# Seroius Clearance Issues



## VegasVolts (Jan 15, 2008)

Below are some pictures of a typical Vegas casinos' electrical room ,this casino isn't even that old either,but I run into this and much worse rooms all the time...(wait until I get pics of some other rooms) 
But the room in question is a U -shaped room ,with only one exit.the pictures are in order from when you walk in the room to walking around the U,the first being walking in the room ,the second is making a left turn ,and the third is making the next left turn around the UPS(the last few are just close ups) ...,but before I get started here is what's in this room:
EVERYTHING IN THIS ROOM IS 480 VOLT
-80 KVA UPS system
-225 KVA transformer
-1200 amp distribution 
-800 amp distribution
-800 amp VCD manual transfer switch
-400 amp distribution
-huge ATS

...some things you can't see in pics, no panic hardware on door ...door has pull handle which pulls into gear room,-no emergency lighting..in fact the only lighting in room is on a timer,.
The only one exit kills me (literally). the violations go on and on,transformer clearance ,the ladders..etc

Wait till I get pics of some others !
By the way the reason the cover is off and wire is sticking out of that 1200 amp section is because we are feeding another UPS system in another part of the building,and are installing a two 200amp buckets. Just working where we are,if those batteries or that VCD switch or ATS...anyone of those had an arc...we wouldn't be able to get out. SCARY!


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## VegasVolts (Jan 15, 2008)

also I don't think the IBEW did this job,they were just warning others


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

Kinda looks like this place:


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## nap (Dec 26, 2007)

Does that room meet (05) NEC 110.26 (C)(2)?


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## VegasVolts (Jan 15, 2008)

nap said:


> Does that room meet (05) NEC 110.26 (C)(2)?



As in existing buildings? Hmmm...that's stretching it,if indeed that's what you are referring to ..like I said building isn't very old ,and the only thing I could see be added after the fact,would be the UPS system,the ATS and everything else would have bee in the plans from the get go..and even if the UPS was added after the fact ...why would the engineer and inspector allow this ...being there is only one exit for egress?
Oh I might know why....because alot of this work is done with no permits!!!
I see this way too much ..and will have more and better pics of other electrical rooms.


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## nap (Dec 26, 2007)

VegasVolts said:


> Oh I might know why....because alot of this work is done with no permits!!!
> .


No permits? Wow. Say it isn't so.

How do you let them get away with that, or more correctly, how does an electrician get away with doing the work without pulling a permit?


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## oldman (Mar 30, 2007)

probably a sidejob:whistling2:


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## grich (Jan 14, 2008)

It's VEGAS, baby!!!!!


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## VegasVolts (Jan 15, 2008)

It's not a sidejob..well I guess without a permit it would be! ,but this particular project we are doing there is a permit(the company had actually taken over the project after another company was ran off)..but on another project it was pulled late...this is with one of the bigger non-union companies in Vegas...thankfully I am testing in the Local,already took the prep classes!....so I won't really have to deal with it as much...this is the work they turn down!,and why the non-union companies get them. But hopefully before I leave I can get some other pics of other electrical rooms...and don't even look in the ceilings!
Stay Safe out there!


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## 480sparky (Sep 20, 2007)

grich said:


> It's VEGAS, baby!!!!!


Yea.... here's what happens when you don't pull a permit in Sin City:
http://www.cbsnews.com/elements/2008/01/25/in_depth_us/photoessay3753267.shtml


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

Casinos are about the same here in Reno. They all want about the same thing.

1) Get it done NOW. Forget about permits, codes and inspections. We're losing $XXXX per day because this isn't done.

2) What's the cheapest possible way to get this done?

3) Put it on emergency power. Whaddya mean the generators are already overloaded. They can't be. They're huge! This isn't much of a load anyway. 

4) If it isn't done on time, doesn't work, or burns up, it's all your fault.


One of the local big casinos around here has 4 gens in the heat plant. All were around 500KVA. 2 Cats that were the same, and 2 Cummins that were different from each other. The 2 Cats are 4/5 pitch, one of the Cummins has a Marathon gen end, so it's 2/3 pitch, and I don't know about the other Cummins. There are about 15 xfer switches, any one of which will start all 4 gens, and (usually) synch them together. These gens really don't get along all that well, one of the Cummins tends to hog all the load, and if only one xfer switch is active, it will motor the other sets. 

There are 2 utility feeds to this building. About 1/2 the emergency load is on either feed. Both feeds have never gone down at the same time. When either feed is dead, the load on the gens runs around 45-50%. There is a 150HP fire pump in the hotel tower basement that has its own xfer switch and starts across the lines. 

I'd be willing to bet alot that if both utility feeds were dead, (the gens running around 90%), and the fire pump started, there'd be a big fight in the gen room, but not for long, then it'd be real quiet, and real dark!

When they built the parking garage, they installed a 750KVA unit out there, and ran an 800 amp feed to the hotel tower basement. Using a manual xfer switch, they can ease up the load on the 4 heat plant gens. One day we got a frantic call that the power was out, and the hotel tower had no emergency power. The parking garage gen was not running. It should have started.

A short investigation revealed that the block was stone cold, and the battery voltage was around 5. It was discovered that one of their energy saving ideas was to turn off the block heater, and battery charger!!! Unbelievable? No, more like normal for a casino.


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## KayJay (Jan 20, 2008)

If I were the Vegas inspector, I probably wouldn’t have passed it for less than six months worth of bi-weekly visits from a high-end prostitute and a stack of $100 chips for the poker table. :thumbup: 
Hey, some things are just more important than money!


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## leland (Dec 28, 2007)

and a stack of $100 chips for the poker table. :thumbup:

WOW, You'r greedy!!!


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## HighWirey (Sep 17, 2007)

VegasVolts,

"what happens in Vegas _is supposed to stay _in Vegas".

Hope you can sleep with one eye open, have a food taster, and remote start for your vehicles  

Best Wishes Everyone


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