ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area widow makers

synergy1, The widow makers in my area us old timers were referring to are old GE & FPE panels. These panels had a screw through the cover you loosened. You then rotated the washer behind the screw a quarter turn. This released the clamp inside that held the cover on. They worked well on a new panel with not many conductors in the gutter space. Over time they work lousy and grab the energized conductors in the gutter space. If you were lucky the breaker tripped when the conductor got pinched by the clamp. FPE
& old GE breakers do not like to trip. Thus the name "Widow Makers".

Al

Al: I know exactly the FPE cover you are referring to... Found that the little clamp would also tend to break rendering the entire screw and clamp assembly useless.

A.D

Re: Pump station built in 1908.

As it turns out, the pump station was built in 1908 as it said on the plaque ojn the outside wall, but apparently the pumps were not electrified until 1910. Here is a picture of the pump station I worked on, the slate boards are on the right, the "suicide room" is directly behind them through a door past the fartest column.


Here is the website link for the story, no mention of the suicide room however. I am still looking for the pictures I took. http://www.spokanewater.org/history/

Here "widow maker" is the name for the old metal 3 phase plugs. The pin layout was symmetrical, so if the plug got put together the wrong way, the ground (and with it the plug casing) would end up being a phase. They're the reason why metal plugs have been entirely banned in any European country I know of.