hey thanks for checking out my video I know it's a long one so if you're only interested in seeing the school once the generator has ran out of fuel and the inside walk around go to 23:09
love when this happens, back in march on a friday we had the substation that feeds our school catch fire and the generator kicken in we walk outside to see if we can see smoke we come back in and we had lost our generator, everything comes back on later that day, and then we have 2 EF 2 tornados go though and then the generator ran for over 17hrs and came back up .its fun walking around without power. totaly downtime during the storm was 17hrs and thankfully we had just had the generator filled.
One thing I hate the most in my high school, the fire alarm system is a gosh darn Simplex system and on February 24, the fire alarm went off cuz of a smoke malfunction in the cafe since it was a very cold day on that day. It happened into 40 minutes of period 1.
Yep, looks like we have to prepare for a long power failure, too in Springfield, Vermont, because of wet snow! For snow forecasted on March 14 and March 15! What a bad start!
Update: We did have the power go out for brief periods each. It never stayed out for long on the 14th. But, I heard that much worse happened south and east of me.
when our genset hits 35% fuel, it auto calls for refuel from a company in town, we've not slammed into out of fuel situation yet... but have ran into throwing a rod through the block when the dang thing was needed.
That is a good set up and protocol! this one will put the fire alarm system into trouble/supervisory once the fuel gets below 20% I believe, as to draw attention to the problem and tell monitoring company. I'm not sure if we could have a set up like that where it would directly request a refill as it's honestly a stupid set up that you have to drag a fuel line through the back door of the school and then through the door of the generator room making it a multiple person job And obviously needing access to the building. About your situation though that sounds like a pretty catastrophic event throwing a rod?
@@nics-systems-electric it was a old cummins they converted to be a genset, it was not happy when they took it out of the wrecked truck they dragged into the highschool, it took them 4 day's of futzing with it and getting it to act like a genset, but the thing they kept ignoring was the rod knock, it was LOUD, I pointed this out to them, told them the first time we need it and it has to hit that 30 second full tilt requirement, that it might not live, middle of winter 2020, it went nope when we lost power, threw the rod hard enough that it came inside our maintenance shop through the wall. it's been replaced with a proper system now, a system that works each and every time, but seems to be only wired to the fire system and the on premises google servers we have... no lights, no hvac... no air compressors, nothing else. we are a bit of a broke school district.
I posted a video of the generator of the hospital I work at running. Not a good video, but you can hear it real good and see the exhaust. We have two Caterpillar generators and they are powerful enough to power the whole hospital including the chillers. We have enough diesel for a week and a truck on standby to bring more in. Most hospitals only have backup power to power critical circuits, but after hurricane Ike in 2008, the original owners invested in a second generator. I have another video of them both running I might post.
Good vid man! Also I need some help with getting the right wire and plugging because I’m trying to make my pull station and system sensor work without a panel
You have really amazing schools. In the school where i've studied there are only emergency led lights connected to the generator and nothing more Ukrainian winters were insane
28:03 Why does the Notifier NFS2-640 with the NCA display show an AC power light when there's no AC power? Is it a factory defect or is it to display that the network is still online during a power outage?
To answer your question at @13:10. The main reason they don't run clocks on a generator is because they would loose accuracy. Most electric clocks get there timing reference from the 50/60hz mains frequency and unlike the grid, generators are not capable of regulating that frequency to the level that's needed to run clocks with.
Yes I am familiar with that with the old clock systems though I don't think that is the case for these newer systems that use Internet connection and update every once in a while to stay with the current time as the clock system is part of the PA system it just seems to me as a poor design to not have those systems on back up power
That's why the clocks at my high school are out of sync all the time and some students would ignore the clocks in the classroom and obey there phones clock instead and try to leave class early and show up to the next class early, even though there phone clock is always correct, I didn't know that some clocks won't function properly on generator power, because of rate of flow is slower than regular or higher voltage power, however clocks have backup batteries in them, but it takes at least a minute for the battery to kick in or the battery is dead and its possible for the clock to be over an hour off.
My high school clocks (Dukane, rebadged by GE) are usually a few minutes ahead, and they are connected to the generator. Most school clocks I see are usually off by a few minutes.
Something like this happened at her friends house the inverter was running for like 10 hours and then at like 3 AM the power went out and then we and it was like 40°C outside so we went to a hotel to sleep this happened in India and it was just a heavy rain, and even the power plant broke down
Well Nic, on Friday November 10th, 2023. My high school had a power outage, but not just any power outage. The whole building single phased! And unlike your middle school that single phased that one day, I don't know where that video went. But we lost A phase and B phase according to a VFD, so I am not sure if that is really single phasing or not, but as a precautionary measure, I was working with my school's custodian to shut down any 3-phase equipment, since you know only some classrooms had power and some lights were on and some were even strobing sometimes. The cause of the power outage was a transformer that had gone bye-bye in a very bad way.
