Electronics > Beginners
How to wire up a 240VAC receptacle
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Spork Schivago:

--- Quote from: IanB on May 19, 2018, 06:50:46 pm ---A quick summary.

Here are the PDU specs:



The P9S13A says "North America/Japan, single phase 200 to 240 V input, 24 amps input, fitted with two 2-pole 20 A breakers." Therefore it can distribute 24 A to servers or other equipment.

Here are the PSU specs:



It can run off 200 to 240 V AC, single phase, at 50 to 60 Hz. Running at full load at 240 V it will draw 6.5 amps. Therefore you could probably run four of these PSUs from one P9S13A PDU, assuming that the PSUs are not going to be running flat out. (Notice it also gives the heat rating in BTU/hr to estimate the required cooling in the server room. The air conditioning unit has to remove 5300 BTU/hr for each one of these power supplies.)

--- End quote ---

I wasn't even going to tell them I needed a PDU that runs off 200 - 240VAC made for North America with two-pole breakers.   My Account Executive is NOT a technician, he is the person that talks to the technicians.   So I was going to say on the phone or email on Monday, hey, is it too late to send that P9S16A PDU back and purchase a couple P9S13A PDU's?

I'll have to do the math real quick to determine how many PDUs I actually need.   I have more than just the servers in the rack, but it would be nice if I could divey up the servers between two different PDUs for redundancy purposes.

I had already looked at the heat they produce and calculated what size AC I was going to need.   I used those as a rough estimate for the other equipment, just to take an educated guess and overestimated a little.   It's a pretty big AC.

Anyway, when I ordered the plugs for all the equipment the PDU was going to power, I ordered a few extras, just for expansion later on and to have.   I came up with an idea.   I have that NEMA L6-30R wired up, and I wired the NEMA L6-30P myself for the BGA rework station.    I'm wondering if one of these servers could run with just one PSU, and I think it can right now, at least temporarily.    I'm thinking for an experiment, why not cut the end off one of those extra cords I ordered, unwire the NEMA L6-30P from the BGA unit, wire it up to the cord, plug the PSU into one of the servers, plug the cord into the PSU and see if it fires up?

According to HPE, it just won't start.   They didn't say it'd cause any damage or anything.   That way, I can just ease my mind, and then there's no doubts at all.....1400 watt PSUs....those plugs should have the correct gauge wire inside of them.
IanB:

--- Quote from: Spork Schivago on May 19, 2018, 07:10:58 pm ---Yes, with North American setup.   But with the transformer I was going to purchase, I was under the impression if you connect L2 to ground there is no short.   I was under the impression that was the whole reason I needed to purchase that specific transformer that Mr. Crowley originally suggested, because of the single-pole breakers inside of the PDU that I was sold.   So L1 is the only hot wire, with ~240VAC in reference to ground or in reference to L2 (but only with that transformer Mr. Crowley suggested I purchase if I were to continue to keep the current PDU and wanted to maintain safety.)   That way, if one of the breakers tripped, it'd cut the path of L1, but L2 and N would still be active, but wouldn't be a danger.    I think you guys missed the part where I said the transformer that I was going to purchase and think that I'm talking about the transformer on the pole in North America.

With the transformer Mr. Crowley suggested I purchase if I were going to keep the PDU, there shouldn't be an L2 on the secondary side, if I understand everything correctly.   There's only an L1, an N, and an E.   With American transformers, yes, if we connect either L1 or L2 to ground, we get a direct short and the breaker (hopefully!) trips to protect us.   Or, with that transformer Mr. Crowley suggested I purchase if I were going to keep the PDU, on the PRIMARY side, if I connected L1 OR L2 to ground, we'd have a dead short and that'd be horrible and hopefully the double-pole breaker on the mains panel would protect us and trip.   But if we were to be doing that, we shouldn't be playing with electricity until we learned a lot more about it.

--- End quote ---

Broadly speaking this is correct--in theory. But in practice, if you installed the transformer Mr. Crowley suggested and created a secondary supply with a sub-panel, you would probably be getting into areas not routinely covered by the electrical code. You will be creating something that inspectors do not expect to see, and so they will be getting into difficult territory when trying to approve it. And the situation with your insurance company, should anything bad happen, would be similar. Bear in mind that insurance companies like finding ways not to pay claims...

So really the best strategy is to follow North American electrical practice as closely as possible, do everything to the letter of the code, and do not introduce strange and unfamiliar things into the system.

