ECN Electrical Forum - Discussion Forums for Electricians, Inspectors and Related Professionals

>> Home   >> Electrical-Photos   >> Classifieds   >> Subscribe to Newsletter   >> Store  
 

Photos of the Week:

Meter vs Bricklayer
Meter vs Bricklayer

Random Gallery Image:
Recent Gallery Topics:
What in Tarnation?
What in Tarnation?
by timmp, September 10
Plumber meets Electrician
Plumber meets Electrician
by timmp, September 10
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 19 guests, and 24 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
#109706 11/24/05 09:26 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 4,293
Member
Forwarded by Joe Tedesco:

Quote
Joe, my apprentice in my second year class came across this situation where a 4 square blank cover was used in a piece of
electrical
switchgear to support a 480 volt breaker to the bus.


[Linked Image]

Horizontal Ad
#109707 11/24/05 10:06 AM
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,391
I
Moderator
It looks fine to me.

It is simply a bracket to hold the tail end of a breaker, it does not carry current or provide a fault path it is most likely stronger than the factory part.

I would have ordered the correct part but if I was in a panel and saw this I would not worry about it or recommend it be replaced.

Bob


Bob Badger
Construction & Maintenance Electrician
Massachusetts
#109708 11/24/05 09:14 PM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 269
E
Member
Blank covers are pretty thick metal. I wonder how he made that offset bend?


John
#109709 11/25/05 12:18 AM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 946
Likes: 3
N
Member
If they had a brake around, no problem to bend cover.

#109710 11/25/05 04:48 AM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,876
E
e57 Offline
Member
"support a 480 volt breaker to the bus"?

Was this an actuall electrical connection? If so, no way!

Non current carrying support, hmmm OK....


Mark Heller
"Well - I oughta....." -Jackie Gleason
#109711 11/25/05 03:58 PM
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 681
P
Member
I do not see how this is okay at all???????

Professionals find a way to make it work, but not this way. Isn't that why we are professionals? It physically works, but this is not right. Supply houses and manufacturers are in business to supply this type of material, so we can get it done............OH WAIT.... we don't have the time to do it with the proper material, lets see, HMMMMMM,lets see what we can do to make it work.


This is a problem with the "culture" of our industry. It works, so it is okay... and we wonder why it is so hard to try and raise our industry back up to where it should be.

And the guy who does want to do it properly will have a hard time convincing the customer that it has to be done properly, as the next guy is ready to do it CHEAP & QUICK.

I can see how this culture change is going to be an uphill battle for quite some time to be.


Pierre Belarge
#109712 11/25/05 04:12 PM
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,440
Member
Under a bolted fault condition would those 2 button head screws be enough to hold that breaker tight if things started "jumping around"? I could see this for a temp fix maybe, but I'd certainly seek out the proper mounting hardware to keep things within UL specs...

Was the breaker even designed for the gear it was installed with?

Randy

Horizontal Ad
#109713 11/25/05 04:20 PM
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 5,476
Likes: 3
Cat Servant
Member
Funny...I was just working on some gear that looked like that.

In my task, I was hindered by the little detail that the maker had stopped making his Fine Pieces of Engineering. While I was able to locate the breakers I needed, I was not able to obtain the necessary hardware.
So, in my case, I spent a pile of money having a machine shop duplicate existing hardware. Not only did I need plates like the one fabricated here, I needed aluminum standards for connecting the breaker to the busses.

This gear, btw, had 1/4-20 bolts as the typical connectors.

[This message has been edited by renosteinke (edited 11-25-2005).]

[This message has been edited by renosteinke (edited 11-25-2005).]

#109714 11/27/05 01:58 PM
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 2,876
E
e57 Offline
Member
"Non current carrying support, [begrudging]hmmm OK...."

Personally, I would have a part remanufactured if no longer made by the original manufacturer. There are places I could attempt to locate original parts as well. And a shop I can get anything I want made, and they often have factory drawings for the equipment parts.

If it were a current carrying part... This would not be acceptable! Non-current carrying, I wouldn't do it, but don't see this a danger.


Mark Heller
"Well - I oughta....." -Jackie Gleason
#109715 11/27/05 04:23 PM
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 806
Member
Don't like this at all. Too sloppy and despite the thickness of the blank, inadequate mounting by those tiny screws.

In reality I would be far more concerned by all the metal shavings on that bottom rail!


Stupid should be painful.

Link Copied to Clipboard
Advertisement:-Right


Tools for Electricians
Tools for Electricians
 

Member Spotlight
Vlado
Vlado
Croatia
Posts: 28
Joined: February 2011
Top Posters(30 Days)
Admin 3
CSS 1
Popular Topics(Views)
366,493 Are you busy
289,473 Re: Forum
268,084 Need opinion
New Page 2
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5