks to people (or animals).

A second reason to protect the cables is to make sure the electrical system stays reliable.

When the cable PVC covering is damaged, the conducting metal can come into contact with other metals that are in contact with earth.

Visit this post, Electric conduit installation pictures, to see a few more conduit pictures.

Picture 10 – HV substation’s main earth bar



What you see in the above picture is the HV substation’s main earth bar. The purpose of having the main bar is simple.

All earthing conductors inside the HV room would be connected to this bar. That is the reason you can see in Picture 2 a number of ready-made termination holes complete with bolts, nuts and spring washers.

Notice the main copper earthing tape mounted along the substation wall in Picture 1. This is the main equipotential earthing conductor for this electrical room.

It should run through all perimeter walls of the room at a height of approximately 12 inch from the substation’s finish floor level. That is why you can see that in Picture 2 the left-most and right-most terminals have been connected with a horizontal copper tape conductor.

An ideal installation would have the main equipotential conductor run in a ring around the perimeter walls and both conductor ends connects to the main earth bar at the left-most and right-most terminals.

There are more pictures of the main earth bar at this post, Substation main earth bar pictures.

Picture 11 – Dangerous electric panel installation



Why would I want to show you these pictures?

There was something wrong with this electric panel installation. The telephone DP on the right is not a problem, but the installation of the electrical panels was absolutely not acceptable.

This project was a high-rise office building.

At every floor there were a number of electrical panels to serve all the lighting and power loads on that floor including the lighting, switched socket outlets, toilet exhaust fans etc, etc.

A few of the panels were located inside the riser room of each floor.

However, since each was a large area some panels needed to be located at the office area. Wiring directly from the electrical riser would be unnecessarily too long and a waste of wiring cost.

Therefore, the electrical consultant proposed that these electrical panels be located along the corridors throughout the building. The design architect was requested to provide small rooms to house the panels.

Alternatively, small electrical cabinets with lockable doors and sufficient work access and ventilation would be acceptable.

Read the full article at this post, Electric panel installation pictures. There are some more pictures there too.

Picture 12 – Electric trunking running below soffit of a concrete floor slab



No electrical installation work of a significant size can be done properly without the use of an electric trunking.

A trunking is a larger size of a conduit. When you need to run a number of electric conduits along each other for a significant distance, then consider using a trunking in place of the conduits. There are so many sizes you can choose from.

The above picture is an example of a trunking installation above ceiling level, under the soffit of the concrete floor slab.

I also labeled some of the other services there for the benefit of those non-electrical readers who need pictures like this for reference, to know what is what among the myriads of pipes, conduits and trunking running above the ceiling level.

Visit Electric trunking installation pictures to see more pictures on electrical trunking and how they are installed.

Picture 13 – Cast in situ light pole mounting base



Some readers may say that this is a strange way to locate a light pole, which is above the drain. A more normal method would be more or less like the one in Picture 13 below.

Picture 14 – Precast concrete base for compound light poles



Here the design-and-build contractor had a problem of locating a few of the compound light poles at an open carpark area because there were several drains running between carpark boxes.

These drains were supposed to be located at the boundary of the land being developed.

However, it turned out that with the presence of the drains the actual land space for the landscaping works (e.g. trees, shrubs, etc) was too narrow to grow larger trees.

Therefore, the client agreed that the drains be relocated through the middle of the carpark area.

Construction people tend think that electrical things are very flexible and easy to be moved and kicked around just like a wiring cable.

I never liked that notion. It is true in this case, however.

The main contractor asked me how to place the pole bases on top of the drain cover.

I told them that the only real solution I have ever seen in such situations was only by constructing a cast in concrete base together with the drain, with the construction drawings of the light pole’s concrete foundation designed and endorsed by the civil work’s design consultant.

The result was what you see in Picture 12 above. More of these pictures can be seen at this post, Compound Lighting Installation Pictures.

Picture 15 – MATV antenna brackets mounted to a roof wall



When I started this blog, I wanted to make it specialized in only electric supply systems for building constructions and its related construction works.

However, I have also always asked myself what to do with all the pictures on ELV (extra low voltage) systems and telephone works that I took during my works.

In fact I have quite a number of pictures on the installation of other building services such as the public address system, the firemen intercom, audio visual and conference system, etc.

It has been such a waste. Those pictures can be of use to many people such as those whose need real installation pictures of the systems in real construction works.

Even I myself was having such needs during my early days in the electrical world. Of course, now anyone can search among the tens of thousands of the manufactures’ and suppliers’ websites specialized in these systems.

However, often we only find nice pictures and often we do not want nice pictures.