(Keep in mind that if you use the P9S13A that comes pre-fitted with an L6-30P plug, then all you have to do is to provide some correctly wired and installed 30 A circuits back to your breaker panel with L6-30R receptacles on the end of them for your PDUs to plug into. Everything after the receptacle will be off the shelf hardware designed for the North American market and all your inspector will have to do is to sign off on the L6-30R receptacles and circuits. Everything will be straightforward, recognizable, and to code. Your inspector will have an easy job and no worries.)
IanB:

--- Quote from: Spork Schivago on May 19, 2018, 07:34:37 pm ---Anyway, when I ordered the plugs for all the equipment the PDU was going to power, I ordered a few extras, just for expansion later on and to have.   I came up with an idea.   I have that NEMA L6-30R wired up, and I wired the NEMA L6-30P myself for the BGA rework station.    I'm wondering if one of these servers could run with just one PSU, and I think it can right now, at least temporarily.    I'm thinking for an experiment, why not cut the end off one of those extra cords I ordered, unwire the NEMA L6-30P from the BGA unit, wire it up to the cord, plug the PSU into one of the servers, plug the cord into the PSU and see if it fires up?
--- End quote ---

Yes, you can plug a server PSU directly into an L6-30 receptacle as long as you have a correctly wired power cord between the PSU and the receptacle. As long as the PSU is designed to accept 240 V AC it should work fine.
Spork Schivago:

--- Quote from: IanB on May 19, 2018, 07:41:31 pm ---
--- Quote from: Spork Schivago on May 19, 2018, 07:10:58 pm ---Yes, with North American setup.   But with the transformer I was going to purchase, I was under the impression if you connect L2 to ground there is no short.   I was under the impression that was the whole reason I needed to purchase that specific transformer that Mr. Crowley originally suggested, because of the single-pole breakers inside of the PDU that I was sold.   So L1 is the only hot wire, with ~240VAC in reference to ground or in reference to L2 (but only with that transformer Mr. Crowley suggested I purchase if I were to continue to keep the current PDU and wanted to maintain safety.)   That way, if one of the breakers tripped, it'd cut the path of L1, but L2 and N would still be active, but wouldn't be a danger.    I think you guys missed the part where I said the transformer that I was going to purchase and think that I'm talking about the transformer on the pole in North America.

With the transformer Mr. Crowley suggested I purchase if I were going to keep the PDU, there shouldn't be an L2 on the secondary side, if I understand everything correctly.   There's only an L1, an N, and an E.   With American transformers, yes, if we connect either L1 or L2 to ground, we get a direct short and the breaker (hopefully!) trips to protect us.   Or, with that transformer Mr. Crowley suggested I purchase if I were going to keep the PDU, on the PRIMARY side, if I connected L1 OR L2 to ground, we'd have a dead short and that'd be horrible and hopefully the double-pole breaker on the mains panel would protect us and trip.   But if we were to be doing that, we shouldn't be playing with electricity until we learned a lot more about it.

--- End quote ---

Broadly speaking this is correct--in theory. But in practice, if you installed the transformer Mr. Crowley suggested and created a secondary supply with a sub-panel, you would probably be getting into areas not routinely covered by the electrical code. You will be creating something that inspectors do not expect to see, and so they will be getting into difficult territory when trying to approve it. And the situation with your insurance company, should anything bad happen, would be similar. Bear in mind that insurance companies like finding ways not to pay claims...

So really the best strategy is to follow North American electrical practice as closely as possible, do everything to the letter of the code, and do not introduce strange and unfamiliar things into the system.

(Keep in mind that if you use the P9S13A that comes pre-fitted with an L6-30P plug, then all you have to do is to provide some correctly wired and installed 30 A circuits back to your breaker panel with L6-30R receptacles on the end of them for your PDUs to plug into. Everything after the receptacle will be off the shelf hardware designed for the North American market and all your inspector will have to do is to sign off on the L6-30R receptacles and circuits. Everything will be straightforward, recognizable, and to code. Your inspector will have an easy job and no worries.)

--- End quote ---

Yes, I realize that, and that's why I was really upset when, after my exec talked to the techs, and after the power analysis, they claimed they didn't make a PDU that would power the PSU that worked in North America (which is just B.S. if you ask me).    I found an old power cord for a PC.   I saved them when I worked on it.   Three 16 gauge wires.   That should be able to handle the current running through the L1 and L2 of the NEMA L6-30R I'll be plugging it into.   Should be hard to wire up.   I'd feel a bit more comfortable with 12 gauge wire.   I'll see if I can find anymore.
IanB:

--- Quote from: Spork Schivago on May 19, 2018, 07:54:27 pm ---Yes, I realize that, and that's why I was really upset when, after my exec talked to the techs, and after the power analysis, they claimed they didn't make a PDU that would power the PSU that worked in North America (which is just B.S. if you ask me).    I found an old power cord for a PC.   I saved them when I worked on it.   Three 16 gauge wires.   That should be able to handle the current running through the L1 and L2 of the NEMA L6-30R I'll be plugging it into.   Should be hard to wire up.   I'd feel a bit more comfortable with 12 gauge wire.   I'll see if I can find anymore.

--- End quote ---

Well the P9S13A can handle 24 amps at 240 volts (5760 W), which is (I think) the maximum continuous load allowed on a 30 amp circuit by the electrical code. So if you need more than 24 amps to run all your equipment you need more than one 30 amp circuit from the breaker panel and more than one PDU. Using a different PDU will not allow you to take more than 5.7 kW from your 30 amp circuit and still comply with code.
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