This may not be the best forum forum for this question, but thsi groups eems to have a wealth of experience. I have a 240 /120 vac panel where we appear to have an oily resue / drip of oil on several of the wires. Only a few of the wires have clear tan oil that appear to have run from the breaker to the drip loop, above the drip the cable is dry as a bone. Before some one says its redue left from cutting conduit, the conduit is EMT and no oild is present at any of the conduit openings. It appreas that the oil is wicking out of the wire itself. Has any one else seen this and could help explain what we are seeing?
Oily panel wiring
- Thread starter cornbread
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petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
Any chance it is grease? Maybe coming from a range hood?
eric9822
Senior Member
- Location
- Camarillo, CA
- Occupation
- Electrical and Instrumentation Tech
Does this panel or any other panel connected by a conduit have a pneumatic vortex cooler installed? I ask because we had a similar problem where the vortex cooler had been connected to an air line that had a lubricator installed upstream. Of course the lubricator was not local and it took a lot of line tracing to eventually find it.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
I have seen this in control wiring a number of times and have talked with manufacturer's reps who all tell me it is not possible. The first time I saw this I gave my guys heck for not wiping the threading oil out of the conduit before installing it, but later I saw the same issue in a panel where wireway was used. In on large control panel with about 2500 #14s we had to use oil dry in the bottom of the panel. It sure looks like the oil is in the spaces between the strands of the wire and is draining out over time.
MichaelGP3
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco bay area
- Occupation
- Fire Alarm Technician
I have seen this also, but only on one job....
I have seen this also, but only on one job....
!4 gauge stranded THHN wire (24 VDC) terminated with Stacon fork terminals landed to terminal blocks inside NEMA 1 enclosures inside mechanical rooms where ambient temp is between 85 to 90 degrees F. Oil (clear, amber colored) can be seen filling up the insulated collar of the Stacon terminal, & sometimes dripping (not much) onto the floor of the terminal can. On higher floors (same riser, supposedly same wire but I can't know, as I wasn't there when it was pulled in) where ambient temp (still indoors) is more like 70 degrees F, the wires are dry. I'll post back with the brand of the wire, if I can make it out.
I have seen this also, but only on one job....
!4 gauge stranded THHN wire (24 VDC) terminated with Stacon fork terminals landed to terminal blocks inside NEMA 1 enclosures inside mechanical rooms where ambient temp is between 85 to 90 degrees F. Oil (clear, amber colored) can be seen filling up the insulated collar of the Stacon terminal, & sometimes dripping (not much) onto the floor of the terminal can. On higher floors (same riser, supposedly same wire but I can't know, as I wasn't there when it was pulled in) where ambient temp (still indoors) is more like 70 degrees F, the wires are dry. I'll post back with the brand of the wire, if I can make it out.
- Location
- Illinois
- Occupation
- retired electrician
That is exactly the type of oil that I am seeing and while the terminations of the wires, in my case, are in temperature controlled rooms, the conductors originate out in the plant where they are often exposed to temperatures around 100?F. In my case the conductors were a bundled cable assembly (quick-pull) and am not sure of the actual conductor manufacturer.
Also it sure makes a sticky black mess if you use electrical tape on the wires and the oil gets on the tape and stick on labels do not stay on the wire.
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Its not grease from a range hood or breaker. I have a couple of wires that spares that have never been connected to a breaker and they have an oil droplet on them. No vortex cooler.
The comment about the temperatures are making sense. The conduit / cable is run from the panel up to the ridge line of the building. I can see temperatures in the summer time getting a 100 plus.
The comment about the temperatures are making sense. The conduit / cable is run from the panel up to the ridge line of the building. I can see temperatures in the summer time getting a 100 plus.
So it sounds to me like it's the additives leaching from the wire.
Contact the wire manufacturer for more advice.
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Electrical Engineer
It's a factor in the quality of the wire used. "Non Leaching" wire is a type that uses a better "plasticizer" in the vinyl insulation, the same thing they are worried about in plastic toys and food containers, called "phthalates". PVC is normally brittle, like what you see in conduit or pipe. Adding phthalates makes it soft and pliable. Better phthalates stay bonded with the PVC under higher temperatures, cheaper ones do not, and they leach out, making it "Leaching" wire. It costs less. Usually the only place where Non Leaching wire is used is in motor lead wire.
charlietuna
Senior Member
Old presses we work on have it everywhere --mainly from leaks in the machines--but other than being messy to work on, it has never caused any problems..
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