MPdesign Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Just for fun - old/problematic equipment in use! I figured you guys would want to see this. I have never seen some of it before. Click to Enlarge 19.25 KB Click to Enlarge 37.59 KB Click to Enlarge 45.18 KB Click to Enlarge 31.31 KB Click to Enlarge 42.28 KB Click to Enlarge 49.49 KB Click to Enlarge 53.33 KB Click to Enlarge 50.05 KB Please give me some insight into this one!!! I was told that it was an oil filled electrical switch and that it is in use. Click to Enlarge 46.69 KB Click to Enlarge 37.1 KB Click to Enlarge 45.04 KB Click to Enlarge 91.86 KB Click to Enlarge 41.96 KB Click to Enlarge 50.64 KB Click to Enlarge 37.72 KB Click to Enlarge 30.16 KB Click to Enlarge 22.46 KB Click to Enlarge 37.37 KB Click to Enlarge 28.74 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 I'm amazed that the SE copper bus bars would still be permitted outdoors, totally unprotected. Is there even a fence around that area? The stuff is live? Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPdesign Posted December 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 There was a chain link fence that I was standing at when I took the picture. Yes, it is live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 The breaker panels and old wiring are pretty run of the mill. But the rest of that stuff is pretty wild. What kind of facility is this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPdesign Posted December 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Very old club of sorts is all that I can say. Have you guys seen or heard of an electrical switch of the large type shown? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Katen Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Very old club of sorts is all that I can say. Have you guys seen or heard of an electrical switch of the large type shown? I've never seen oil filled switches like that or a capacitor bank like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Yeah. I've worked on switches like that as well as capacitor banks, etc. I've never seen oil-filled switches on 240V circuits. They're still used by utilities (under pressure) on utility lines, for transformers, switches and circuit breakers. It helps with insulation, cooling and with quenching arcs, prolonging the life of the contacts. The capacitor banks suggest a prior use of that facility for industrial or manufacturing use that employed large motors. They are used to provide capacitive currents that cancel out inductive currents that result from the operation of electric motors. Lighting transformers (fluorescent ballasts included) also produce heaps of inductive currents that burden the utility power lines without transmitting any power. Some utilities will penalize a plant that doesn't clean their system of reactive currents because reactive 'power' is actually not power, just a ghost going back and forth between generator and motor and doesn't ever accomplish any work. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Hockstein Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 I took this photo of meters on the outside of a 2-family in Sydney last spring. This was one of the neater jobs in the neighborhood. Click to Enlarge 50.17 KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPdesign Posted December 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Marc, From your response on the switch, I am inferring that is super heavy duty switch which is designed to last a long long time outside. This is inside - and is probably ok for the next 10 years. Am I inferring that correctly? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 It doesn't look like a NEMA 3 to me but at this age, the only way to get even a remote idea of the condition of the switch is to visually examine it. Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPdesign Posted December 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 If by visually examine, you mean me operating or opening a probably 90-year-old switch which is filled with oil in a small room with one exit, I will pass... Hehehe Just kidding. I understand. I will recommend that someone else looks at it! Thank you for your insight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPdesign Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Concerning the outside transformers and bus in the fence. Is there any reason to believe that these would be newer than the rest of the 90 year old capacitor bank and mains based upon what is shown? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 I can't see any but then I wasn't around in 26'. Are those PVC stub-ups? The ones bringing in power? Marc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPdesign Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 That is Rigid, RGD metallic conduit, or possible IMC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MPdesign Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Ok. This really fun info... It is about the "Heinemann Magnette" breaker shown In 1927, Heinemann developed an automatic protective device called a circuit breaker, and in 1930, Heinemann produced the first magnetic circuit breaker. Heinemann remains the leading manufacturer of OEM circuit breakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry Simon Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 In 1927, Heinemann developed an automatic protective device called a circuit breaker, and in 1930, Heinemann produced the first magnetic circuit breaker. Heinemann remains the leading manufacturer of OEM circuit breakers. So much for the prior Solenoid types, the Remote Control Electro-Pneumatic types, and of course, the Motor Operated suckers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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