@@nics-systems-electric Oh okay, thank you! So, the transformer apparently arc-flashed and lit on fire so of course my city's fire department responded. And the power company was working on it pretty much all day, it was crazy!
Yeah now that I think about it that's exactly how it was I forgot that the Vonduprin hardware supply is mounted in the ceiling just down from the entrance
@@nics-systems-electric only reason i was asking because the thing in videos looks almost identical only difference the one at my school is in a case with other stuff like some type of pager for the pa system maybe but idk
What kind of intercom system does y'all have at the high school? More than likely the backup power on the pa failed or it ran out of power. It's only a duration mostly of two hours in a emergency case like this. I don't believe adding a pa system to the generator was necessary if it has its own backup. But I'm not 100% sure about that.
It's a Telecor System and it absolutely makes sense for it to be on a emergency circuit the PA system doesn't have any back up power it's self but it isn't required to be on generator emergency circuit as it's not deemed life safety however it is a tiny load so it might as well be on the generator as it is used in a life safety matter occasionally
28:06 Well there were 7 troubles on the panel, leading up to full auxiliary power failure! Because of this, power was completely dead until the main grid came back online! In the States, God only knows how long until power came back online!
@@Corwin09-ji8sxtrue but that is unrelated to the generator all the same things would happen without a generator this at least kept it going a lot longer than it would've without any generator and ideally it would have been refilled from the last power outage
@NIC’S - SYSTEMS & ELECTRIC You can't fix stupid dude. They put a 4 way stop in on the route I used to take to work. So I just found a new route to avoid the morons. 😆
Hi Nic how are ya, Cool high school I like the design I think I've driven by there once we got lost in the area i was driving around and it looks kinda familiar, the emergency lights look great and yeah I agree with you I think the digital clocks and pa system should be on the generator it makes sense eh
@@nics-systems-electric Hi Nic I totally agree with you it makes sense to keep the Clocks on back up I know everyone has a phone and watch but still keep the Clocks on and its one less thing to rest after the power is restored, DST starts tonight and I hope we finally get to stay on it permanently this changing the Clocks thing is so pointless eh
@@Brad79FL the clocks would be good I suppose but they don't matter so much as the PA system as it is a very essential thing to have in a large building a way to quickly communicate with everyone in the building especially in emergency events which the clock system is part of the PA system
@@nics-systems-electric of course that makes sense to have the pa system on backup im not sure how they missed that, it would be like if the emergency lights or fire alarms, exit lights had no backup eh it should be a part of the building electrical codes
@@Brad79FL the problem is here is PA systems aren't considered life safety so it's not required however the school itself does use it in a "life safety manner" occasionally so it would seem to make sense to have it on a emergency power source however it's not required
That must have been some storm out that way for the school's generator to actually "run out of fuel" and as usual your power stayed on the who,e time. Funny how that always seems to be.
if the power outage at your high school with no generator went even longer than 15 hours can it become a health and safety risk and would the school have to be closed
Well it was Saturday the school was closed anyway but as I said in the video you can't have occupancy if there's no emergency lighting or essential building safety systems so if it was on a school day school would definitely be closed however they would probably do that even if the generator was still running
My High school lost power for over 24 hours in May of 2022 because of the derecho in my area and in Ontario and similar to the video above the security system in my school failed
Dumb question... But does this situation activate fire watch??? I can't quite make my mind up if it would count, given that the alarm should still work on back up - but I sit on the fence given the time that the power has been out and the fact that doors and lighting systems are gradually starting to fail now.
When running on generator the building can be operated as normally as none of the life safety systems are compromised. If the generator is out of fuel though the building cannot legally be occupied as the human protection systems like lighting and emergency communication systems smoke control etc are not operable. However the building does not need firewatch for property protection as the fire alarm system is still operational. Therefore just things like smoke control systems won't operate but that is for protecting humans in the building not the building itself so as long as the building is empty it doesn't need any watch
@@nics-systems-electric Thank you for your reply, that has helped me to better understand how and why firewatches are activated. Ever since the Grenfell fire and the fact that we still have residential buildings under fire watch to this day, I had wanted to better understand the fire watch procedure.
@@nics-systems-electric What are they doing about caring for fuel storage? Do you treat for water, and a biocide for "algae"? Not sure how your storage is set up, day tank/bulk tank,? And have you considered fuel polishing?
My High school has a Notifier NFS2-3030, and one time the power went out. But the pull stations kept polling, so I wonder if it is just because it is a bigger system or if it is on older software but I believe it was put in around 2010 - 2012.