We want the real construction pictures, pictures that are not biased towards any particular supplier or manufacturer.

For this reason, I am expanding the scope of this blog to also include the installation pictures of building’s extra low voltage (ELV) services and telecommunication systems.

Today interested readers can see a few pictures on the installation of MATV antenna brackets. An MATV single line schematic diagram is also shown. Visit this post, MATV Antenna bracket pictures.

Picture 16 – How to install a motorized overhead projector



I took this picture a few months back.

The electrical contractor produced a mock-up unit of the installation bracket for motorized overhead projector.

I just sent it here plus a few more for anybody who has no idea at all how it is done.

The overhead projector was for meeting rooms. There were about thirty units to be installed through the building.

This one was done so I could check and comment.

You can see all the pictures at this post, How to install overhead projector.

Picture 17 - Compound lighting feeder pillar



A building construction of significant size is usually not complete without at least one small outdoor weatherproof feeder pillar.

I have uploaded a few pictures of feeder pillar including existing and new ones at this post, Feeder pillar single line diagram.

There are also a few diagrams there including the cubicle dimensions of a feeder pillar and a simple single line diagram.

Picture 18 – Fire-rated (FR) cables installed on vertical cable tray



The above picture shows the installation of FR electrical cables.

There is nothing special about the installation of the fire-rated (FR) cables. Even though these cables are a direct replacement of mineral insulated copper cables (MICC) for high-rise buildings, the installation here is the same as for normal XLPE or PVC-insulated cables.

In Picture xx, two vertical submain circuits employ FR cables installed on a vertical cable tray. These cables were taken in a cable riser room at a multi-storey building.

All these cables are single-cores. The circuit on the right (with the smaller cables) was supplying the lift motor room at the roof level of the building.

The copper tape on the right edge of the vertical cable tray is the common earth and it is connected to the main electric grounding bar at the LV Room on the ground floor of the building.

The LV Room houses all main switchboards (MSB’s) for the building’s low voltage electrical distribution.

The circuit on the left edge of the cable tray was supplying two fan rooms, which were also at the roof level.

The loads of the fan rooms were mostly electric driven motors that run fire protection fans. These include smoke spill fans, staircase pressurization fans, etc.

These fan loads are significantly large. That is why the cables are of bigger size than those for the lift motor room electrical panel.

You can see more of the pictures at this post, FR electric cable installation pictures.

Picture 19 – 1000 KVA standby diesel generator



No building of a significant size can be operated without at least a small standby generator installed.

The primary reason for having the standby generator is for fulfilling the requirements of the fire department to have the supply readily available for operating the fire protection and fire fighting equipment.

The building itself would normally have some equipment and lighting that need to be operable even when the public electricity supply fails.

This would require the use of a back-up generator or a supply battery system.

See more installation pictures of the standby diesel generator at this post, Standby electric generator pictures.

This is the first part. I still have more pictures of this installation which will be uploaded soon. Keep checking this post for updates.

Picture 20 – Bollard light



Well, I thought this bollard light looked nice at the children playground near at rest area and food stalls on my way from my workout routine at a local gym.

I do not have much to say about the bollard lighting. They are just pictures of existing lights that I thought may be useful to someone.

However, for readers who have to deal with the installation of this type of landscape lighting, I did attach in this post a section diagram that shows a little bit more details. I hope it helps.

Landscape lighting falls within the jurisdiction of landscape architects. So I do not normally spend much time with them.

When I have to prepare an external lighting layout that also include the landscape lighting during a concept design stage, I usually just copied the layout of landscape lighting from previous projects, prepare the electrical distribution system for the lights and count the number of light fixtures.

The purpose was to capture a rough approximate of the cost for the landscape lighting works. We must get the money first. Once the money is available, there are so many ways to get the job done.

See more of the bollard light pictures at this post, Bollard light pictures.

Picture 21 – Electric closet



The electric closet in the above picture has been done for a multi storey office building.

I wrote an article earlier on the protection of electrical panel at a multi storey office building. You can read the article here, Electric panel installation pictures.

In that article I gave a storey of how reluctant the main contractor was to provide an electrical room or cabinet in order to restrict access to the electrical panels and protect them from damages.

Access to the panel by unqualified people may lead to abuse, improper operation of the instruments inside the panels, or accidents by touching the LIVE parts inside the panels.

These panels were three-phase panels with 415V of voltage between the phases. Accidentally touching the live parts at this voltage would lead to very serious injuries. Electrocutions and immediate deaths are common results of electric shocks at this voltage.

Read the rest of the article here, Multi storey building electric closets.

Picture 22 – Substation CO2 fire protection cylinders being installed



All electrical substations and main switchrooms need to be provided with a fire protection system.

