Dead Front Protection

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sfav8r

Senior Member
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San Francisco Bay Area
Here in SF we see a lot of old fuse panels without dead front protection. The supply house used to carry an insulated materials we could cut to size around the fuses to make a dead front cover. It turns out they no longer carry it and I can't recall what it's called. The only thing we found was fyberoid fish paper which is VERY thin. Any suggestions?
 
sfav8r said:
Here in SF we see a lot of old fuse panels without dead front protection. The supply house used to carry an insulated materials we could cut to size around the fuses to make a dead front cover. It turns out they no longer carry it and I can't recall what it's called. The only thing we found was fyberoid fish paper which is VERY thin. Any suggestions?
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Glastic is a company that makes fiberglass insulation materials.
 
Possibly you are thinking of varnished cambric, which was used in many situations where we would use shrink wrap now.
It also came in rolled up sheets and was very common before plastics became ubiquitous.

Tapatalk!
 
GoldDigger said:
Possibly you are thinking of varnished cambric, which was used in many situations where we would use shrink wrap now.
It also came in rolled up sheets and was very common before plastics became ubiquitous.

Tapatalk!
Click to expand...

If you're talking about what I think you are, it was on rolls like tape. We need something on a sheet so we can cut holes where the fuses go. The stuff we got previously was like a thin piece of cardboard and it was black. The only place I've seen something similar is in an Intermatic 101 pool timer. They have a piece of something similar (thinner) that keeps you from contacting the connection screws when you open the cover to adjust the clock.
 
iwire said:
Sounds like panel change out time to me.
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Not quite so simple. Original install is in closet so change out would require relocation, opening up old lathe and plaster etc. Not that it wouldn't be nice, just not something the clients can do right now. This is one of those things that bugs me because I think popping a surface mount panel over the existing 8" square fuse box, pulling the wires into the new panel and installing 4 breakers could be a "repair" that is much better than existing. Unfortunately, it is considered a replacement and therefore can't be done that way. I know the theory is that if you allow this as a "repair" then a "real" replacement may never happen.
 
Try also www.norplex-micarta.com. Phenolic resin-paper substrate
The product is paper fibre in a phenolic resin matrix.
The thicker rigid product called micarta is still used for equipment faceplates and terminal strips, but is not as common as it once was. A thin sheet plastic will also work for your purposes.
Look at the product types with a NEMA designation.

Tapatalk!
 
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GoldDigger said:
Try also www.norplex-micarta.com. Phenolic resin-paper substrate
The product is paper fibre in a phenolic resin matrix.
The thicker rigid product called micarta is still used for equipment faceplates and terminal strips, but is not as common as it once was. A thin sheet plastic will also work for your purposes.
Look at the product types with a NEMA designation.

Tapatalk!
Click to expand...

Thanks Golddigger. I ordered from these guys and they were very responsive and the product was exactly what we needed.
 
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