Bus Plugs Blog – Expert Safety and Usage Information

During an Infrared Scan, or Thermographic Scan, of the electrical distribution system of a new account, MIDWEST’s Thermographer noted in his report a strange bus plug set up. A 200 amp Cutler Hammer bus plug had a 2 inch pipe installed right in front of the cover. The pipe was 3 inches from the bus plug cover and right near the operating mechanism. The pipe was just kind of hanging there. It didn’t have much support. It went to a huge molding machine near the Square D bus duct. So you couldn’t switch this 200 amp Square D bus plug from the floor and you couldn’t open the cover of the bus plug, if you had to, because of the pipe.  Who in their right mind would do this?  As it turns out, they had an emergency and had to get a temporary line to the molding machine as fast as possible. Apparently the line carried plastic used in the molding machine and this machine was their main money maker. So they just installed pipe temporarily as quickly as possible. And six years later, the temporary pipe was still there. It more or less had become permanent.  Temporary installations evolving into permanent, is not an unusual occurrence. In the real world, production rules.  And like it or not, the same rules that caused a temporary pipe installation, also prevent the permanent installation. In the electrical equipment world, this is somewhat self correcting when the equipment gets unhappy with a bang.  Bus plugs do fail if they are ignored too long.  Whether a GE General Electric, Square D or Cutler Hammer bus plug, it will eventually fail if ignored long enough. When these things happen, those temporary fixes come back to bite you.