ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Violation Photo Forum ho-made power center?

Found this on my computer, might be from the net someplace.... Possibly a 3 pole disco switching the hot leg from all 3 meters?

Wow!
And this is outside too.

Three wires from pole, three meters, three phase disconnect, black & white feeders to each group of outlets, each outlet fed with two green wires.

Any guess to what voltage is delivered to each outlet?

Is this a permanent "Temporary" power distribution set up for a holiday light festival?

I hope there are fuses in that disconnect.

Why are the scorch marks on only a couple of the receptacles?

An irreverent observation here:

See the bushes behind the board? Someone spends a lot of time, and money, making their shrubs 'just right.'

Just like the housewife who agonizes over 'just the right' cabinets for the kitchen.

How is it that our work gets put in the 'leftover' pile?


Now, it's always easy to laugh at the other guy. On this board are a LOT of receptacles. How would you make such a board? (Fair warning: I had to do this once )

Define the application and environment. How often used? Who is going to connect / disconnect? What are the expected loads? Who will have access to the finished assembly? where will it be installed?(geographical region)

Umm,
For a start, I'd be thinking about putting them rececpts in some sort of an enclosure or two, more than likely a weather-proof one, with a top-hinged lid so that the sockets can still be used with the cover in place.

Secondly, there'd be some sort of point of attachment below the enclosures so that any flexes that were connected to the sockets could be supported, meaning that the sockets weren't carrying the wieght of the cord.

Thirdly, all the wiring from the disconnect to the enclosures, would be in conduit.

Just a question though,
Is there really a need for 60 (30 x 2) repectacles, all in one place?
This is just asking for a tripping hazard!

Mike, those are some good points.

Perhaps a piece of strut would serve as a tie-off for the cords, and help protect the plugs from strain should someone trip on a cord. Something like this:

Just wrap the cord around the strup on its' way to the outlet.


As for the receptacles themselves, perhaps this wpould be a better solution:

John,
Anything that takes the wieght off of the contacts of the socket and the pins of the plug has to be good.

I've lost count of the times I've seen pictures on the Net where there is a plug in a socket that is just hanging out of the socket at some weird angle (and people wonder how fires start?).

One other thing I neglected to remember in my post above, if this is going to be installed in an outdoors location, GFCI protection probably wouldn't be a silly idea either.

John,

The pics you posted would still be a violation of 400.7 and 400.8
Why use flexible cord at all?

Just as easily, you could use an approved wiring method.

You are referring to the use of flexible cords as a substitute for a permanent wiring method.

When I looked at the OP's 'electrical board,' my first thought was the "fair" I was at last weekend. I speculated that this was the point where multiple temporary booths got their power.

Then I opened my mail and saw an ad from a Christmas-lighting outfit. Looking at all those shrubs, I wondered if the board was set up for Christmas lighting.

In either case, I was assuming that the use of extension cords was legitimate. I was asking: how would you arrange this to supply 30 extension cords at once?

Hey guys,

Do you think this is even in the United States? I just have a sneaking suspicion that this picture was taken "south of the border..." It is certainly an interesting way to meter things, using 3 meters like that.

Makes me wonder what size fuses are in the disco...

Put me down for $20 on 60A's

Does anyone recognize the make of the disconnect? That also leads me to think this is some foreign jobbie

The cover looks like a Siemens but not really sure,they do have "SIEMENS" embossed on the cover on domestic models, my guess is it is from Mexico, though.

Is it just me, or are two of those sockets on the right hanging out of their boxes?

Good point!
That whole bunch on the right doesn't look too solid, more like "1 screw missing and the other loose".

Talking of screws missing, why is Alfed E. Neuman now wearing a tinfoil hat?

Alan,

Alfred E. began to "worry" about EMF.

LOL!!!

I think whoever came up with this whole mess has three screws missing and every other one loose!

In the original picture, did anyone note the lack of paint and un-used clips along the top of the board, to the left of the disconnect?
I would tend to think an "alteration" has occured here.
One other thing, unless them wires are feeding the meters from the back, they aren't going into the tops of the meters, do you see any bends there?
Or glands for that matter.
It looks to me that the meters are only there for show.

I did notice that, Mike. What I think happened is that there was a piece of SE cable coming down the "mast" that ran directly into the disconnect switch. Someone decided to add metering after the fact, which is when it went from really bad to really, really bad. I zoomed the view and it appears that the meter on the right shows some wires coming out of the upper-right corner.

Regardless, the whole thing stinks to high heaven. Why there are three meters on what appears to be a single-phase installation is beyond me.

I'm sure that this installation is in Mexico. I've seen work like that everywhere I look when I've been there. Scary to say the least.

insulated chainsaw...