ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Murray Panels

Just got back from a service call. H.O. had a 100amp Murray panel that was half under water this weekend, but main never tripped. In my mind it should have , as both bussbars were shorted together. Am I missing something here, or is Murray not as good as I once thought?

I guess it depends on how good you thought Murray once was. I never thought it was any good. It is now part of Seimens, which is German for crap. We had a 20 amp Seimens breaker with a dead short on it, it would buzz for several seconds until the Cutler Hammer(CH line) 200 amp main would trip.

I never thought Murray was that great, but good for lower end equipment. So maybe I should suggest to the owners that I replace their panel with something else, like a Suquare D QO ? I still say the main should have tripped. That's the main thing. Now that I've had my hands in this liability is a concern. I have a goodly ammount of insurance, I just don't want to have to use it.

Don't blame the quality of the equipment for the overcurrent device not opening.

Water is not a good conductor of itself. If the water around that panel was pretty clean, then you can expect the device to not open.

Nema has a good document on their website dealing with water damaged equipment. www.nema.org then try the search for water damaged equipment.

Pierre

Please also see the post titled "panel under water". This may give you a better idea of what you are dealing with.

in in basic operation.
If there is not enough current flow then the OCPD will not open.
If the OCPD is not opening that does not mean it is a bad equipment. It might simply be that there is not enought current to activate the OCPD.

That is my understanding.

Edward

I think the breaker sees the water as a load, and not a direct short. I've been using Murray for a long time, with no problems. They've re-designed the panels. In industrial work, we use GE bolt on style breakers, and panels. How did the water get there? Water main or flood?

It was compliments of Ivan. A lot of things flooded here in PA. I just moved my office to my basement. I'm glad I checked it Saturday morning. My new computer was almost afloat.