Liquid on wires in Panel - Opinions on set up (Pics)

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1.21 Gigawatts

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First.... I noticed a liquid substance on 2 of the wires. Nothing leaking from above. Any thoughts? Looks like oil (yellowish) but doesn't smell like anything.

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Second... Would love to hear Pros thoughts on these 2 panels. One on right is the Main 200Amp Panel. One on left is the Generator Panel. No stories or questions, just wanna hear if there's any thoughts on them.

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Close up of the 200Amp Main Panel

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Close up of the 125A Generator Panel

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I have seen that a lot of times, with a lot more "oil" in industrial control panels. For a long time I thought it was because my guys were not wiping the threading oil out of the conduit after it was threaded, but then I saw it in a panel where all of the conductors were installed in square duct. In one panel with a couple of thousand #14s, we actually put oil dry down on the bottom of the panel.
Everyone one says it can't be coming out of the wire, but I believe it is. It does not appear to damage anything other than making adhesive tags fall off (most of my tags are heat shrink sleeves) and making a black gooey mess if there is any electrical tape in contact with the product.
 
I have also seen the oil on wires before - once, on one project, where it showed up in several panels, looking just like your pics. It was thicker than motor oil. I would say it felt like heavy gear oil or thread-cutting oil. We concluded that it must have been seeping out of the wires (all stranded THHN from the same supply house) from between the insulation and the conductors, and was probably a manufacturing lubricant. We wiped it off and forgot about it.
 
If you search other older threads, you will see that some (hopefully no longer produced) thermoplastic insulation types would leach out some of the plasticizer from the insulation and rather than evaporating from the outer surface it would collect on the inside against the conductor and eventually start to drip out of the ends of the wire.
I seem to recall that the dominant color was green, but a clear or amber colored exudate might well be possible too.
It does not seem to have caused any problems with the wires or terminations, but I would not like to see it getting into switch or breaker contacts.
 
Aleman said:
Maybe from whatever they used for pull lube? Bad manufacturing practices if it came out of the wire.
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In my case it came out of the conductors and happened a number of times over 10 years or so with different wire manufacturers.
 
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