ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion No Way!!

Guys,
Have a look at this install of a main breaker in a building.
I would tend to hope this failed an inspection.



Hey, at least he got the colours around the right way.

Interesting!! Long studs to help with the alignment, & reduce the bends required in the conductor??

Why the black tape around the white(center) conductor?

Saves time feeding the wire back to the bus bars.

Is that a factory wire job on the main (looks nice with the heat shrink tube) or did somebody in the field cut them to short as I have never seen a panel like that in Canada.

Let's see ...

Steel bolts that are smaller in diameter than the better conductors that are much larger in diameter.

Looks like three M8 steel fusable links.

John,
That isn't tape, it's just a poor heatshrinking job.

What caused this to happen is the breaker should have been mounted down lower in the cabinet and then this would give you enough room to actually land the lugs onto the busbars.
It is also considered good trade practice to centre-feed your busbars here to give better current distribution along the busbar.

This sort of wire has a tonne of strands in it and is really flexible.
I'd doubt that this was a factory install, it looks more like something that "happened" on site, no QC guy would ever let an abomination like this leave the factory, if they had any credibility.

The person that did this obviously had no idea what they were doing, irregardless of the fact that (as others have stated above) you have some M8 fuses in there, but you now also have a problem with galvanic corrosion as well, due to the dissimilar metals.

They could have made this connection just by using longer wires.

I am guessing that white is an ungrounded conductor where you are?
What is neutral?

Greg,
Yes, White is the B phase, it used to be yellow at one time.
Neutral is Black (or light blue if it's in a flexible cord).

I guess if you are upside down all the time lots of things are going to be opposite.

Trumpy:

Is that a Siemens breaker??

And, is it common to use color code heat shrink, as opposed to conductors with colored insulation?