@@nics-systems-electric Well, there is actually an Onan generator in the boiler room, but it doesn't look powerful enough to run the whole school, probably just to power essential things for the building. I honestly don't see why it would be on UPS power besides its batteries if that's what you meant.
@@IanGSully I meant more likely a large UPS like at my school that powers all of the data systems so it is a 208 V three phase UPS with a 40 amp output powering a panel the UPS is also on generator so it's just to serve the period of time between power loss and generator start up
@@nics-systems-electric Oh Okay, yeah, I think my school building has only small UPSs for data crap, I'm not sure how that building is wired lol. But the generator is natural gas and not diesel. But I don't believe it is connected to a larger UPS. I'd have to ask, but I would think it is powered off generator.
Seemed awfully dark on the school exteriors. Isn’t there supposed to be some exterior emergency lighting? They need to add a few to be emergency lights for the parking lots and exterior of doors. Also why are the generators not connected to a natural gas line as well?
No exterior lighting is not required as it does not affect your egress and you're not contained in the building some places will do it as an extra but it's not required
If you have watched his generator test videos. In that case, he states that they don't have natural gas because they are susceptible to seismic activity, such as earthquakes, and natural gas lines will shut down during an earthquake. The schools are designated to be emergency shelters and must still be inhabitable after a natural disaster, so the generators must have fuel that is contained onsite.
Your schools are awesome, we don't have generators at all even in our biggest high school that was updated in our town. So if it goes out we only have emergency lighting which hardly last's 30 minutes they aren't even LED, so we'd all freeze to death if we had to stay there. Our school isn't as big ether, I'd kill to have a high school experience like that.
Any building to be used as an emergency shelter must have a generator. When we had to evacuate in 1998 due to Hurricane Bonnie hitting Myrtle Beach, the high school had a generator. What sucked is that back then, it must not have been required for bathrooms to be on the generator because when the power got knocked out, we had to go into the restrooms with flashlights. My high school was completely renovated, and they did get a backup generator. This was happening in the 2010s. I think it was finished in 2012 or 2013, so I would assume the bathrooms were on the generator.
@@nics-systems-electric Where is it located? For around here that would be an unusual voltage. But I've seen it in The Chemical Valley in Canada and some southern states. More is usually better though, less I2R losses
@@joecummings1260 Canada we use 600/347 in place of 480/277 we only install transformers to take 600 down to 480 for specific equipment that will only take it and lots of our shipyards because some of the ships take 480/277 shore power
Hey, the guy that was with you inside the building after the generator gave out, is he an electrician as well? Plus, if your school were to single phase, would the ATSes be able to detect that and tell the generator to fire up and transfer over?
Im kinda cirious why you dont just acknowlage the alarm and go about your work. I would go insane if i had to listen to that the entire time. Also wouldnt it be better to just go out a buy fuel if u have the money for it and just get the school so repay you for it to get power back up??
I wasn't working at the time so I was not going to touch the fire alarm system at all not even acknowledge it not my problem as far as the generator that is not my job to fuel the generator and the school isn't the one who pays for it it comes out of school district facilities operation and maintenance budget and that can get very risky buying stuff on your personal account and is not something I would ever do especially not for that large of an item I do not have a way to transport hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel
@@nics-systems-electric Ah ok, so you were just doing the walk i thought u where working on the fire system as well. And yes i thought it was the school that payed for it but if its the district then it makes sense
Not my job or my problems and I'm not going to pay for their fuel with my personal account and I don't have a way to transport hundreds of gallons of diesel
Certainly not the best management of back up power as the generator should have been refilled after the last 12 hour power outage and this could've all been avoided
@@nics-systems-electric If the generator was topped up and there was an extended power outage, how long would it take to burn an entire full tank of fuel?
As usual, the weakest link in the chain causes the whole system to fail. Seems ridiculous to have such a small fuel storage, not having a proper refuelling strategy (which is unforgivable) and a system where the tank cannot be quickly and easily refilled from outside. What if the school was needed to be used as a relief shelter that night for the 12 hour period? Not good…. Good video btw!
To be honest they should add a secondary smaller tank just off to the side or even a gravity fed one on top. Doesn't got to be much just enough to fuel it with a jerry can if it is really required. Then again if you would ever need it for that i think there would be a lot more issues then just it needing fuel.@@nics-systems-electric
It's still to code if they are on generator emergency power they don't need to have battery back up the exit signs in the original section of the school built in 2015 do have battery back up however the 2020 edition does not
@@nics-systems-electricjust because it’s “to code” doesn’t mean the code is good or that the extra step to use battery backup models can’t be taken. Let’s not forget that plenty of things in the past were built “to code” before something happened and those codes were updated or changed and improvements made.
