Need some advice on new server room

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I've been reading around and aparinately for 50a circuit you need atleast 6AWG wire which = 13mm2 so if Google is correct he hasn't even used big enough wire?


google is wrong. we work to BS7671, not whatever google throws up. 10mm may be correct depending on installation method etc... many variables, but it probably does comply... just

 
Hi,

i run a few different businesses from home and I thought I'd ask around on here before I call another electrician out for a second opinion.

ive just had a seperate consumer unit added as a sub panel from my main 200a breaker to a newly built building on my land which is going to be used as for commercial servers. 

I run up to 30 servers at a time each with a 600w power supply. I resell webhosting to small business and a lot of other stuff.  I host a lot of VPN servers which get a heck of a lot of traffic so my severs are always busy. Traffic flowing from all over the world. 

I called a local electrician out last week to get the electrical installed for the whole warehouse he added all the sockets I needed however what really concerns me is fire safety so I made sure I triple checked with him informing him that in total I could be using 11000 watts and want to make sure I have room to expand aswell. 

This is a fully functioning business so i so I know I need a lot of watts to run all this however I'm no electrician.

i checked the width of the cable he used from the consumer unit to the sub panel which is only a couple of meters due to the consumer unit being on my far wall and new outhouse 2m away from the main building. 

The width is 13.5mm and after looking around converts to 6mm2 CSA.

is this size cable really enough to be constantly running this many watts? 

Im calling out another electrician this week either way to be safe but I figured several opinions on here couldn't hurt 

cheers 


Thread is sounding more and more ridiculous, according to your opening post this work was done by this 'electrician' last week, where you triple checked, yet have no written contract. But now you are on about getting a 'second' electrician in because you think from google searching that the work was done wrong?

It certainly sounds more like a builder was asked to put in some electrics designed after googling "how to install power for an American server room" , then an electrician has refused to connect it up and issue a proper installation certificate, rather they've just done a PIR and issued a condition report. Then building control are not happy with signing off this "new building" without proper electrical certificates, so you are trying to figure out what you messed up on by trying to do a job on the cheap.

Mr Murdoch hit the nail on the head with his statement "I simply don't believe you commissioned a spark to install a submain and CU for IT servers and they've come up with the solution you have outlined". And I can't think of any customers who would have the mindset that oh the work done last week was wrong, I had better ring a second electrician rather than calling the original person back to rectify their mistakes. It really is all to far fetched.

No initial written design or schedule of works, No consideration of division of installation to prevent single RCD power loss, (This is also needed just for a basic house re-wire, so should have been considered in the design for new sub-mains), No calculation of expected load and design current, No consideration of high CPC leakage currents, No proper installation certificate. They are just far too many simple basic design faults to suggest a competent electrician has been involved at the start of the job, that you supposedly triple checked they understood what you wanted.

Doc H.

 
I don't know what you are struggling to believe. It must be highly arrogance in the electrician field if you honestly believe there is not a single electrician in the uk out of thousands that could do this. 

Everything I have stated happened. The guy who sent this form was told what I wanted and he supplied all parts and labor and he did the work.

why would anyone need to come on here and then make up a story about what happened is beyond me.

but it is serieously arogant of an electrician to say, where all perfect not a single electrician in the world would do that. That's just crazy talk. 

This happened. I however do take responsibility of maybe not explaining enough however I did tell him about severs and power needed several times. 

Anyways I'll see what the guy says on Saturday and if need be get another quote aswell 

 
Nothing to do with any arrogance, just some of the facts you present do not stack up for normal industry standard guidance and procedures.  As Kerching noticed the form you copied has the appearance of an Inspection report NOT an electrical certificate. an example of one such report is given in standard BS7671 wiring regulations documentation. note the observations section at the bottom with boxes for classification codes. This format is almost identical to your copied form and this detail does not exist on a standard electrical certificate.

EICR SAMPLE3.jpg

And industry guidance states this type of report should not be used for certifying new work or additions or alterations.

EICR SAMPLE4.jpg

And as certification and documentation, and knowledge of how to complete and issue the correct documentation for any electrical work is part of the standard City & Guilds exams, that would be taught as part of the training to become an electrician, it seems very odd that anyone who's just installed a sub-main, mini CU and final circuits for an IT server room would have issued such a document. Nothing to do with crazy talk, just basic incompetence about industry standard guidance that has been normal practice for more years than I care to remember. Why would anyone call in a second electrician if the other one only did the work last week? 

Doc H.

 
I've been reading around and aparinately for 50a circuit you need atleast 6AWG wire which = 13mm2 so if Google is correct he hasn't even used big enough wire?


Did the Google article go in to cable types and derating factors? America applies derating factors and they’re far more stringent than BS7671 and before you ask, I have the latest NFPA-NEC 2014 code book.

