120V Electrical


HasBeenKurt
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Sorry, I couldn't resist the humor.

 

The standardization of electrical voltages is actually somewhat complicated.  Although 120 and 240 are the current nominal voltages for the US, these are often commonly referred to as 110 and 220 which were the nominal voltages at one time or another.  This comes from Wikipedia:

 

In the United States[6] and Canada,[7] national standards specify that the nominal voltage at the source should be 120 V and allow a range of 114 to 126 V (RMS) (−5% to +5%). Historically 110, 115 and 117 volts have been used at different times and places in North America. Mains power is sometimes spoken of as 110; however, 120 is the nominal voltage.

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np, that was a funny line in the movie.   The Wiki is a bit incorrect.  The allowable voltage is 120v +/- 10% which takes it from 108v to 132v (root mean squared) before you can call the power company to complain.   I would agree that informally 110v has been improperly used in different times and places.   But I still think it odd that as a professional product like Chief Architect would follow a non-standard, out-of-date nomenclature.  I would like to suggest that this be considered in a future update.    Thanks.

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If you are concerned about non-standard, out of date nomenclature then Chief Architect should be the least of your concerns. Pick any Code Book or Standards Manual and you will find it riddled with these. Once something is written into code or standards its essentially there forever. All those subsections are the culmination of decades worth of writing committee work trying to incorporate newly introduced methods and materials without undermining the validity of prior acceptances or the potential to manipulate a parties interest via exclusion or inclusion. Some here may participate or have participated in these committees, I am certain they understand the complexities involved as you attempt to form a consensus between government, industry and the public.

 

Graham

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This will be my last post on this topic.   The National Electrical Code is updated every 3 years, and I assure you it's not riddled with out-of-date nomenclature. What I've learned from this post is that architects don't know about or care about electricity.  If I'm trying to draw plans that electricians will use, I'll need to look elsewhere. 

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Please do not be offended, not the intention. Agree that your electrical code is regularly updated with minimal ambiguities. My comments were generalized and not necessarily directed towards one specific document.

 

Did do a quick review, if one can do so, of your electrical code in respect with your concern about a Chief electrical device/symbol having 110 volt or 220 volt labels. It is dated but this was correct nomenclature prior to the 60's and is still considered acceptable and one in the same as 120 volt and 240 volt. However, your should be aware that these voltages whether new or old refer to the electrical voltage being carried through the line (wire) and they are nominal with variances as some of the threads above have outlined. These voltages are not the device rating. For a standard 15amp duplex receptacle outlet the standard rating and nomenclature is 125volt, this is what code states, not 120 volt.

 

Can Chief do what you want, sure it can, just change the label or symbol and save it to your user library for future use. Now you are up to date.

 

Keep in mind that this software is used throughout the world by many differing professions. We all have different needs, codes and nomenclature. Not sure it would be feasible to address every one of these for every user. What Chief provides is extremely powerful and the ability to customize to meet ones specific needs. 

 

Graham

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I've been an electrical contractor for 35 years.  

If an architectural symbol says 110 or 120, who cares.  We know it's a standard 120 volt circuit.  I wouldn't think twice about it.

The only time it matters is when the electrician or electrical engineer is calculating the ampacity and wire size of the circuit.  

 

The voltages symbols that do matter to me are 120, 208, 240, 277, 480 and whether it's single phase or 3 phase.

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I think Graham's post above was very well stated. 

 

Since Chief architect is designed to work for a wide variety of users in a lot of different situations and locations, we have tried to design in as much flexibility as we can so that individuals can customize the program for their specific needs.  This means that you should be able to create your own custom library of electrical objects that will display however you like with whatever labels you like.  You can even modify the 3D data to give them they look that you want in camera views.

 

If anyone feels strongly that the electrical objects that ship with the program should be labeled as 120V and 240V instead of the current 110V and 220V, please submit a suggestion that we change this.  I think this is a relatively easy change but as far as I know, no one has ever asked for us to do this.

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Thanks Dermot. I may stand to be corrected but I believe the accepted convention is to only use the standardized symbol, which is void of any labeling, in the drawing and then within a schedule define the particulars such as voltage, amps etc. that are relevant to your region. If the symbols in Chief were to be altered then the labeling should actually be removed and left up to the user.

 

One of the main purposes of this type of symbol only standardization is that regardless of the region the assumption is that the symbol always means a device that meets or exceeds the requirements of the region in which the device is being installed. The symbols only represent the type of device not the devices ratings.

 

It's the same for general construction/architectural drawings. Standardized symbols are used to represent elements such as insulation, concrete, etc. Schedules are then added to define the particulars. The drawings would be an absolute mess if the element had to be labeled in every instance it was used.

 

Graham

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