@@mikewolf5367 well sure the battery back up would be good for the situation but you also have to consider the cost difference and more maintenance and shorter service life
Wouldn't be legal for this application as it is needed for emergency power and natural gas will shut down during seismic movement it is good though for a non-essential standby generator
that is why diesel generators don't work for big buildings they should be on natural gas and if there's an emergency with that they have an easy shut-off switch
That's not actually the case but the opposite here natural gas generator would not be legal for a building like this as the natural gas lines shut off in any seismic movement
hey thanks for checking out my video I know it's a long one so if you're only interested in seeing the school once the generator has ran out of fuel and the inside walk around go to 23:09
Good morning @@nics-systems-electric
Yeah
Also next time at night bring flashlights
Investmagate
Stopitd
You make amazing videos. I always enjoy watching them. My town has town wide generators during the winter season
love when this happens, back in march on a friday we had the substation that feeds our school catch fire and the generator kicken in we walk outside to see if we can see smoke we come back in and we had lost our generator, everything comes back on later that day, and then we have 2 EF 2 tornados go though and then the generator ran for over 17hrs and came back up .its fun walking around without power. totaly downtime during the storm was 17hrs and thankfully we had just had the generator filled.
Do you know what the backrooms are because some of the levels are fun interesting and peaceful
One thing I hate the most in my high school, the fire alarm system is a gosh darn Simplex system and on February 24, the fire alarm went off cuz of a smoke malfunction in the cafe since it was a very cold day on that day. It happened into 40 minutes of period 1.
U do a rally good job on UA-cam keep up there good work on here mate keep up mate
Thanks, will do!
Yep, looks like we have to prepare for a long power failure, too in Springfield, Vermont, because of wet snow! For snow forecasted on March 14 and March 15! What a bad start!
Update: We did have the power go out for brief periods each. It never stayed out for long on the 14th. But, I heard that much worse happened south and east of me.
Nice modern senior school you goto, you're really into your electronics and Fire safety
when our genset hits 35% fuel, it auto calls for refuel from a company in town, we've not slammed into out of fuel situation yet... but have ran into throwing a rod through the block when the dang thing was needed.
That is a good set up and protocol! this one will put the fire alarm system into trouble/supervisory once the fuel gets below 20% I believe, as to draw attention to the problem and tell monitoring company. I'm not sure if we could have a set up like that where it would directly request a refill as it's honestly a stupid set up that you have to drag a fuel line through the back door of the school and then through the door of the generator room making it a multiple person job And obviously needing access to the building. About your situation though that sounds like a pretty catastrophic event throwing a rod?
@@nics-systems-electric it was a old cummins they converted to be a genset, it was not happy when they took it out of the wrecked truck they dragged into the highschool, it took them 4 day's of futzing with it and getting it to act like a genset, but the thing they kept ignoring was the rod knock, it was LOUD, I pointed this out to them, told them the first time we need it and it has to hit that 30 second full tilt requirement, that it might not live, middle of winter 2020, it went nope when we lost power, threw the rod hard enough that it came inside our maintenance shop through the wall. it's been replaced with a proper system now, a system that works each and every time, but seems to be only wired to the fire system and the on premises google servers we have... no lights, no hvac... no air compressors, nothing else. we are a bit of a broke school district.
@@nics-systems-electric Could have an external fill point?
@@WhitfieldProductionsTVhmm yes a diesel knocking. i've heard that one before. all they had to do was make sure the injection system was in order.
@@manitoba-op4jx yeah I had wished it was the diesel clank. but it was bad maincaps.
'you know what, guys? I peed in that yesterday' 😂
I posted a video of the generator of the hospital I work at running. Not a good video, but you can hear it real good and see the exhaust. We have two Caterpillar generators and they are powerful enough to power the whole hospital including the chillers. We have enough diesel for a week and a truck on standby to bring more in. Most hospitals only have backup power to power critical circuits, but after hurricane Ike in 2008, the original owners invested in a second generator. I have another video of them both running I might post.
Good vid man! Also I need some help with getting the right wire and plugging because I’m trying to make my pull station and system sensor work without a panel
It really doesn't matter if it's just a demo could really be whatever you have
"Right Hayden?" 5:10 "I want some water" Lol
You have really amazing schools.
In the school where i've studied there are only emergency led lights connected to the generator and nothing more
Ukrainian winters were insane
just curious, why were you allowed to enter the school while it was closed? love your content btw!
I have families at work in the district and I work with the electrical department so I am known who I am I'm not just a stranger
@@nics-systems-electric ooooh alright
Nic, I'm just like Hayden. 🤣
"Dude, shut up!" 🤣
this is the bad word gary
@@ethanwang5335 I was quoting what he said to his friend or coworker
Yeah dude shut up dude shut up😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
1:05
@@ethanwang5335no it isn't😂
28:03 Why does the Notifier NFS2-640 with the NCA display show an AC power light when there's no AC power? Is it a factory defect or is it to display that the network is still online during a power outage?
