Repugnance while re-labelling disconnects
Michael writes: Today I was re-labelling some disconnects. One particular disconnect for a small capacitor bank was dead cold, where normally it should have been warm, or even hot.
I discovered that two of the three fuses were blown. I tested all three phase and everything seemed fine. I replaced the fuses, turned on the power and, after a few seconds, a loud spark came flying out.
I turned off the power and disconnected the conduit, then opened up the bank (which is a one-time thing), and this is what I found:
Most of the capacitors making up the bank had shorted out, causing the capacitors to blow holes from the inside out. This situation was caused by a lack of maintenance on the capacitors.(Photos courtesy Michael Kelly of The Electrical Department Co.)
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