Like others, I think this is either a DIY bodge or a domestic installer way out of their depth.

 
Maybe someone is claiming to be qualified when they aren't then. 

Obviously if someone has done something completely wrong and I want a second opinion to be sure of course I'm gonna have a second person. No point calling the original person back who said it was ok

 
Maybe someone is claiming to be qualified when they aren't then. 

Obviously if someone has done something completely wrong and I want a second opinion to be sure of course I'm gonna have a second person. No point calling the original person back who said it was ok


Most people who have been miss sold some goods or services would be looking to pursue the original provider for a refund or full rectification at the suppliers expense. Legally an original supplier should be given the right to rectify any wrong doings. If however you get someone else in to do the work a level of the liability and responsibility shifts and it could make it more difficult to avoid having to pay twice for the same job.

Doc H. 

 
Most people who have been miss sold some goods or services would be looking to pursue the original provider for a refund or full rectification at the suppliers expense. Legally an original supplier should be given the right to rectify any wrong doings. If however you get someone else in to do the work a level of the liability and responsibility shifts and it could make it more difficult to avoid having to pay twice for the same job.

Doc H. 


Actually I payed on credit card. 

If someone has messed up as bad as you say I don't want them back to do anything. I don't have to deal with the provider of his services as my credit card company will deal with it.

ive had a an issue with a holiday company before. Didn't bother contacting the holiday company. Contacted my credit card company they investigated and resolved it.

i havnt mentioned purseuing the original guy as that is completely irrelevant at the moment. I don't care about the money... I'm more concerned at the moment about SAFETY. I don't want the whole house to go up in smoke. 

Theres no point me ranting about how to get money back on here it's an electrical forum. If I wanted to know how to get money back I'd be on MSE. 

 
Maybe someone is claiming to be qualified when they aren't then. 


It’s a common delusion with DIYer’s that have with the aid of inaccurate Google searches. They think thy can do anything.

30 servers must cost a bob or two, add air con and ancillary services the costs must be astronomical and you get a DI in to save money?

Loss of revenue compensation for third party hosting when it all goes wrong? The compensation will cripple you.

No major company would rely on a two bit operation.

Codswallop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9SSOWORzw4

 
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Yeah hence why I havnt relied on it. In getting a second opinion and I'm gonna go all out with 100% full details this time

 
Yeah hence why I havnt relied on it. In getting a second opinion and I'm gonna go all out with 100% full details this time


we get loads of people pretending they haven't 'destroyed it themselves' James, hence the members get a bit suspicious if things don't seem to add up. Please do not be offended, we just don't like amateurs doing a professionals' job and charging money for it. Our trade is still a full 4 year course, with good reason, so we also get fed up with people hiding the truth and hoping we sort it out for free, hence the sometimes hostile attitude if things 'don't add up'. I don't think you are one of these people, do please help us to help you with  a few pictures.

 
we get loads of people pretending they haven't 'destroyed it themselves' James, hence the members get a bit suspicious if things don't seem to add up. Please do not be offended, we just don't like amateurs doing a professionals' job and charging money for it. Our trade is still a full 4 year course, with good reason, so we also get fed up with people hiding the truth and hoping we sort it out for free, hence the sometimes hostile attitude if things 'don't add up'. I don't think you are one of these people, do please help us to help you with  a few pictures.


Not offended at all. I understand.

i definitely wouldn't attempt to do anything like this myself. Even if I understood the basics I would never risk touching a cable that is always live and that I can never turn off.

as far as I understand it under the main consumer unit the wires coming into the house from the energy company are always live and can never be turned off?

one slip and I'd be dead. Definitely not risking that ever.

i don't even know how the hell you guys would do that... how would you plug a new consumer unit in... how on earth would you hold a wire that is live and plug it into a consumer unit without getting killed is beyond me 

 
i don't even know how the hell you guys would do that... how would you plug a new consumer unit in... how on earth would you hold a wire that is live and plug it into a consumer unit without getting killed is beyond me 


Big balls,

Big rubber balls,

Except @misssweden

She has all our balls in her hands, ;)

 
in your kinky dreams @steptoe  :slap

i don't even know how the hell you guys would do that... how would you plug a new consumer unit in... how on earth would you hold a wire that is live and plug it into a consumer unit without getting killed is beyond me 
 we don't the seal fairies appear and allow us to remove the main fuse. :innocent

we aslo have 1000v insulated tools if the fairies aren't around :slap

 
I can go get a picture of the db when I get in if you really want it? Don't see how it could help at this point. 

Its just a 5 socket db with breakers in it.


You were asked for this yesterday.....

ps. Fire isn't going to be your problem.... Your customers websites falling over all the time could ruin you....

 
254.jpg.9344894b05c2a56ca4f6cabc320a74bd.jpg
:pmsl:

 
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