TESTING LABORATORIES FORUM—UL QUESTION CORNER
Does UL List any “raintight” compression type
EMT fittings for use in wet
locations?
UL offers Listing service
for “raintight” compression
type EMT fittings under the
product category Electrical Metallic
Tubing (EMT) Fittings (FKAV) located on page 31 of the 2002 General
Information Directory for Electrical
Equipment (White Book).
However, UL recently conducted
a study to determine the reliability
of “raintight” compression fittings
to consistently comply with the wet
location test criteria. Based on the
results of the study, UL initiated a
more stringent follow-up test program to assure these products consistently exclude water to maintain
their “raintight” marking.
Effective March 2002, manufacturers of UL Listed “raintight”
compression type EMT fittings
were required to comply with the
more stringent follow-up test requirements. If the manufacturers
of these fittings did not comply
with the new requirements, they
were no longer authorized to mark
their UL Listed fittings with the
“Raintight” marking. Currently
(April 2003), no manufacturer is
authorized to mark their Listed
compression type EMT fittings
with the “Raintight” marking.
UL is prepared to certify products
that comply with UL’s requirements.
The availability of “raintight” fittings
may change as manufacturers redesign their fittings to comply with UL’s
new follow-up “raintight” testing. It
is imperative to always look for the
100 IAEI NEWS
proper marking on the product and
container. If the product is not
marked with the UL Listing Mark
and the container is not marked
“Raintight,” then the fittings have
not been Listed for raintight applications.
Are the boxes that come
with Doorjamb Switches
considered outlet boxes?
Boxes with doorjamb
switches are not considered
to be outlet boxes.
Doorjamb switches are Listed as
an assembly consisting of a small
switch, special switch box and cover
plate. The special switch box is not
an outlet box. It is only intended
to terminate the switch leads to the
branch circuit. It is not intended for
any other type of field wiring.
The special switch box provided
with the door switch is considerably smaller than a device or outlet
box due to the narrow width of a
doorjamb because it is only intended to accommodate the small
switch leads connection to the
branch circuit. The special switch
box is not sized to accommodate
a standard wiring device such as
a regular snap switch, receptacle
or dimmer and it is not sized for
potentia l feed-t hrough circuit
conductors, as is an outlet box.
The ampere or wattage rating of
a Listed door switch is sized for a
small lighting load, considerably
less than the branch circuit rating.
Therefore the heat generated by
the door switch and current-carrying conductors will be nominal,
Underwriters
Laboratories
Inc.®
compared to that of a fully loaded
15- or 20-A receptacle installed in
an outlet box.
Listed door switches are marked
with the Listee’s name or trademark
and electrical rating in a location
where readily visible after installation. An AC only door switch, if rated
in wattage, is marked “For use with
incandescent lighting only” where
visible after installation. Presently,
there is one Listing of a 120-volt
door switch.
Door Switches are Listed under
the product category Door Switches
(W LFV ). To locate Listings of
Door Switches, look in the 2002
UL Electrical Construction Equipment Directory (Green Book) on
page 638. Listings of Door Switches can also be accessed on UL’s
Online Certification Directory at
www.ul.com/database. Just click
on the UL Category Code/Guide
Information search and enter the
category code WLFV.
Now that arc-fault circuit
interrupters (AFCIs) are
required by the NEC
NEC, are
there any UL Listed AFCI
indicators?
There are presently a number of Listings of AFCI
indicators. These devices
provide an indication if
a selected receptacle is protected
by an AFCI. Note that the only
accepted method for testing an
AFCI is to depress the “test” button provided as an integral part of
the AFCI itself. AFCI testers are
provided with instructions that
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Underwriters
Laboratories
Inc.®
TESTING LABORATORIES FORUM—UL QUESTION CORNER
state the proper way to “test” an
AFCI. AFCI indicators are Listed
under the product category Outlet
Circuit Testers (QCYU); the guide
information for this category is
located on page 83 of the 2002
White Book.
Are Listed wet location
polymeric electrode insulator boots for neon lighting
Listed for use with any type
of GTO cable sleeving or integrally
sleeved GTO cable?
There is one manufacturer
that has a UL Listing for
a wet location on their
boots and it is only acceptable for
use with GTO cable sleeving by
that same manufacturer. Only the
specific combinations identified in
the instructions for a Listed polymeric electrode insulator boot have
been found suitable for use in wet
locations. You should always ask
for and refer to the installation instructions provided with the Listed
product for the proper component
correlation.
Combinations, such as the use of
the boot of one manufacturer in combination with the GTO sleeving of
another manufacturer have not been
evaluated by UL. Also, UL has not
evaluated any boots in combination
with integrally sleeved GTO cable for
use in wet locations.
The special UL meetings for government inspections provide us an excellent opportunity to
ask questions of UL engineers and to clarify UL
requirements. The “UL Question Corner” answers
questions of general interest that are sent in from
authorized government inspectors and we believe
will have interest for many inspectors.
Please send us questions you may have that are
of general interest, and we will have UL engineers
answer them in a future issue. If space does not permit answering all questions received, we'll see that
you get an answer by letter.
Send your questions to:
UL Question Corner - IAEI News
PO Box 830848
Richardson, TX 75083-0848
www.iaei.org
JULY/AUGUST 2003
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