If the substation building is a separate building, some local offices of the electricity supply authority and the local office of the Fire Department may consider portable fire extinguishers as adequate.

However, electrical rooms that are part of an occupied building are usually required to have some form of automatic fire extinguishing system such as a CO2 system.

The above picture shows a CO2 automatic fire extinguishing system installed inside a standby generator room.

Picture 23 below show an automated fire curtain right above the inside opening of the genset room’s air intake silencer.

The curtain sheet is in the rolled-up state. When the automatic CO2 system is activated and the gas discharged, this curtain (and all other fire curtains installed in the room) is automatically released and rolled down to block the air passage.

This action allows the CO2 gas to totally flood the room and extinguish the fire inside.

Picture 23 – Automatic fire curtain over fresh air inlet silencer



What fire protection to be used for an electrical substation depends on the preference of design consultants and the minimum requirements of the local Fire Authorities.

However, in some projects, a substation building or substation room (e.g. HV switchgear room) needs to be constructed and equipped (excluding the electrical distribution system equipment), and then handed over to the local electric supply authority as one of the agreed conditions to obtain the supply.

In these types of arrangement, the minimum requirements and preferences of the local office of the electric supply authority must also be met.

The fire authorities usually have an established requirement of what system is required in a substation room. The design engineers usually prepare their design based on these requirements and the supply authority’s requirements.

See the rest of the pictures here, Substation fire protection system.

Pictures of electric shock injuries

I have uploaded a few pictures of electric shock injuries, but I know many readers are easily turned off by the sight of these serious injuries. So I do not put them in this post.

You can check out this post to see them, Electric shock injury pictures.

Diagram 24 – Electrical riser room



During the design of an electrical installation for a building, spaces that are required as electrical rooms need to be provided for very early in the planning and design process.

I will try to present this in a form of a few basic concepts so that non-electrical readers can benefit from it.

There are also a few diagrams at the end of this post, but I do want to go too technical here as this may turn off the non-electrical readers.

If you need a more technical discussion, I will send a few posts of electrical substation layout and design in future.

Read this article here, Building's electrical rooms layout.

Picture 25 – Dangerous feeder pillars



I think anybody with even a minimal amount of knowledge on the hazards presented by electrical equipment installed in public places know what is wrong with the feeder pillars in the picture above.

I am not talking about age of the feeder pillars.

I know that everything gets old some day. Machines get worn out, the materials get deteriorated and the lovely paintwork fades out.

They do get old, just like us.

However, machines and equipment that can endanger people especially children should be designed and installed with safety as the most important criteria.

The feeder pillars above have failed in that respect.

Read this article here, Feeder pillar hazard pictures.

Picture 26 – The inside view of the electrical socket extension unit



Have you ever wondered how it looks inside the extension unit of an electrical power socket? The pictures in this post can help you appreciate what is going on inside this piece of common household items.

I think most readers can understand the picture clearly with the labels that I added.

However, for the benefits of absolute beginners that need explanations on what does what in this picture, let me just give brief descriptions.

Visit the post here, Electrical socket extension unit.

Diagram 27 – Simple house electrical layout



Anybody looking for a layout and schematic diagram of a simple electrical installation?

The above electrical layout is very old.

At least 30 years old or more.

You can see that by the number of electric socket outlet in the bedrooms and the kitchen.

A modern bedroom would need at least a few sockets in each room. You would need one for the table clock, table lamp, a television maybe, etc etc.

One electrical socket as shown in the electrical layout would definitely be not enough.

However, I believe there are still great many areas in this world that still lacks even the basic supply of household electricity.

So this simple house electrical design is still useful to great many people.

In fact, this design is more relevant. It is also more easily understood by beginners of electrical installations.

Read this post, A simple electrical installation, for a full article and the single line diagram for the above layout.

Picture 28 – Underfloor trunking installation work in progress



The underfloor trunking system has been around for a long time. The first time I saw it was inside an application guide published by a public telecommunication company.

The technical manual was already very old and I was in the first year of real professional work after my graduation. That was 23 years ago.

Why do we need an underfloor trunking system?

An underfloor trunking system is an alternative way of providing the dedicated routes to run electrical cables, telephone cables or any other wiring cables you can think of.

I said “wiring cables”. An 11KV cable is not a wiring cable. A 25 sq.mm electrical feeder cable to supply an 11 KW fire pump panel is not a wiring cable.

(Note: 25 sq.mm means 25 millimeter square. It is a measure of the net cross-sectional area of the electrical conductors of an electric cable).

The 1.5 sq.mm cables that are used for wiring the office lights are categorized wiring cables.

