Breakaway Devices

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Jody Boehs

Jody Boehs

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Location
Fairview, Oklahoma, USA
Occupation
Controls and Electrical Manager
I have a couple machines in my plant that are portable and get rolled around to various locations. The operators tend to forget to unplug them and rip out the cords. This happens quite often. Does anyone know if I can get some kind of breakaway device to prevent this? I am needing breakaway devices for both 480 3ph and controls that are 24 VDC. I understand that it would be some safety hazards to address, but I am getting sick of replacing cord ends and specialty plugs that cost a lot of money.
 
Jody Boehs said:
I have a couple machines in my plant that are portable and get rolled around to various locations. The operators tend to forget to unplug them and rip out the cords. This happens quite often. Does anyone know if I can get some kind of breakaway device to prevent this? I am needing breakaway devices for both 480 3ph and controls that are 24 VDC. I understand that it would be some safety hazards to address, but I am getting sick of replacing cord ends and specialty plugs that cost a lot of money.
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I think fire departments have something they use for their trucks. Any amount of gear is battery operated and it's charging on the truck when in the bays. They have reel mounted plugs going to the trucks.
 
You could go the opposite direction and attach a sturdy chain to the plugs, to take the tension off the cords and reduce the risk that they'll be ripped out. Or add a third (low-voltage) plug, on a short leash, that sounds an annoyingly-loud alarm when removed while the machine's still powered.

But my vote would be for a human solution, not technological. Impose a $100 fine each time someone rips out a cord. Or make them stay after the end of their shift to repair it.
 
Adopt a policy that any employee who continually damages cords by forgetting to unplug them will eventually start getting docked for the cost of repairs.
 
separate chain, cable, etc that is shorter than the cord that will prevent moving the item far enough to pull on cord/plug? Of course they still have to connect it when placing item in service or it will do no good. Penalizing those somehow that don't unplug first still probably the most effective.
 
drcampbell said:
You could go the opposite direction and attach a sturdy chain to the plugs, to take the tension off the cords and reduce the risk that they'll be ripped out. Or add a third (low-voltage) plug, on a short leash, that sounds an annoyingly-loud alarm when removed while the machine's still powered.

But my vote would be for a human solution, not technological. Impose a $100 fine each time someone rips out a cord. Or make them stay after the end of their shift to repair it.
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You could try that. You may wind up with fascinating visit from the state Wage and Hour board. Both items are illegal, at least here in NJ.
 
Hmm... (solving a people problem with technology often fails)

Training - unplug first, don't pull hard; if it isn't moving, find out WHY, don't pull harder (Are the casters full of gunk so the worker needs to pull harder? Are they on casters at all? Maybe that needs attention.)
More robust connectors and hardware
More machines so they don't need to be moved as often
Official reprimand - there must be a mechanism to discipline workers for damaging company property; or at least to keep track of who/when.

You may need to think in these directions.
 
Meltric plugs and receptacles have a built-in set of load break rated contacts in them, so they can be used as a disconnect device. The plugs and receptacles lock into one another, but you could probably remove or defeat the mechanical locks. It would be fine for the 480V stuff, might be overkill for the 24VDC stuff but at that voltage you would not need to worry about it being "load break" rated, so you have lots of other options, like Amphenol or AMP.

Meltric graphic.

dsnspec.jpg

I have no connection to Meltric, I have just used them a lot and think highly of them. I believe some of the others like Hubbell and Leviton have now released versions of their plugs and receptacles that are rated as disconnects too, this is just the only one I know of for sure.
 
gadfly56 said:
You could try that. You may wind up with fascinating visit from the state Wage and Hour board. Both items are illegal, at least here in NJ.
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The big box stores have an automatic drug test policy if an employee damages equipment over a certain dollar amount. That may discourage some of it.
 
Here in KY, company I work for charges $10 if you lose your ID Badge/Door Access Card.
 
I used to install shore power for fire engines and ambulances. We had tried looping the power cord thru the drivers door mirror (thats the training part) but then we would see rigs going down the road trailing a cord. Then we put in cord drops from the ceiling and they would unplug as the rig pulled out, but the plugs had to be replaced often ( power was for block heaters and battery chargers) Finally went to an auto eject plug https://kussmaul.com/auto-air-eject-accessories
it ejects the plug when the rig is started. And also changed block heater and charger to 240 volt to lower amps
the link is for an air line eject (keeps brake pressure charged up) but they also make electrical plug ejectors
 
Hey guys this discussion is awesome! Thank you a bunch! The company I work for has some different ideas when it comes to all of these solutions you mentioned. They would never make anyone stay late to fix anything or fine them. 85% of the employees here just plain do not care about the equipment. All they care about is getting a paycheck. The machines I'm talking about are super heavy. So when they roll them back there's 5 guys pushing on it. A small 10 awg cord doesn't do anything to stop or cause any resistance to let them know its still plugged in. You give these guys a 6 inch solid steel post concreted in the ground about 4 ft and they'll have it broke off and tore out of the ground before the end of the day! Its super frustrating. We have a full time maintenance team of about 14 men (on all 3 shifts) and we are busy all the time fixing stuff. Enough of my ranting, but thank you all. The Meltric plugs may work but I'm also going to look into the auto-eject plugs.
 
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