I think it's referring to the network or just power in general as it doesn't say AC power only power
To answer your question at @13:10. The main reason they don't run clocks on a generator is because they would loose accuracy. Most electric clocks get there timing reference from the 50/60hz mains frequency and unlike the grid, generators are not capable of regulating that frequency to the level that's needed to run clocks with.
Yes I am familiar with that with the old clock systems though I don't think that is the case for these newer systems that use Internet connection and update every once in a while to stay with the current time as the clock system is part of the PA system it just seems to me as a poor design to not have those systems on back up power
That's why the clocks at my high school are out of sync all the time and some students would ignore the clocks in the classroom and obey there phones clock instead and try to leave class early and show up to the next class early, even though there phone clock is always correct, I didn't know that some clocks won't function properly on generator power, because of rate of flow is slower than regular or higher voltage power, however clocks have backup batteries in them, but it takes at least a minute for the battery to kick in or the battery is dead and its possible for the clock to be over an hour off.
My high school clocks (Dukane, rebadged by GE) are usually a few minutes ahead, and they are connected to the generator. Most school clocks I see are usually off by a few minutes.
every other fire alarm system Channel:
“Okay, let’s pull this pull station! It’s going to be loud guys!”
Nic: “I peed in that yesterday.”
It's good information, sharing is caring.
@@nics-systems-electric this is why I just subbed to you bruh 😭😭
You’re literally funny and I love it 🙏
Something like this happened at her friends house the inverter was running for like 10 hours and then at like 3 AM the power went out and then we and it was like 40°C outside so we went to a hotel to sleep this happened in India and it was just a heavy rain, and even the power plant broke down
That makes sense
Well Nic, on Friday November 10th, 2023. My high school had a power outage, but not just any power outage. The whole building single phased! And unlike your middle school that single phased that one day, I don't know where that video went. But we lost A phase and B phase according to a VFD, so I am not sure if that is really single phasing or not, but as a precautionary measure, I was working with my school's custodian to shut down any 3-phase equipment, since you know only some classrooms had power and some lights were on and some were even strobing sometimes. The cause of the power outage was a transformer that had gone bye-bye in a very bad way.
Yeah still counts as single phasing
@@nics-systems-electric Oh okay, thank you! So, the transformer apparently arc-flashed and lit on fire so of course my city's fire department responded. And the power company was working on it pretty much all day, it was crazy!
Im surprised they even had that much fuel
I enjoy your videos..
Nice! Let's grab some popcorn
Cause of power outage?
I think I say it towards the end of the video but it was caused by a tree falling across a three phase line
What are the numbers on the doors of your school for, identification?
During Covid students had specific doors they were supposed to enter and exit from and the numbers are just still left there
After the elementary schools are you going to your high school?
Just watch the video
29:07, the panic devices are on there own power supply from the salto system, the salto was probably on battery when the von duprin psu was dead
Yeah now that I think about it that's exactly how it was I forgot that the Vonduprin hardware supply is mounted in the ceiling just down from the entrance
@@nics-systems-electric yeah
Lucky lol, I want a power outage
Lol really. I don’t like it Bc one time in winter I got a power outage and me and my family had to stay in a hotel for just a night but still.
16:55 LMFAOOOOO WHAT DID BRO START RUNNING FOR
What is that thing with the screen and keybored on it my school has the same thing but it's in a black and glass container next to a red container
Fire alarm system
@@nics-systems-electric ik that but what is the computer thing called
@@nics-systems-electric it's made by notifire and it has different components and system records next to it
@@ShiaGaming88 NCA 2 display
@@nics-systems-electric only reason i was asking because the thing in videos looks almost identical only difference the one at my school is in a case with other stuff like some type of pager for the pa system maybe but idk
What kind of intercom system does y'all have at the high school? More than likely the backup power on the pa failed or it ran out of power. It's only a duration mostly of two hours in a emergency case like this. I don't believe adding a pa system to the generator was necessary if it has its own backup. But I'm not 100% sure about that.
It's a Telecor System and it absolutely makes sense for it to be on a emergency circuit the PA system doesn't have any back up power it's self but it isn't required to be on generator emergency circuit as it's not deemed life safety however it is a tiny load so it might as well be on the generator as it is used in a life safety matter occasionally
E
Oh I see
Brilliant video. I thoroughly enjoyed this video. You have earned my sub and thumbs up on the vid.
Thank you I appreciate it!
@@nics-systems-electric you're welcome anytime 👍🙂
Nic, your high school reminds me of a liminal space?
