Bus Plugs Hot Stick
MIDWEST received this request. “I’m a new totally green electrical maintenance apprentice and I think the old guys are hosing me…again. We have an old long wooden stick in the corner of the shop. Maybe 10 foot long, all beat up. They’re telling me its safety equipment for bus plugs. I didn’t even know what a bus or buss plug was until I looked it up. But what’s the stick for. Thanks, Jimmy”
Jimmy, the stick is used on bus plugs. And it could be considered safety equipment. The stick should have a hook on the end of it. It is used to reach the on off handle of bus plugs located up high. Look up pictures of old Bulldog, used Square D, Westinghouse, Cutler Hammer, GE General Electric, ITE, and even Federal Pacific bus plugs. Manufacturing plants used bus plugs in many of their facilities. By the way, the correct spelling is bus plug, not buss plug. You should be able to find a picture showing a metal on off handle with a hole in the end. Using the stick, an electrician could safely open or close a bus plug by inserting the hook, on the end of the stick, into the hole in the end of the on off handle. Usually bus plugs are located overhead and can not be reached from the floor. By pushing or pulling the stick, while standing on the floor, you could reach and turn the bus plug on or off. A bus plug functions as a switch. They usually have a breaker or set of fuses inside. The wooden stick also gives the electrician some protection from electrical shock. Although, old sticks often have not been tested for shock protection. Warning, operating bus plugs can be dangerous. Leave this work to experienced electricians.