Electrical Safety Inspection Problem - Car Lift

[Tech Guy]

Just a little update on progress this week. The new control box my son built is going on the lift tonight and we have scheduled Intertek to come and do the re-inspection and final for Friday AM. If it passes (and I don't expect any problems) and I get my label, I'll be able to get the ESA inspector back next week to do the final on the building.

BTW - the dealer (Automotive Equipment Solutions) and distributor (Complete Hydraulic) have been working behind the scenes with the ESA and have issued a recall notice on these lifts to all of the previous purchasers in Ontario advising them of the unapproved electrical safety status of these lifts. I got a notification letter in the mail last week. They are going to retrofit them with manually operated control units (hydraulic pump and motor) at N/C to anyone who asks for it. I think they are doing a very good job of customer service on this issue. Cudos to Randy at Complete Hydraulic and his dealers.

Nice of them to do the recall and look after the customers they have sold to. Bet they wont let that happen again. Seems your son worked pretty quick on this.

If you are getting the re inspection done on Friday am , does that mean you will be around sometime in the afternoon ? I am working in Ballinfad for the morning if things go right then headed right past you on my way north. If so I can try stopping in again.

 

[Ezzie]

I see 12/2 SOW for power, wheres the ground? Cord isnt like romex with regard to the number of conductors (12/2 cord has black and white only, 12/3 cord has black, white, green; 12/2 romex has black, white, bare ground, 12/3 romex has black, red, white, bare ground)

Good catch! My ****-boo. We used 3 wire SOW - black, white for the 220V legs and green for ground. I guess the proper terminology for the power wire should be 12/3. The lower current control wiring could be 16/2 but not a common size so we just used some 14/3 SOW and didn't use the ground as there is no place to attach it in the microswitches.

 

[Ezzie]

If you are getting the re inspection done on Friday am , does that mean you will be around sometime in the afternoon ? I am working in Ballinfad for the morning if things go right then headed right past you on my way north. If so I can try stopping in again.

Great idea - PM sent. I'll be at the shop only until about 10:30 - 11:00. My sons and I are heading to Mosport for the ALMS weekend. Gonna take the barbie, a few snags and tons of beer!!

 

[Ezzie]

Good News!! The lift now has ETL approval. Here are some pics of the retrofit we did.

Here is the new box my son built to replace the non-approved Korean unit.

Here is a shot of the internal wiring showing the contactor, thermal protector and low current breaker for the controls.

And the power drop from the ceiling using SWO cable and a "horsecock" (how did they ever come up with that name??)

 

[Ezzie]

... and a couple of shots of the replacement limit switches we used for the car height stop and lift height stop.

... and of course, the all important ETL label affixed which shows the assembly is now approved for electrical safety. This is the label the ESA inspector will want to see.

 

[Tech Guy]

Nice job there Ezzie, your son does nice work. So when does the ESA come back ? And that should be the final for the building correct ?

Got your PM and replied. Have a great weekend at the races !

 

[Nealcrenshaw]

I'm glad you went about it the right way,money is no object compared to safety.

 

[Ezzie]

The saga ends .... finally. ESA was here this morning and did the final inspection on the building. Passed!!

Now all I need to do is get some $$$ from Complete Hydraulic or the local dealer to cover my Intertek special inspection costs - roughly $400 CDN. They did the final for me at N/C - probably as a favour since they knew it was a hobby install and not a commercial enterprise - and we use them where I work for special inspections on unregistered test equipment.

 

[Tech Guy]

Whooo hoooo. Finally done. Thanks for the tour Friday Ezzie, nice job on the shop !

 

[horizontallyopposed]

Just stumbled across this and it was a very enlightening discussion (glad to have come in at the end once Ezzie has reached resolution - not a good situation all around). I have been looking around at lift options, both from a storage standpoint, as well as a working standpoint (I have a 1969 Porsche and a 1969 Mercedes that will forever be on a lift).

I sent an inquiry to the local supplier of "discount" lifts and their reply was their lifts are CE certified, which to me means they aren't really certified by anybody because as I understand it, CE is self certified. My concern is not the requirements for electrical inspection, but rather the "if it ain't certified, it ain't insured" perspective. So I really appreciate the good discussion in this thread.

--
Keith Adams
Calgary, AB

 

[Ezzie]

Yes, you are correct. CE mark is a self certification and is not recognized by either CSA or UL as any proof of electrical safety. As has been pointed out, the only way to obtain evidence that the products meets recognized safety standards is to submit the item to a certified testing lab (such as Intertek Testing Services, CSA, UL, etc.). Once the product is approved, a "listing" number is given to the product and the manufacturer can then label subsequent copies of it.

As far as insurance goes, check with your broker or insurance provider to see if they have any input or restrictions - just to be safe.

 

[BABCO]

Ezzie

I am glad to see you passed.
FYI,the lifts themselves are not CSA approved The power units are. Since the power unit is an expensive part of the lift, most importers stick with the offshore units. Most offshore units would not pass the Canadian standards and its expensive to get the approval. Drive up the price of the inexpensive lift thet we all fight to sell you.

