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Posted By: sparky Panel Directory Language - 12/20/02 12:31 AM
hello all...

we American sparky's, of large land mass & few boarders, usually mark our panels circuit directory in English....despite a few ethnic pockets...

this is a followup to this thread on panel directory markings

I felt the need to elevate the concern to international scrutiny here, as it occurs to me that many of you out there deal with much more a diverse clientel than i would.....

why reinvent the wheel right?

so....what would be you language of choice in panel directories abroad? are there certain considerations or situations that we should lend an ear to?

~S
Posted By: Trumpy Re: Panel Directory Language - 12/20/02 05:37 AM
Sparky,
Panel circuit ID needs to be as concise as
possible, given the (often) small area in which to write.
We have a problem over here in NZ, where circuits are labelled either Lights(for lighting circuits), and Power, for anything else.
This really helps if you are trying to isolate a single circuit that supplies a domestic Dish-washer or the like.
Posted By: sparky Re: Panel Directory Language - 12/20/02 11:06 AM
lol~ small world Trumpy......
Posted By: Texas_Ranger Re: Panel Directory Language - 12/20/02 12:00 PM
Hmmm. Our panels have a directory glued to the door, and electricians usually label the circuits. room 1, room 2, ... dishwasher, laundry, range (usually easy to identify, in most cases the only 3ph breaker). Only problem is to find out which room was assigned which number, as this is left to the sparky's fantasy.
All labels in german for sure.
Posted By: pauluk Re: Panel Directory Language - 12/20/02 10:24 PM
Half the time here I find that the panels haven't been marked at all. That's not too much of a problem on the typical older 4-fuse installation, but where extra sub=panels and circuits have been added, it can take a long time to trace out.

Even where descriptions are present, they're often just not explicit enough, inaccurate due to later modifications, or just plain unintelligible. The prevelance of the ring circuit and just a couple of lighting circuits here means that individual room circuits aren't all that common, but where they are used there's also the point that "Johnny's room" undoubtedly meant something to little Johnny's family, but isn't very helpful to whoever lives there now.

Most domestic panels these days come with sheets of peel-off/stick-on labels for the breakers. While making it very quick and easy to label the breakers, they still don't really provide more than very basic information. There are usually stickers just marked "Sockets" (along with a symbol), maybe "Upstairs sockets" and "Downstairs sockets" if you're lucky. That's not very helpful if the circuits don't neatly divide into first and second floor.

I've never seen anything other than English used here, although I've never lived or worked in any of the areas where we have a high percentage of non-English-speaking immigrants. By the way, the U.K. is actually officially bi-lingual:- Welsh is an official language in Wales.
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