copper prices are up, crackheads are stirring......

[Fulthrotl]

a chiller with a 400 amp switch fed by parallell 500 mcm's.......

i don't get it... they gutted the switch as well...

500 mcm's are $9.65 per foot right now.. 1,200' needed...
and the switch is $1,300...

ow. that's gonna leave a mark.

they cut the 3' tails off the supply side of the switch, hot.
1,200' of wire spoiled for 20' of rabbit?

you guys getting calls like this lately?

holy crap... i just priced out the scrap still in the pipe.... $6,700 ish.

 

[Cow]

There's no possibility of cutting in a splice box(es) to hook onto the ends of the wires?

We had one a few years ago that was uber expensive as well. 4160v pumps at a river station on a concrete deck out over the water. Rigid encased in the deck from the switchgear inside to the pumps outside. I think there were 8-10 pumps or so. Thieves took the flexes loose at the motor and attempted to pull the wires out with a pickup by tying on to them. Instead, it kinked the the rigid stubups right out of the deck.

Old wire was unshielded, new wire we needed to replace it with was shielded and wouldn't fit in existing rigid conduits. $$$$$$$

 

[kwired]

There's no possibility of cutting in a splice box(es) to hook onto the ends of the wires?

We had one a few years ago that was uber expensive as well. 4160v pumps at a river station on a concrete deck out over the water. Rigid encased in the deck from the switchgear inside to the pumps outside. I think there were 8-10 pumps or so. Thieves took the flexes loose at the motor and attempted to pull the wires out with a pickup by tying on to them. Instead, it kinked the the rigid stubups right out of the deck.

Old wire was unshielded, new wire we needed to replace it with was shielded and wouldn't fit in existing rigid conduits. $$$$$$$

If they continue to mess with voltages like 4160, they will get caught someday, they won't go to prison, they will go to the morgue.

 

[Fulthrotl]

There's no possibility of cutting in a splice box(es) to hook onto the ends of the wires?

there's always that possibility, and that is probably what will happen.
building is 1975, wire is thw, lube is.... well, stuck. getting that stuff
broken loose and out of there.... problem is the gear is in the basement,
pipes are running slightly downhill to the building, so using the magic
wire unsticking liquid that has been mentioned on here isn't gonna work well.
having it run downhill into hot gear seems sub optimal. :dunce:

two quotes. ugly quote, and happy quote.
i'll megger after i get a purchase order number,
and we shall see what quote wins, and i need
cut sheets on the new chiller, 'cause i might only
need 350 amps.... :happyyes:

hypress and cold shrinks should work well in this situation.
that little burndy hydraulic and dies i bought is coming in handy.

 

[fmtjfw]

We had a 300 or 400A 3-phase 120/208 breaker lifted from a cabinet. The wires were neatly unclamped from the breaker and the breaker simply removed. Just took a new breaker. Often wondered if another electrician was really desperate that exact breaker.

 

[ActionDave]

We had a 300 or 400A 3-phase 120/208 breaker lifted from a cabinet. The wires were neatly unclamped from the breaker and the breaker simply removed. Just took a new breaker. Often wondered if another electrician was really desperate that exact breaker.

Maybe he was a collector.

 

[Fulthrotl]

We had a 300 or 400A 3-phase 120/208 breaker lifted from a cabinet. The wires were neatly unclamped from the breaker and the breaker simply removed. Just took a new breaker. Often wondered if another electrician was really desperate that exact breaker.

yep... i had a copper theft last time rabbit peaked, and they cut a 4" run up on the roof, and took out three of the four 500 MCM's. left one benind, in the pipe.

someone needed 225' of 3 phase for the next mornings pull... it was a sparky. had to be.... they carefully rolled it up dropped it on the ground, and loaded it
on the truck.... the security cameras got it all... except the license on the truck..... but how hard can it be two find two hispanic guys in a pickup truck in so calif?

all the video did was make the customer mad.....

around here, since i've been doing this for a living, it's common to put your C-10 license number on big breakers with an engraving pencil.