Why You Should Inspect Electrical
Boxes Now
Last July, I was engaged in a routine infrared shoot
of our electrical components. The photo below is an untouched photo of
the inside of a 480V disconnect. I opened this disconnect for a routine shoot
and found a bat pinned across 2 "legs" of this fused disconnect.
There were no fuses blown and no apparent detrimental results.
Upon inspection of this disconnect, it was found that a knock-out
hole on this box was open. The bat apparently entered the hole in an attempt
to
find a dark place to sleep.
The moral of the story is that holes on electrical boxes left
unplugged not only can be dangerous to humans, but can
be an
invitation to creatures seeking shelter. This situation could have shorted
out the disconnect which could have led to equipment downtime or even fire.
Larger creatures have been known to come into contact with electrical components,
also causing dangerous results.
(Submitted by Jerry Sexton,
Reliability Specialist,
Commonwealth Aluminum.)
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