You could have changed the power unit. But that would have been several hundred bucks.
The CE standard is the European standard (EU) Not recognized in North America.
Most of these lifts never get found out by the inspectors because the customers are installing the lift in an existing garage. I bet most of consumers don't know they are not approved?

My understanding is that your insurance is not covered if you had a fire and they fiqure out your using a non approved electrical components. They don't pay. That goes with any electrical household appliance.

I believe its illegal to import non CSA / C-UL products in Canada period. But they are everywhere in the hobby lift business.

In Canada there is no accountability for for selling equipment to the hobbyist / DIY. There is in the commercial side of the business. Hobbyist need that too. I have heard many stories like yours. I read some of the ads from competitors and sometimes I laugh and sometimes I get mad. My favorite right now is "Commercial Grade Lift" if the lift doesn't meet the standards to sell to a shop, how can it be Commercial Grade?? Its seems to be the new tern to fool the consumer.

The two big manufactures in the lift business are BendPak and Rotary. As the Canadian BendPak distributor, I can tell you our ALI/ETL /CSA XPR10 series start at $3,300cdn and the extra wide is $3,470 cdn plus GST. I think we can get to Ontario for that price. This is a lift we sell for commercial use. We sell hundreds every year.

Thanks for letting me carry on, I am glad you got things sorted out. To bad you had to deal with it to begin with.

Bruce Buckborough
www.babco.ca

 

[Ezzie]

Ezzie

I am glad to see you passed.
FYI,the lifts themselves are not CSA approved The power units are. Since the power unit is an expensive part of the lift, most importers stick with the offshore units. Most offshore units would not pass the Canadian standards and its expensive to get the approval. Drive up the price of the inexpensive lift thet we all fight to sell you.

You could have changed the power unit. But that would have been several hundred bucks.
Bruce Buckborough
www.babco.ca

Bruce,

Thanks for your reply. I am however a bit confused by the above comments and hope you can clarify for us. Are you selling some offshore lifts that are not certified by ALI/ETL??

Here is the link to the ALI website's page on the Bendpack models that ARE ALI/ETL certified so are these only commercial grade and not hobby lifts??

http://www.ali-directory.org/ALI/AL...er?OpenView&Start=1&Count=1000&Expand=1.1#1.1

The power unit on my lift was a CSA approved unit (Monarch/SPX-Stone unit) but since it did not have an internal or external thermal cutout (ie. no thermal protection), it would not pass. This was only part of the issue though. The electrical controls, wiring and limit switches (the other electrical components) were non-CSA or ULc approved items and this is what flagged the ESA inpector. He was looking for an electrical certification label for the WHOLE lift assembly (ie. the gold label or an ETL label). That is why I had to have Intertek come and do a one-off "Special" inspection/approval.

 

[greenthumb25]

i also just stumbled across this thread. very informative. good to read that ezzie passed. all in all though, did you have to spend more in total? for the inspection and additional parts i mean?
________________________
electrical services in corona california

 

[dellwas]

Friend of mine became the Cobra Trikes distributor for Canada quite a while back. You wouldn't believe the hassle he had to go through to get Provincial MVA Approval AND authorization through Transport Canada. While not really the same issue, I suspect that he will have a helluva time if he has to get it inspected by a professional engineer to pass approval, and it won't be cheap.

If there are no electrical safety "marks" (CE, UL, CSA, DE etc.) then there is not much you can do. Most regions allow you to have it inspected by a qualified professional engineer and if he gives it the stamp of approval then you can submit a report and a bunch more paper work to get it approved on a one time basis. However that cost would exceed buying a new lift.




Dave

 

[Ezzie]

.... did you have to spend more in total? for the inspection and additional parts i mean?

There was a "threat" of another invoice coming from Intertek to cover the final inspection but to date I have not received it. I think they may have just waived it for me since they knew it was a "personal use" or hobby lift and not for a business. The company I work for is a customer of theirs for other inspections we have to have done from time-to-time so it likely is a "favour". I did pay the first inspection of $394 and we bought a few metres of SOW cable to use for the rewiring (approx. $30). All of the parts we used for the rebuild of the control box were "surplus" from former jobs so didn't cost us anything out of pocket. This is one of the perks my son has where he works at an industrial automation manufacturer.

The Canadian dealer of the lift and the importer/exporter, Complete Hydraulic in Illinois has reimbursed us for our "out-of-pocket" expenses and even gave us a set of truck adapters for the lift as a goodwill "gesture" for our time and effort. Both the dealer and the importer can use the information from this to help them with eventually getting certification for the lifts and/or helping their other customers so it turned out to be a win-win for everybody I think. I know I am happy with it all and I think Randy and the gang at Complete Hydraulic are as well. All in all, good company to deal with that stands behind the product they are importing from S. Korea and remarketing here in North America.