See the underfloor trunking pictures here: Underfloor trunking pictures.


Picture 29 – Sharp edges of a site-fabricated 45-degree electrical trunking bend



What will be the problem if an electrical contractor fabricates some of the accessories of an electrical trunking system by hand at the construction site? Why do I make an issue of this matter?

Majority of Clients and Consultants that I know specifically state that all electrical trunking and the related accessories should be factory-manufactured and should preferably be obtained from the same manufacturer.

This means that all parts and pieces that make up an electrical trunking installation should be purchased as finished products from factory.

What if the electrical subcontractor does not follow this requirement?

Factory-manufactured accessories have much better quality; there is no doubt about that.

However, is there any other significant reason for this specific requirement other than the difference in qualities of the products?


Read the full article at this post, Site-fabricated electrical trunking. There are a few more pictures there too.

Image 30 – Dimensions of a concrete foundation for a 5m compound light pole



A friend asked for the size of this thing. So I uploaded a few images.

Read the full article at this post, Compound lighting foundation size. There are a few more images there too.

Picture 31 – The electrical manhole being unloaded



The picture above shows an electrical manhole intended for underground installation being unloaded from the transport truck.

Most building works require at least one or two underground electrical manholes. That is because a building of significant size usually require a few hundred amperes of electric current at low voltage (i.e. 240 volt, 3 phase current).

Above a few hundred KVA (kilo-volt-amperes), the electricity supply authority usually delivers the electrical power to the consumer loads at higher than 240 volt, usually at 11,000 volts.

(Note: 100 amperes x 240 volt x 3 phases = 24,000 VA x 3 phases = 72,000 VA = 72 KVA. For readers who are intimidated by the KVA term, this is what KVA is. That is measure of electrical power delivered to a building. It is also the most common unit used in specifying the size and rating of electrical equipment and switchgears.)

Okay, back to the electrical manhole.

When the supply is at 11,000 volts (i.e. 11 KV), high voltage cables installed below ground level (i.e. underground) is the most popular method of electricity distribution unless the building is in remote areas such as the countryside.

So, in building works, we need at least one or two of these manholes to bring in the authority cables from outside the boundary of the building works to the electrical substation inside the building compound or the inside the building itself.

Read the full article at this post, Underground electrical manhole.


Picture 32 – Improvised installation of electrical trunking, air-conditioning ducts, fire protection pipe work and a floor beam



The few pictures that I show in this post are a demonstration of what can happen when a proper coordination is not carried out between the mechanical and electrical services installation in a multi-storey building.

Somewhere among my previous posts, you can find examples of good coordination between the mechanical and electrical services installation.

However, here I wish to show you the opposite side of it. The above is not the worst case examples. I have plenty of pictures showing much worse scenarios which I will show you in future posts.

A reminder for the beginners in electrical installation works: Learn from the mistakes that other people have done and plan your work accordingly.

This is a very expensive lesson if you have to learn it from personal experience because rectifications, relocation or corrections in large installations can be very expensive and time consuming.

Read the full article at this post, M & E Coordination.


Picture 33 – Example color codes for a few electrical services



This post gives some examples on the identification of the different electrical services inside a building.

The three conduits with the color code bands in the above pictures are part of what we call in building works as electrical services.

However, electrical services are not the only ones that require some means of identifying what they are for.

Mechanical services also really need their piping, trunking, etc to be provided with some identification.

In some installations such as hospitals, there are so many services under the mechanical category. At certain locations in a hospital complex, it is almost impossible to know which pipe is for what. (Remember that an electrical G.I. (galvanized iron) conduit is just a metal pipe.)

During maintenance, long after we the construction people have completed and commission the building with all the mechanical and electrical services fully tested and operational, the maintenance people could be cursing us every week for not providing sufficient identification for each of the services inside the building.

During operation and maintenance of the building, insufficient identification on each of the services throughout the building can lead to serious accidents.

Why do I talk about mechanical services? Because they often run along the electrical services. Now and then the parts and materials between the two disciplines look and feel just the same.

Read the full article at this post, Electrical Services color codes.

Picture 34 - 1600 kVA transformer delivery pictures



I just uploaded some pictures of 1600KVA transformers being unloaded from the delivery truck at a project site.

You can see all the pictures here, 1600 kVA Transformer Pictures


Picture 35 – 10 meter light poles: the lower piece


I took a few pictures of the storage area for compound lighting parts at a project site recently. With these pictures I think I have explained the whole system of compound lighting in this blog. So this post wraps up the topic of compound lighting. Of course, if I find more pictures that I think readers would be interested in, I will attach a link to this post also.

See all the pictures at the storage yard here, Compound lighting storage yard.

