charlie tuna
Senior Member
- Location
- Florida
satruday i had a crew of manufacturer's techs testing ground fault setpoints in large switchgear - 480 volts. i watched this foreman drop this heavy cable thru the ct's and it had a large mechanical lug (500mcm) on the end. he was just shaking it around until he could reach it below the ct. i thought - man, that lug could cause some serious problems if it got across the busing inside this motor control center - it was fed from a 1200 amp breaker. i said nothing! well this is supposed to be the guy who knows - he's from general electric company- thats a big company!!! i had to leave for about twenty minutes to pick up some control fuses. when i got back -- the entire plant was shutdown - chillers-pumps-ahu's- cooling tower-everything??????????
one guy says "we just had a major problem"-- i asked them what happened--- they didn't hear me? they couldn't hear anything due to the explosion that had accurred before i walked in!! i began to understand they had just witnessed a major electrical explosion! the guy in charge was telling me "they couldn't understand what caused it" - i'm standing there looking at this 500 mcm lug (or what was left ot it) still welded to "c" phase line bus straight out of the vault!! i said "you can't drop anything like that lug into any switchgear" -- he began to argue with me. i took my flashlight and showed him the damage caused from where the lug hit the busing. and told him to remove the lug and insulate the cable end before it goes into the switchgear. it really could have caused them their lives! i could have walked up and found them both dead on the floor ---- and i witnessed this happening before i left--but who am i to question the factory trained guys!!!!! from now on - i really don't care who it is - i will "speak up"!!!!!!!!!
one guy says "we just had a major problem"-- i asked them what happened--- they didn't hear me? they couldn't hear anything due to the explosion that had accurred before i walked in!! i began to understand they had just witnessed a major electrical explosion! the guy in charge was telling me "they couldn't understand what caused it" - i'm standing there looking at this 500 mcm lug (or what was left ot it) still welded to "c" phase line bus straight out of the vault!! i said "you can't drop anything like that lug into any switchgear" -- he began to argue with me. i took my flashlight and showed him the damage caused from where the lug hit the busing. and told him to remove the lug and insulate the cable end before it goes into the switchgear. it really could have caused them their lives! i could have walked up and found them both dead on the floor ---- and i witnessed this happening before i left--but who am i to question the factory trained guys!!!!! from now on - i really don't care who it is - i will "speak up"!!!!!!!!!
