The Southern Nevada Chapter of IAEI sponsored a Medium Voltage seminar on August 25, 2007. It was held at the Clark County Development Services Center and instruction was provided by Mike Johnston (IAEI) and Chuck Mello (UL). Mike and Chuck developed the course on behalf of the IAEI at the request of Rick Maddox, international third vice-president of the IAEI and building inspections supervisor with Clark County, Nevada. The seminar drew 84 attendees for the eight-hour class. The attendees were provided with copies of the seminar presentation and the new 2007 UL White Book, which was used during the presentation.
It is becoming more prevalent for private property owners to take ownership of the electrical systems farther upstream. This means that designers, installers and maintenance personnel must now deal with voltages above the normal 600-volt systems. With the increasing design and installation of medium voltage systems in commercial and high rise buildings, a need was identified for local plans checkers, engineers, electricians and inspectors to learn about safe installations and good practice when dealing with higher voltage electrical systems. The course covered the basics of medium and high voltage installations, basic design concepts, power generation and distribution, conductor types, conductor shielding, stress cones at termination points, splicing of conductors over 600 volts and wiring methods for over 600 volts. A live demonstration of medium voltage termination techniques was also provided courtesy of Apex Electrical Sales and Raychem.