Need some advice on new server room

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I'm sure nobody is perfect I didn't want to spend hours on end describing every aspect of my business including the hardware inside every single machine which some are different mind you due to buying at different times... and replacements etc...

but it I guess for something like this i need to go into full detail

It's usually printed, etched or stamped on the outer sheath of the cable.

I'll put @steptoe's beer tokens on 10mm ;)
That's what I thought but I just looked up and down the cable all he way along... absolutely no text... mind you I've never seen a bloody cable so big...

but ive only seen small cables lol

 
You know what your right... its not printed on the cable it's raised bumps so I couldn't see it without a bright flash ligbt

it says 2 x 10 +4

is that 10mm2?

 
That would be safe for 11kw then but basically if I understand you guys right because of earth leakage which I don't understand lol

each machine will leak earth ... RCD checks for earth leakage as I understand if someone touches a cable leakage occurs? If it detects leakage above 30ma it will trip the breaker 

so I need him to update my cert correctly for one,

check circuits and add an RCD onto each individual sub circuit? Possibly?

and increase the ma on RCD?

 
My figure of 11kw? I monitor the power usage of my system that's my peak power usage. 

During low traffic time it's around 9.5-10.5 and absolute peak on crazy days has been 11.8

 
That would be safe for 11kw then but basically if I understand you guys right because of earth leakage which I don't understand lol

each machine will leak earth ... RCD checks for earth leakage as I understand if someone touches a cable leakage occurs? If it detects leakage above 30ma it will trip the breaker 

so I need him to update my cert correctly for one,

check circuits and add an RCD onto each individual sub circuit? Possibly?

and increase the ma on RCD?
No, you can't just change the mA of an RCD

Out of interest, do we know what the earhing system is,?

Ideally, you want lots of radials, perhaps only one or two machines on each circuit.

 
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No, you can't just change the mA of an RCD

Out of interest, do we know what the earhing system is,?

Ideally, you want lits of radials, perhaps only one or two machines on each circuit.


No clue what an earthing system

even is, how would i check?

 
Im definitely in UK what American terms have I used? Didn't even realise 


Sub panel - American term.

200A - common American service size, not even sure 200A is a standard UK thing? Intrigued to know exactly what this is.

You keep just saying 'breaker', this is what I find the American people say rather than MCB/fuse (in text form anyway).

Aside from that, you really need to work out what you are doing here in general. There is mention of servers each with a 600W power supply. This doesn't sound right, mine all (mostly) have dual power supplies, granted they are in redundant mode so the power draw is negligible on the +1 but still. Also there is no mention of backup systems, a UPS shouldn't draw any additional power but it should be considered when calculating the loads after a power failure as not only are you powering the servers but you are also recharging batteries.

I'm not entirely sure the electrician is completely to blame here, it sounds like you have/are half-arsing it and haven't really given a clear indication of what you are proposing to do with this "warehouse". 

I would suggest you stop and work out what it is you are doing exactly.

 
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The reason I am using American terms then is because I don't know much about electrics and most of what I know has been learned off a lot of reading over the past 2 weeks so I've been reading American stuff lol.

200a was a mistake I meant 100a it says on the cert.

and I've already stated no body is perfect and I stated above maybe I should of went into more detail but didn't want to waste his time going into detail. I didn't know it was needed. As stated above lesson learned.

I don't know where your from but I've used thousands of 600w power supplies for servers in my day... I've even used 1200w power supplies when working for a company a few years back.

in regards to UPS I mentioned them above but for now as I stated above I need to upgrade them however as you know they are a huge investment.  Yes I know it's stupid of me and a HUGE risk but in 5 years of living here I've NEVER had a power cut... 

one step at a time 

I will call him tomorrow I don't like calling people and telling them they are wrong or a mistake has been made when I don't have a clue myself. Now I know more I can mention it. It's just not polite to phone someone who is the professional and telling them something hasn't been done right when in fact it could be completely right 

 
in regards to UPS I mentioned them above but for now as I stated above I need to upgrade them however as you know they are a huge investment.  Yes I know it's stupid of me and a HUGE risk but in 5 years of living here I've NEVER had a power cut... 


That's not the only reason to have a UPS, mine spends a lot of time cleaning the supply as it is up and down here (mostly up, usually looking at 253V). Not a major issue for some but I wouldn't be running 11kW of servers without a UPS.

I will call him tomorrow I don't like calling people and telling them they are wrong or a mistake has been made when I don't have a clue myself. Now I know more I can mention it. It's just not polite to phone someone who is the professional and telling them something hasn't been done right when in fact it could be completely right 


That was what I was getting at, maybe you need to chalk this up to experience but this electrician might not be as clueless as he has been made out to be as without the (correct) info from the beginning there probably wasn't anything wrong with the initial design as such. It's not guaranteed that it will be a problem either, but really the installation should be arranged such that the RCD covering the entire building is removed and the circuits are arranged in a more suitable manner.

Good luck!

 
200a was a mistake I meant 100a it says on the cert.


It says the main switch is capable of switching a 100A load, but the main fuse is rated at 80A. Not sure that would be good to add an extra 50A load onto. Did you have any form of written contract for this work? I find it hard to understand why you would get a second contractor in rather than getting the first one back to do the correct job at no additional cost to yourself.

Doc H.

 
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