This is the tragic case that exposes the dark side of having a generator. 😢
Still better than no generator
28:06 Well there were 7 troubles on the panel, leading up to full auxiliary power failure! Because of this, power was completely dead until the main grid came back online! In the States, God only knows how long until power came back online!
@@Corwin09-ji8sxtrue but that is unrelated to the generator all the same things would happen without a generator this at least kept it going a lot longer than it would've without any generator and ideally it would have been refilled from the last power outage
wow that video must have taken place near christmas.
December 10
the next day, did u go with the electrician to check the school? ALSO LOVE YOUR VIDEOS
No power was back on the next day
39:51 same thing with the pressurization fans obviously and the make up air doors cannot open
Yes
The school would be really creepy at night
Glad it's not just the US that has idiots that don't know how to treat an intersection as an all way stop when the traffic lights are out.
you'd think it would be pretty simple and everyone would get it but apparently not
@NIC’S - SYSTEMS & ELECTRIC You can't fix stupid dude. They put a 4 way stop in on the route I used to take to work. So I just found a new route to avoid the morons. 😆
Hi Nic how are ya, Cool high school I like the design I think I've driven by there once we got lost in the area i was driving around and it looks kinda familiar, the emergency lights look great and yeah I agree with you I think the digital clocks and pa system should be on the generator it makes sense eh
Definitely should be on the generator I think
@@nics-systems-electric Hi Nic I totally agree with you it makes sense to keep the Clocks on back up I know everyone has a phone and watch but still keep the Clocks on and its one less thing to rest after the power is restored, DST starts tonight and I hope we finally get to stay on it permanently this changing the Clocks thing is so pointless eh
@@Brad79FL the clocks would be good I suppose but they don't matter so much as the PA system as it is a very essential thing to have in a large building a way to quickly communicate with everyone in the building especially in emergency events which the clock system is part of the PA system
@@nics-systems-electric of course that makes sense to have the pa system on backup im not sure how they missed that, it would be like if the emergency lights or fire alarms, exit lights had no backup eh it should be a part of the building electrical codes
@@Brad79FL the problem is here is PA systems aren't considered life safety so it's not required however the school itself does use it in a "life safety manner" occasionally so it would seem to make sense to have it on a emergency power source however it's not required
4:19 Is that the school that had a power outage and the fire alarms went off?
Yes good memory
33:01 it kind of sounds like the generator flatlined
That must have been some storm out that way for the school's generator to actually "run out of fuel" and as usual your power stayed on the who,e time. Funny how that always seems to be.
Yeah well we wouldn't of had a problem if they would've refilled it after the last 12 hour power outage
@@nics-systems-electric ours run off of natural gas no fuel to run out of:)
@@apctech1This school is in an area with a fairly high risk of earthquake and is designed to be used for evacuation so NG is definitely a no go.
if the power outage at your high school with no generator went even longer than 15 hours can it become a health and safety risk and would the school have to be closed
Well it was Saturday the school was closed anyway but as I said in the video you can't have occupancy if there's no emergency lighting or essential building safety systems so if it was on a school day school would definitely be closed however they would probably do that even if the generator was still running
My High school lost power for over 24 hours in May of 2022 because of the derecho in my area and in Ontario and similar to the video above the security system in my school failed
Hi
32:03 best part 🤣🤣🤣
Dumb question... But does this situation activate fire watch???
I can't quite make my mind up if it would count, given that the alarm should still work on back up - but I sit on the fence given the time that the power has been out and the fact that doors and lighting systems are gradually starting to fail now.
When running on generator the building can be operated as normally as none of the life safety systems are compromised. If the generator is out of fuel though the building cannot legally be occupied as the human protection systems like lighting and emergency communication systems smoke control etc are not operable. However the building does not need firewatch for property protection as the fire alarm system is still operational. Therefore just things like smoke control systems won't operate but that is for protecting humans in the building not the building itself so as long as the building is empty it doesn't need any watch
@@nics-systems-electric Thank you for your reply, that has helped me to better understand how and why firewatches are activated.
Ever since the Grenfell fire and the fact that we still have residential buildings under fire watch to this day, I had wanted to better understand the fire watch procedure.
Nic, have you figured out the cause of the outage yet?
I think I said in some point in the video that it was a tree down across a three phase line
Nic what's up with Hayden?
@@Vigilance108 nothing
Is he causing trouble again?
Why no arrangements with an oil company for fueling?
Someone has to tell them to come by. But after the last 12 hour outage I told the appropriate people and they never passed the information along
@@nics-systems-electric What are they doing about caring for fuel storage? Do you treat for water, and a biocide for "algae"? Not sure how your storage is set up, day tank/bulk tank,? And have you considered fuel polishing?
