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Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Question:
Greetings and thank you for a great forum.
I would like to inquire if NEC Article 430.32(A), (B), or (D) applies to commercial kitchen hood exhaust fan motors or if 430.44 is an option to exclude exhaust hood motor overload protection. Does NFPA 96 exclude commercial kitchen hood fan motors from this overload device requirement? I would suggest that a kitchen exhaust fan motor may be called upon to run indefinitely much as 695.6(C) requires of fire pump circuits to not have overload protection.
Thank you much.
Kelly Stockwill
A
Answer:
Hi Kelly,
You have a few questions here and we'll try to address each of them. Section 430.32(A), (B), and (C) are general motor overload requirements. Section 430.44 appears to relax the requirement for overload protection with alternatives to address hazards to persons or equipment. These types of alternatives are often utilized in industrial and manufacturing assembly line operations. Check with the local AHJ on application of 430.44 to your specific application. NFPA 96 is titled Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations. Chapters 8 and 9 of NFPA 96 refer to the NEC for electrical wiring requirements. Listed exhaust systems may have requirements for interlocks and other extended motor run time considerations, but those would have to meet the system manufacturer's installation instructions. There may be initial test and commissioning requirements as well.