Picture 36 – The mould for exothermic welding for jointing 25mm x 3mm grounding copper tape and a copper-jacketed steel ground rod.


I believe I have uploaded to this blog quite a number of pictures on electrical grounding. However, there is one work of the grounding system that I have always wanted to show the readers especially true beginners (i.e. students and young engineers). That is the process of exothermic welding.

The above picture is one of the few that I just uploaded. You can see the rest of them here, Electrical grounding .

Picture 37 – Cable ladders at Consumer’s High Voltage Switchgears


Cable ladder is one of the most important components of a building’s cable support system. The above picture show an example of a new installation. You can see the rest of the pictures at this post, Cable ladder pictures.

Picture 38 – Electrical and mechanical services above the ceiling of an office building




 Some few weeks ago a reader left a message on one of my blogs asking how to connect a branch conduit to a steel trunking. So I uploaded to this post a few pictures showing the connections between electrical conduits and trunking. Those pictures should be self-explanatory enough how to make the connection. See all the pictures here, Conduit to trunking connections.

Diagram 39 – Overall layout of the substation electrical rooms for a new office building


Below is the layout of the electrical rooms for a post that I sent earlier, Cable ladder pictures.


The earlier post was about cable ladders. I know it can be difficult for some beginners to imagine the overall arrangement of the electrical rooms (and therefore the cable ladders) at the substation without the aid of some layout diagram.

The above diagram should be able to give some help.

You can read the rest of the post here, Substation rooms layout diagram.

Picture 40 - Exothermic welding process set-up labeled


The above picture shows the set up for a cable to cable connection.

I will not write much today and I have serious doubt that I will be able to write long posts again in the near future.

The best I can do is to show you some pictures. When I have more time I will write longer.

Note that the part that I labeled “explosive powder” is not really explosive powder. Well, IT IS explosive, but it is not an EXPLOSIVE.

It is actually some powdered mixture of copper oxide and aluminium.

When ignited, the mixture produces a very high temperature reaction that molten the copper and aluminium components which then flow into whatever cavities between the conductors to be joined, as well as form a thick layer of alloy envelope around them.

See the rest of the photos here: Exothermic welding: Cable to cable connections

Picture 41: Underfloor trunking below structural rebars



I have published quite a number of pictures on underfloor trunking systems.

These underfloor trunking systems, together with their floor draw boxes (i.e. junction boxes) and floor service boxes, have so far been installed inside the concrete screeding of the concrete floor.

In this installation method, the reinforced concrete floor slab is constructed first.

However, the construction of the concrete floor is not yet completed with the completion of the reinforced concrete.

A layer of concrete 50mm to 75mm thick is to be poured and leveled on the finished reinforced concrete to make a finished concrete floor. This layer is called 'concrete screeding'.

It is within this top concrete layer that an underfloor trunking system is installed, or "embedded" as some people call it.

However, in the new picture that I showed above, the underfloor trunking is not installed in the screeding layer (In fact there is no screeding layer here).

The finished floor level here has been designed to be just 50mm above the top of the top of topmost reinforcement steel bars (called "rebar").

Read the rest of the article here: Underfloor trunking below structural rebars

Picture 42 - Electric cable bridge
(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

Continuing the tradition of sharing engineering knowledge through pictures, today I am sharing with you some pictures of cable bridges for electrical cables.

Visit Electric cable bridge to see more photos of cable bridges for electrical cables.

Picture 43 - Electric cable drums


It is very important that great care is exercised at all times when handling cables.

Every precaution should be taken to avoid dropping a drum of cable. Dropping off cable drums, even from a short height, will flatten the layers of the cable nearest to the barrel of the drum.

Depending on the length of the cable, the type of the cable involved and the height of the drop, the weight from the outer layers can cause damages to the inner layers that are very difficult to ascertain.

Similar distortion to the cable will also occur if the drum falls on its sides.

I have a true story to tell on mis-handling of cable drums. It was from one of my earlier projects. Read it here, Electric Cable Drum Pictures.

Picture 44 - A weather-proof 13A IP66 power socket

This picture is from one of my old projects.

The location is on the roof top of an attached 5-storey podium block. This level is used as a secondary plant room where air-condition cooling tower and fire fighting water tanks are located.

A fire fighting main pump room is also nearby here.

Therefore, this outdoor area is a good location as a maintenance work area that may be required once the office complex is operational.

The conduit that you see along the parapet wall runs all around the roof top. IP66-rated outdoor power sockets and bulk-head lighting fixtures are installed at uniform intervals along the conduit run.

See the post and more weather-proof socket outlets here, Weatherproof 13A switched outlets

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