@@joecummings1260 don't know the details just diesel stored underneath the generator inside the building probably only about 20 hours worth
What is R&B? 25:27
The school's name
Fuel tanks too small need a larger capacity
Only need to hold 2 hours worth but this will do around 24 hours at least so as long as it's refuelled after a long usage it's fine
Don't breathe in the hand warming station air. That won't taste very good for your lungs.
For some reason as hard as the wind was blowing while you guys were on your bikes I was expecting to you see you both go airbone like in ET 🤣
Why would they put the middle school on a separate grid?
Because it's on a different road which has a different line coming down that road
@NIC’S - SYSTEMS & ELECTRIC ah for some reason I thought it was all one connected system
Was the fire alarm going off
No
Do you live in canada?
He does😊
Hey Nic some kid thought it was a good idea to vape in the bathroom and set off a smoke detector
That's why we don't put smoke detectors in the bathrooms or they will get set off from vapes
It was hilarious
I hate the students that vape in school and they do in the bathroom and during lunch or outside during gym class or open campus outside
the fire alarm went off
What Happened to the power to your school
Watch the video and will see that there was a power outage from a tree taking out a three phase line
47 minutes
26:02 Something's beeping in the generator room
That would be the "fuel depleted" alarm. The fuel tanks are bone-dry at that point.
26:29 Low fuel level warning!!!!!!
Right Hayden?
Hayden: I want some water.
You own the high school? Just curious
Of course not
My high school power outage from 1:15-4:15 in 2022
What kind of Generator does your school have?
@@GaryBeltz nothing just power off and we waiting for power back on
My High school has a Notifier NFS2-3030, and one time the power went out. But the pull stations kept polling, so I wonder if it is just because it is a bigger system or if it is on older software but I believe it was put in around 2010 - 2012.
Possibly older firmware or on generator or UPS power
@@nics-systems-electric Well, there is actually an Onan generator in the boiler room, but it doesn't look powerful enough to run the whole school, probably just to power essential things for the building. I honestly don't see why it would be on UPS power besides its batteries if that's what you meant.
@@IanGSully I meant more likely a large UPS like at my school that powers all of the data systems so it is a 208 V three phase UPS with a 40 amp output powering a panel the UPS is also on generator so it's just to serve the period of time between power loss and generator start up
@@nics-systems-electric Oh Okay, yeah, I think my school building has only small UPSs for data crap, I'm not sure how that building is wired lol. But the generator is natural gas and not diesel. But I don't believe it is connected to a larger UPS. I'd have to ask, but I would think it is powered off generator.
i think it needs to br refuel the generator
Why cant u go in the schools?
I did go in you just have to watch the whole video
"You know what, guys? I peed in that yesterday."
"Right, Hayden?"
"I wanna- I want some water."
The most random things I have heard today.
Seemed awfully dark on the school exteriors. Isn’t there supposed to be some exterior emergency lighting? They need to add a few to be emergency lights for the parking lots and exterior of doors.
Also why are the generators not connected to a natural gas line as well?
No exterior lighting is not required as it does not affect your egress and you're not contained in the building some places will do it as an extra but it's not required
If you have watched his generator test videos. In that case, he states that they don't have natural gas because they are susceptible to seismic activity, such as earthquakes, and natural gas lines will shut down during an earthquake. The schools are designated to be emergency shelters and must still be inhabitable after a natural disaster, so the generators must have fuel that is contained onsite.
Your schools are awesome, we don't have generators at all even in our biggest high school that was updated in our town. So if it goes out we only have emergency lighting which hardly last's 30 minutes they aren't even LED, so we'd all freeze to death if we had to stay there. Our school isn't as big ether, I'd kill to have a high school experience like that.
Most of our school don't either. Only the high schools and a few other ones.
Any building to be used as an emergency shelter must have a generator. When we had to evacuate in 1998 due to Hurricane Bonnie hitting Myrtle Beach, the high school had a generator. What sucked is that back then, it must not have been required for bathrooms to be on the generator because when the power got knocked out, we had to go into the restrooms with flashlights.
My high school was completely renovated, and they did get a backup generator. This was happening in the 2010s. I think it was finished in 2012 or 2013, so I would assume the bathrooms were on the generator.
Are the generators 480/277 WYE?
600/347 Y at this school
@@nics-systems-electric Where is it located? For around here that would be an unusual voltage. But I've seen it in The Chemical Valley in Canada and some southern states.
More is usually better though, less I2R losses
@@joecummings1260 Canada we use 600/347 in place of 480/277 we only install transformers to take 600 down to 480 for specific equipment that will only take it and lots of our shipyards because some of the ships take 480/277 shore power
Gary don’t say it
??
Hey, the guy that was with you inside the building after the generator gave out, is he an electrician as well? Plus, if your school were to single phase, would the ATSes be able to detect that and tell the generator to fire up and transfer over?
I think it was the custodian in there with me can't remember. during single phasing the transfer switch will start and switch over to generator power
@@nics-systems-electric Oh okay. Are the Air Handlers, boilers, and Chiller on generator as well?
@@IanGSully no
@@nics-systems-electric Hmmm... I wonder how that building is like when there is a power outage while those things aren't getting power.
@@IanGSully not much different than with power on
Im kinda cirious why you dont just acknowlage the alarm and go about your work. I would go insane if i had to listen to that the entire time. Also wouldnt it be better to just go out a buy fuel if u have the money for it and just get the school so repay you for it to get power back up??
I wasn't working at the time so I was not going to touch the fire alarm system at all not even acknowledge it not my problem as far as the generator that is not my job to fuel the generator and the school isn't the one who pays for it it comes out of school district facilities operation and maintenance budget and that can get very risky buying stuff on your personal account and is not something I would ever do especially not for that large of an item I do not have a way to transport hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel
@@nics-systems-electric Ah ok, so you were just doing the walk i thought u where working on the fire system as well. And yes i thought it was the school that payed for it but if its the district then it makes sense
Is it illegal to silence the panels? If I were in there, I would've especially the one in the generator from
No I don't think it would be illegal just didn't want to silence troubles that might need to get peoples attention later on to alert of the low fuel
Well done boy saying dude shut up😂 to hayden 😂
I'm so sorry the power when off
When he said shut up
I know it sounds silly but couldnt you just go to a station and get fuel and fill up the genny
Not my job or my problems and I'm not going to pay for their fuel with my personal account and I don't have a way to transport hundreds of gallons of diesel
@@nics-systems-electric what do you do there then
@@joshuabest100 I was just there seeing everything not there for work
Is that Robert Bateman Secondary School??
Nope
Nice!
That’s not good
Certainly not the best management of back up power as the generator should have been refilled after the last 12 hour power outage and this could've all been avoided
@@nics-systems-electric should have had a full size tank out side like some of our older systems have that arnt running natural gas yet
Don’t be rude
Huh?
@A-200 oh man if they think that's rude they would hate the average friend to friend conversation lol
At least the generator runs long before running out of fuel
It should have ran the entire outage if it was refilled like it should've been after the previous 12 hour outage
@@nics-systems-electric If the generator was topped up and there was an extended power outage, how long would it take to burn an entire full tank of fuel?
@@GaryBeltz seems like if I was too calculated about 24 to 30 hours
As usual, the weakest link in the chain causes the whole system to fail. Seems ridiculous to have such a small fuel storage, not having a proper refuelling strategy (which is unforgivable) and a system where the tank cannot be quickly and easily refilled from outside. What if the school was needed to be used as a relief shelter that night for the 12 hour period? Not good…. Good video btw!
Usually gets around 24 hours if it is refilled properly when requested.
To be honest they should add a secondary smaller tank just off to the side or even a gravity fed one on top. Doesn't got to be much just enough to fuel it with a jerry can if it is really required. Then again if you would ever need it for that i think there would be a lot more issues then just it needing fuel.@@nics-systems-electric
Why are all these lights on if nobody is there?
Emergency lighting is required to stay on
I think it’s a mistake the signs are AC only, for this exact reason.
It's still to code if they are on generator emergency power they don't need to have battery back up the exit signs in the original section of the school built in 2015 do have battery back up however the 2020 edition does not
@@nics-systems-electric all of our new ones after 2015 have to have battery back up
@@nics-systems-electricjust because it’s “to code” doesn’t mean the code is good or that the extra step to use battery backup models can’t be taken. Let’s not forget that plenty of things in the past were built “to code” before something happened and those codes were updated or changed and improvements made.
@@mikewolf5367 well sure the battery back up would be good for the situation but you also have to consider the cost difference and more maintenance and shorter service life
I thought you’re a big-time I thought you had keys to the building
There are lots of people that have access and work for the school district but that doesn't mean you can just go in wherever whenever
Natural gas for your generators is the only way to go.never run out of fuel!!!!!
Wouldn't be legal for this application as it is needed for emergency power and natural gas will shut down during seismic movement it is good though for a non-essential standby generator
@@nics-systems-electric OK thank you
that is why diesel generators don't work for big buildings they should be on natural gas and if there's an emergency with that they have an easy shut-off switch
That's not actually the case but the opposite here natural gas generator would not be legal for a building like this as the natural gas lines shut off in any seismic movement
bro. Just. Shut. 🆙 😂
why didnt u just drive🤣
Wasn't 17 yet so didn't have a new drivers license still had a learners can't drive by yourself